The debate between prison reformists and prison abolitionists is raw and heavily politicised. This increases the risk of each side in the debate speaking past each other or criticising straw man versions of their opponents’ arguments. In this conversation with Andy West, criminologist Jason Warr offers an even-handed assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of both positions, along with some reflections on the morality of punishment.

"Home is our anchor point within reality which gives us orientation and allows us to set out in new directions."

"I try to show that civil disobedience emerged within a civil rights movement that was deeply in conversation with anti-colonial movements."

"The abolitionist is calling for such a radical reform of society that we actually don’t know how humans will behave in that new future."

"A 'morality' that jettisons moral responsibility, and that affirms that no one is deserving of anything, strikes many as implausible."