The module is underpinned by three core aims. First to provide a broad overview of the historical, theoretical and political foundations of punishment, penality and prisons internationally but in the UK in particular. Second to examine the experiences and outcomes of imprisonment for identifiable groups of prisoners including: Children and young people; women; black and minoritised people; older people, LGBTQAI+. Third, to introduce a range of key debates and controversies surrounding the questions of punishment, penality and prisons in ‘modern’ societies and to subject them to social scientific interrogation and critical analysis.