Resumen
For many years, the issue of penal policy has been locked into a debate between abolitionism and reformism. This has resulted in something of a stalemate with the abolitionists being accused of idealism and the reformists being accused of pragmatism or worse. Often presented as two incompatible approaches to the development of penal policy their apparent opposition has arguably served to muddy the waters and create unnecessary divisions. In this paper, the aim is to address this opposition and to move towards a partial synthesis.