History and Theory of Punishment

4 credits · Undergraduate credit

This course traces and analyzes the changing theories and practices of punishment in Europe and the United States. It focuses in particular on the evolution of the penitentiary and the changing conceptions of crime and criminals that informed penal practices in the 19th and 20th centuries. Through the use of selective comparisons, it seeks to develop a theoretical and historical context for understanding the strategies of punishment at work in the U.S. today.