An unbroken run of this influential British prison abolition journal, produced by the group Radical Alternatives to Prison (RAP). This set comprises the first twelve numbers of twenty-three in total, with the final issue printed in 1987.
Radical Alternatives to Prison (RAP) were a pressure group formed in 1970 primarily to address the recent imprisonment of antinuclear protesters arrested for their actions as part of the CND movement. From this starting point they more widely addressed the inadequacy of the British prison system arguing that it had "clearly failed as a vehicle for reforming offenders and therefore should be abolished. Instead of imprisonment, offenders should be sentenced to to less expensive but constructive alternatives to prison that could, in most cases, be situated in communities and managed by local people" (Ryan & Ward, 108).
One of RAP's strengths was their ability to build coalition with other groups representing the interests of incarcerated people. As such three of the issues of this publication contain within them as supplements distinct publications by PROP (Preservation of the Rights of Prisoners): Prison Briefing No's 1-3. The chief distinction between RAP and PROP was that the latter was an organisation established by people who had been imprisoned to advocate for prison reform, whereas the former were full scale abolitionists. Their ability to work across the different interest groups means that the articles within cover such diverse topics as anti-psychiatry, race, drugs, as well as reports covering global and historical issues relating to justice and abolition.
The cover designs and illustrations include work by Arthur Moyse, Harry Brockway and Josh Benn.
OCLC and LibraryHub find sets at BL, Warwick, Trinity College Dublin, Oxford, Sussex and a single issue (8) at Bishopsgate. Outside of the UK, 1 set in Canada, 2 in The Netherlands, one at Emory, and one in Birmingham Alabama.
Ryan, M & Ward, T. "Prison Abolition in the UK: They Dare Not Speak Its Name?" in Social Justice Vol 41, No. 3. [accessed online 20/6/2025]
