Book Review: Pain and retribution: A short history of British prisons, 1066 to the present

• Published date: 01 December 2014
• Author: Sara Deffendoll
• Date: 01 December 2014
• DOI: 10.1177/1057567714553513
• Subject Matter: Book Reviews

presumably quite variable. Within the discursive work that was done to explore or justify these par-

ticularized responses to crime, Goldstein found that the notion of ‘‘human rights’’ was widely

rejected when interpreted as protecting the offender and only appropriated when tied to residents’

demands for their own right to security.

Goldstein is drawn to ghostly metaphors, depicting the state as a phantom and rateros as

spectral figures in the barrio.Butrateros are not only spectral for the residents; they are also

spectral in this ethnography that offers the view from the virtuous pole of a Manichean divide.

Perhaps this could not be otherwise, for the ethnographers of urban gangs and drug distributors

in Latin America seem, in parallel fashion, to be heavily preoccupied with ‘‘the other side.’’

Yet in focusing on the discourses and practices of what is essentially victimhood, Goldstein

mighthavedonemoretoorienthisstudyinrelationtoothersthathavebeenconductedon

these topics in Latin America and the ‘‘brown’’ or ‘‘green’’ zones of the North: After all, his

interlocutors often do not sound to be very different to their counterparts in the poor neighbor-

hoods of Caracas or Chicago. The idiographic character of his work in Bolivia offers some use-

ful materials for reflection and further analysis, but their broader significance needed just a bit

more elaboration.

Wilson, D. (2014).

Pain and retribution: A short history of British prisons, 1066 to the present. London, UK: Reaktion Books Ltd., 240 pp.,

£20, ISBN: 978-1-78023-283-6.

Reviewed by: Sara Deffendoll, Capella University, Minneapolis, MN, USA

DOI: 10.1177/1057567714553513

Pain and Retribution: A Short History of British Prisons, 1066 to the Present begins as any criminal

justice book should, by reminding the reader that prisoners are people, not monsters, and should be

treated accordingly. Throughout Britain’s history, prisons have been used both extensively and spar-

ingly for a number of different purposes. David Wilson reviews the many uses of prison in England

and Wales, and to a lesser extent Scotland, starting in 1066 until the present. A number of different

periods in Britain’s penal history are explored throughout the book. Wilson also describes the three

key audiences that determine the legitimacy of the penal system: the public, prison staff, and the

prisoners.

Prior to the 19th century, prisons served a different purpose than modern day prisons and often

looked dramatically different from current institutions. The Tower of London, perhaps the most

infamous prison in Britain, demonstrates many of the differences between early prisons and

19th-century prisons. First, the Tower of London was not built to be a prison and lacked many

of the security features commonly associated with prisons. Instead, guards were tasked with

ensuring that prisoners remained incarcerated. Second, prisoners were housed in relative luxury

with the ability to purchase luxury items or to pay for better accommodations. Conversely, pris-

oners without the ability to pay were often housed in crowded thieves’ holes with little food and

no luxury items. Third, the main purpose of prisons was to house prisoners until they could be

sentenced. Prisons were not considered a form of punishment. Finally, the numbers of sanctioned

cases of torture and execution have been exaggerated. Most likely because the public could pay

for admission into many early prisons where guards had a tendency to over exaggerate prison

stories.

418 International Criminal Justice Review 24(4)