Topics in Social and Political Philosophy (361-0-20)

Topic

The Philosophy of Punishment & Incarceration

Instructors

Jennifer Lackey
847/491-2557
Kresge 3-423

Meeting Info

Meets in Non-General PurposeRm: Tues 9:30AM - 5:30PM

Overview of class

The United States is currently home to 5% of the world's population, but 25% of its incarcerated population. With roughly 2 million people under the control of the American criminal legal system, the United States has more total people who are incarcerated than any other country in the world. Moreover, the United States has one of the most punitive approaches to criminal justice, imposing lengthy prison sentences, forcing people who are incarcerated to spend years—sometimes even decades—in solitary confinement, and providing very few educational, vocational, and recreational programs in prisons.

Punishment and incarceration also disproportionately impact people of color. Black Americans are incarcerated at more than 5 times the rate of whites. While Black and Hispanic Americans make up about 32% of the US population, they constitute 56% of the incarcerated population.

This course will use a philosophical lens to examine the causes and consequences of this crisis of mass incarceration in the United States, along with possible solutions to it, with a particular emphasis on the theories of punishment grounding our criminal legal system and, thus, our prisons. The course will have a seminar-style format. Enrollment will include both Northwestern students from the Evanston campus and students in the Northwestern Prison Education Program.

Class Notes

We will leave Evanston on Tuesdays at 9:30 AM and carpool to Sheridan Correctional Center (in Sheridan, IL), where we will have class with incarcerated students in the Northwestern Prison Education Program between 12:00 and 3:00 PM, returning to Evanston around 5:30 PM

Enrollment in this course will require mandatory training from the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC), mandatory NPEP training, proof of a negative TB test, a background check conducted by IDOC, and a negative drug test (administered by IDOC).

Enrollment Requirements

Enrollment Requirements: Registration restricted to Undergraduate students only
Add Consent: Instructor Consent Required