ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explores how the study of institutions has developed, reflecting on major themes and points of debate, and explains how the essays in this collection bring together new, conceptually innovative, historical approaches to the process of inhabiting institutions between 1725 and 1970. Residential Institutions argues that taking a cross-institutional approach helps people to understand and interprets their activities and their consequences for British society and culture. It argues that paying close attention to the institutional environment is paramount to understanding the lives of inmates - and to do this it must examines the planning and use of space, the distribution of material goods and how these were imagined and used. Finally, the book stresses the importance of looking closely at the interactions between inmates and environments, and argues that it was these interactions that determined the lived experiences of inmates within residential institutions.
