Forms of Constraint

From musty medieval dungeons to modern concrete cellblocks, prison architecture reveals much about how a society sees fit to control and contain those who transgress its boundaries. Forms of Constraint is the first general volume to consider how prison design has evolved over the centuries, how it has taken shape in various corners of the globe, and how it reflects the society that oversees it. Embedding his discussion of architectural detail in a history of social ideas about prisoners and imprisonment, criminologist Norman Johnston considers the architectural design and features of prisons in light of the purposes they were meant to serve.