Do prisons have a future?

Question 1

Is there a future for prisons?

Answer 1

There are at least 10 million prisoners in the world…probably many more
The ‘prison solution’ is always available (and sometimes seems unavoidable).
HOWEVER
Prisons encounter multiple challenges:
Numbers and material provision
Order, safety, security
Prisons are chronically controversial; their legitimacy is always in question

Question 2

Describe possible futures of prison

Answer 2

What kinds of confinement?
For whom? Under what conditions?
Directed to which purposes?
More than ‘warehousing’?
More than a societal ‘waste management’ system?
Can prisons avoid reproducing social divisions and inequalities?