Course Syllabus

Ben-Natan Comparative Carceral Studies Syllabus 2021.pdf  

Comparative Carceral Studies: The US and Israel

This course will address key issues in contemporary correctional and criminal justice policy through a comparative perspective on Israel and the United States. Although Israeli legal culture seems heavily influenced by the United States, the prison system was founded on European traditions, and legal professionals developed a complex and often critical attitude towards American punitive trends. We will explore the history of the Israeli and US correctional systems and current trends through issues such as capital punishment, retributivism and rehabilitation, prison privatization, overcrowding and de-carceration, extraterritorial detention facilities, and immigration detention. These issues provide a glance into differences in perceptions of crime, risk, personal and national security, and the role of the state.