European penology, the multidisciplinary scientific study of punishment carried out on the European continent, is booming. This Handbook aims to offer an overview of the current state of the art and of cutting-edge penological research in Europe, covering all the regions (north, south, east, west) and Europe’s institutional organisations - the Council of Europe and the European Union, and including research that may hitherto not have been published in English. The Handbook also reflects on whether there is anything distinctive or typically (not necessarily exclusively) European in the ways penology is applied in Europe.

This challenge is taken up by a team of five editors and 60 authors from 21 different countries, reflecting a balance of gender, early and promising career, and established researchers.

After the editors’ Introduction, the book is organised into three parts:

Part I: European Penology – Scientific Developments, discusses theoretical and methodological developments and important issues within comparative penology.

Part II: European Penality – Developments in Penal Policies and Practices, focuses on transversal European developments, particular groups of offenders and specific forms of punishment.

Part III offers a reflection on penal policies and practices in Europe as seen from abroad.

The Handbook offers graduate and postgraduate students, postgraduate researchers, academics and other research users, such as governments and NGO's, critical and up to date reflections on some of the most prominent discussions on penality in Europe today.