Since the inception of penal incarceration, the punitive function of the prisons-–especially women’s prisons--has been veiled by governmental, professional, or reforming claims that prisons are for something other than punishment, such as psychological readjustment, training in parenting, drug rehabilitation, or general education. As prison populations have grown, more people seem to have forgotten that the main function of prison is the delivery of pain. Perhaps this is because imprisonment nearly violates so many human rights and is so painful that democratic governments need always to legitimate its continued use for minor crimes. Also, the prison business is a shareholder in the consumption of new therapies, and advocates of penal reform have accepted the prison’s invitation to help reduce both the pain and the damaging effects of imprisonment. The term carceral clawback is used to describe the power of the prison to deconstruct constantly and successfully reconstruct the ideological conditions for its own existence. The two books reviewed give an insight into how such carceral clawback can occur. An Ideal Prison? (IP?) and Punishment in Disguise (PD) tell a story about class, race, gender, and the strategies of long-established patterns of incarceration. Based in Canada in 1990, the tale begins with the publication of a report that set out a new philosophy for the operation of five new women-centered prisons. The two publications are very different. IP provides important testimony and first-hand accounts from many of the women engaged in the struggle for reform. PD is a theoretical exercise that addresses issues and raises questions fundamental to penality: the redress of criminal and society wrongs and the responsibilisation of prisoners. The main lesson from both books is that the struggle for justice is always worthwhile. 3 notes, 5 references