Annual Conference of the Department of Criminology at AAC

On June 4, 2019, the Department of Criminology at Ashkelon Academic College held its annual conference, in cooperation with the Sha’am Institute for the Study of Integration of Released Prisoners in the Community.

The conference dealt with aspects related to the crime of women, and brought different views related to theory, research, punishment and rehabilitation.

In the first session of the conference, researchers and lecturers from the college participated in lectures on the following topics: eating disorders among female prisoners; Indicators for evaluating sexual risk for sex offenders; Tattoos among criminal women from the former Soviet Union, and women in criminal organizations around the world.

The second session of the conference was devoted to practical aspects of punishment and the inclusion of lawbreaking women in the community, in which the film “Closed” by director Liat Mer was screened. The film was filmed entirely in the Neve Tirza prison, and tells the story of three female prisoners, one of whom has a small baby.

At the end of the screening, a panel of professional women took part and included: the film director, active chairman of treatment and rehabilitation at the Neve Tirza prison, the head of the prisoner rehabilitation department at the Prisoner Rehabilitation Authority and the director of the rehabilitation center for released prisoners.

A fruitful discussion was held in the panel, which revolves around the tension between punishment and rehabilitation, between victims and crime.

The conference was attended by professionals from the Prisons Service, the Prisoner Rehabilitation Authority, welfare departments and rehabilitation organizations, as well as college students.