ABSTRACT
In 1990, the Prison Service of England and Wales was shaken to the core by the most serious series of riots ever experienced (James et al., 1997: 58). The riots started on 1 April 1990 in Strangeways Prison, Manchester and spread to prisons throughout the country. By the time the Strangeways riot ended on 25 April 1990, disturbances had broken out in more than 20 prisons. The most serious incidents occurred in Manchester, Long Lartin, Glen Parva, Dartmoor, Cardiff, Bristol, Stoke Heath and Pucklechurch.2 When the quiet returned, three people had died, 133 inmates and 282 prison staff had been injured and there the cost of the damage ran into millions of pounds.3 These costs and the subsequent cost of keeping prisoners in custody in police cells exceeded £100 million.4
