The penal system of England and Wales has been greatly influenced in the past two decades by the emergence of a moral framework or 'decency agenda'. What decency means to prisoners and how decency can be embodied into daily prison life, however, remains underexplored. Drawing from her original research in prison-based democratic therapeutic communities (TCs), the author argues that decency is experienced in TCs through an ethic of care and an ethos of change. TC residents benefit from atypical institutional practices which encourage the formation of supportive relationships with prison staff and facilitate meaningful opportunities for personal change. (Published Abstract)