Book excerpt: What happens when incidents result in a policy sector losing its legitimacy? When a malfunctioning policy sector receives so much negative public attention that it has to fight for its survival? This study describes three such cases in detail within the British and Dutch Prison Services, examining the incidents, the negative response of the media and Members of Parliament to these incidents, and the way in which policy-makers tried to deal with the crises. This book establishes under which conditions such crises led to reform.