minology and penology can be critical in the sense of finding existing systems and practices wanting. Without debating the aims of punishment, or revealing the true functions of penal systems, or questioning the extent of the state's punitive repression, it is possible to point out that, for example, certain existing prison regimes make riots more likely, or that changes in rates and length of imprisonment may make prisons harder to govern or less successful in reforming offenders. Such penology may appear to criticize, but it is not critical in the sense of want¬ing to bring about any profound change in the state's penal strategies.