This research aims to explore the nature of staff-prisoner relationships in a Category B local prison holding adult males. It focuses upon the role that relationships play in maintaining order, improving outcomes for prisoners and staff and, ultimately, in allowing for the prison to be considered a legitimate mode of punishment. Alongside prolonged engagement with the prison regime, data will be collected through individual and group interviews with staff and prisoners. Findings will be embedded within the existing body of literature concerning the sociology of imprisonment. Conclusions will be made available to the Prison Service and to NOMS in the hope that they may inform relevant policy and practice.