The Policy Press New Horizons in Criminology book series provides concise authoritative texts which reflect cutting edge thought and theoretical developments in criminology and have an international scope. Divided into eight chapters, these short accessible texts explain principles and developments clearly before going deeper into the subject, and are written so that the non-specialist academic, student or practitioner can understand them. Written by leading authors in their fields, the series aims to become essential reading for all academics and students (and practitioners) interested in where criminology is heading.

When I first proposed a series on ‘New Horizons’ one criminologist suggested that criminology does not need any more criminologies. The subject of criminology has expanded so much over recent years that perhaps it should have time to draw breath – growing from ‘a smallish cottage industry’ (Loader and Sparks, 2012, 4) to the extent that most universities now offer criminology and/or criminal justice at undergraduate or postgraduate levels. Yet, my reply was that without exploring new areas of enquiry the subject could stagnate. If criminologists had not been willing to explore new horizons there would not have been the expansion from conventional crime and justice issues into important research on, for example, state crimes, social harms, green issues or cultural identity, as reflected in ‘new’ criminologies such as green criminology and cultural criminology. For any discipline to remain vibrant it needs to explore new areas and, where relevant, to draw on other disciplines and investigate innovative methodologies. This does not mean the past is cast aside. Instead, by exploring new horizons light might be reflected back onto criminology's traditional core. The criminological imagination (compare Young, 2011) continues to expand with new approaches being adopted by criminologists and criminological approaches being relevant to new areas of study. This book series aims to reveal to a wider audience these cutting edge developments.

From day one I wanted a book on convict criminology to be included in the series. I was thrilled when Rod Earle accepted my invitation. His writing is both highly readable and insightful. I first came across Rod's work in this area at the annual conferences of the British Society of Criminology where he has been on various panels (alongside Sacha Darke, Andreas Aresti, Jeffrey Ian Ross and others) discussing the scope of a convict criminology.