First published in 1969, African Penal Systems is the first book to explore the problems of African criminology. Sixteen distinguished contributors- sociologists, lawyers, and psychiatrists- each an authority on some aspect of African penal problems, have collaborated to produce it. Its first part gives a general survey of the penal systems of some fourteen African countries, variously English, French, or Portuguese inclined, or wholly autochthonous. Part two includes six specialist contributions on various detailed problems in the development and operation of the modern African systems.

In his introduction Alan Milner, describes the sociological forces responsible for the increase of crime in Africa and examines the possibility of the growth of a peculiarly African approach to the solution of its penal problems. This is a must read for scholars and researchers African Studies, criminology, and African Law.