The tendency to consider prisons in a vacuum results from a simplistic view that views crime to be an isolated mishap or the criminal law's response to violations of social norms. This simplistic view overlooks broader aspects of penal policy and the role of the prisons as one part of the judicial system and other social institutions. Discussions of punishment generally focus on prisons as the center of penal policy, although fines are actually the dominant penalty. In addition, proposals for prison reform often overlook the conflicts between the goals of security and reintegration into society. The ways in which two basic 'laws' -- the operating laws of the system and the law of interprofessional dynamics -- work are illustrated by four examples of penal policies: self-government in prisons, the progressive regime of prison administration, the growth of the use of community service sentences, and the use of shorter sentences and periods of detention. Both these 'laws' should be seen as the outcomes of a complex game in which political, economic, and corporate interests confront each other. The resulting analysis shifts the focus from the functions of punishment to the forms of punishment to the forms of punishment and identifies the effect of class structure in contemporary western societies in the products of the penal system. Tables, figures, notes, and 102 references.