Different prisons used various methods to contain individuals, either through locking them in a physical cage, or with the use of simple force field barriers or containment fields, such as those used by the Geonosians. Some containment devices, such as Force cages, could also be modified to project electrical currents through the captured individuals as a form of torture.
The Rakata were known to utilize an incarceration method called the mind prison, where the prisoner's mind would be stripped from his or her body and be locked away within the prison, presumably forever. According to one prisoner, the only means of escape was by transferring the imprisoned mind into the body of another who had inadvertently become trapped, although this required the consent of both involved.
Belsavis was one of the oldest prisons in existence, a super-prison constructed by the Infinite Empire. It contained extremely ferocious prisoners, and was adapted for use by the Galactic Republic during the Great Galactic War. Unfortunately for the Republic, in the early years of the Cold War, the Sith Empire's Imperial Intelligence discovered its location and sent agents into the prison to liberate important Imperial prisoners, causing the planet to become a battleground.
Desolation Alley was a notable prison on Oovo IV,[2] which held a number of prisoners such as Meeko Ghintee and Bendix Fust. It was also used for podracing, which was virtually the only form of entertainment available to the prisoners. Jango Fett and Zam Wesell both attempted to recover Fust from the heavily guarded prison. It was during this successful escape attempt that Jango Fett procured the Firespray-class patrol ship that he later named the Slave I, after the loss of his original ship in the skirmish.