Prison in SF
SF provides a rich field for examination of prisons, prisoners, and the psychology of imprisonment, from alternatives to penal servitude, to examining Earth-like penal colonies and prison systems in other settings.
Women in prison
A whole genre of its own. See women in prison.
Penal colonies
Penal colonies are common, as a device for creating a settlement, as an examination of class issues, and as a way to create a dystopic, lawless environment. Works include:
- Movies such as Escape from New York and sequels, in which some cities have been abandoned to criminals and walled off as prisons
- Worlds established as prison colonies, such as the world in Illicit Passage by Alice Nunn; the movie Alien 3; and "Borders of Infinity" by Lois McMaster Bujold.
Prison rescues
Prison revolts
- Illicit Passage by Alice Nunn (not so much a functioning prison)
Prisoner/Prison-keeper psychology
- The Red Rose Rage (Bleeding) by L. Timmel Duchamp
- Susan R. Matthews' Jurisdiction Universe stories, featuring Andrej Koskiusko as official torturer; particularly number two, which takes place on a prison planet