Punishment and Sentencing explores the expanding horizon of punishment. Using a case study approach to bring to life our shifting attitudes to punishment, and its relationship to changing technologies and programs of control, the text identifies the key concepts of risk, rehabilitation and restitution to give students an accessible framework for understanding the different approaches taken, in theory and in practice, to sentencing and punishment.

The case studies provide applied examples of the distinctive questions that theoretical perspectives pose, summarise the major interpretive themes, and identify the kinds of insights each theory has to offer for the understanding of particular examples of modern penalty.