The administration of prison regimes in modern Britain has remained a subject of intense debate and controversy for a number of years; in this book, based upon pioneering empirical research, three leading authorities examine the character of social life within two maximum-security prisons. By systematic comparison of the two prisons the authors compare the institutional structures and strategies they deploy for control of inmates. The material is set within the framework of a broader, social theory context. Original, scholarly, and carefully argued, this study will be of central interest to all those with an interest in prisons and their control mechanisms.