Mimi Ajzenstadt

The relative autonomy of women offenders' decision making

The article analyses the accounts of incarcerated females in Israel, examining the extent to which they were active, rational agents making choices regarding their criminality. The theoretical framework underlying this analysis views the criminal decision-making process with the agency/structure nexus. It indicates that the women were actively seeking normative means to satisfy their feelings of belonging, to gain economic benefits and feel safe, and to fulfil normative social expectations. They turned to the major social institutions that are considered the agencies for providing the means to realize these desires. Their discovery of the limited opportunities available to them led them to choose to engage in crime, and to select the location, timing and nature of the offence and the victim of the crime.

Children, Gender and Families in Mediterranean Welfare States

Tentative Table of Contents 1. Mimi Ajzenstadt and John Gal: Introduction Part I: Setting the Scene 2. John Gal: Exploring the Extended Family of Mediterranean Welfare States 3. Hadas Mandel: Gender and the Welfare State 4. Tomas Olk: Children, Childhood and the Welfare State 5. Jim McDonell: Children, Communities and Well-Being Part II: Country Studies 5. Valeria Fargion: Children, Gender and Families in the Italian Welfare State 6. Celia Valiente: Children, Gender and Families in the Spanish Welfare State 7. Azer Kilic: Children, Gender and Families in the Turkish Welfare State 8. Theano Kallinkaki: Children, Gender and Families in the Greek Welfare State 9. Mimi Ajzenstadt: Children, Gender and Families in the Israeli Welfare State 10. Index

Stigma and Otherness in the Israeli Media’s Mirror Representations of Illness

In this study we examined the social construction of stigma toward HIV/AIDS in the Israeli press by comparing newspaper articles on HIV/AIDS, a highly stigmatized illness, and heart disease, a nonstigmatized illness in Israel. We carried out thematic content analysis of 242 newspaper articles published over a 12-month period. Two counter themes emerged from the analysis. HIV/AIDS was portrayed as a “foreign illness” mainly afflicting immigrants from the former Soviet Union and Ethiopia. In addition, HIV/AIDS was constructed as a disease of “the deviant other,” particularly gay men, who pose risk to themselves and those around them. By contrast, heart disease was defined as a “local illness” of “ordinary” individuals, and an unpredictable phenomenon. The mirror images of HIV/AIDS and heart disease, which were involved in the stigmatizing process of HIV/AIDS, reflect the wider moral-sociocultural order of Israeli society.

Involuntary outpatient commitment in Israel: Treatment or control?

replacing the MentalHealth Act of 1955. The new Act has been considered by legislators and professionals alike asmoreprogressiveandhumanethantheearlierlawsinceitincludedbettersafeguardsforpatients’rights.Also,ithasbeenseenasreflectingtheadvancementthroughouttheworldofpsychiatricknowledgeaswellaschangesinthedeliveryofmentalhealthservices(Kanter&Aviram,1995).The seemingly advanced approach of Israel’s 1991 Treatment of Mental Patients Act isreflected in the introduction of new legal procedure which provides for involuntary outpatientcommitment(hereinafterreferredtoas‘‘IOC’’).Thisprovisionenablesdistrictpsychiatrists

The Multidimensionality of “Pains of Imprisonment” Among Incarcerated Women in Israel

This study re-examined Gresham Sykess initial conceptualization of “pains of imprisonment” as it applied to women inmates. It contextualized these pains within the womens social experiences both inside and outside the only womens prison in Israel. Semi-structured interviews with 42 female prisoners were conducted. Two counter-themes emerged from our analysis. The first one portrayed prison as punishment, a “painful condition,” a stressful event that included deprivation, negative meaning, suffering, and pain. The opposite—and more dominant—theme framed incarceration as a positive experience, during which the prisoners received nurturing, care, and treatment, which they had not been afforded in the outside world. We found that “pains of imprisonment” was a multidimensional and complex phenomena that included contradicting emotions, thoughts, and behaviors. “Pains of imprisonment” was part of a larger group of pains that extended beyond the time and place of prison.

Women, Violence Against

Violence against women takes numerous patterns and expressions, but they all share common modes of female victimization, making this behavior a distinct phenomenon. It includes damaging physical violence directed toward women as well as psychological abuse and nonviolent forms of sexual coercion in which women are assailed by a combination of cultural factors. Attempts to measure the prevalence of various forms of violence against women face methodological difficulties as this behavior is a “hidden violence” which is not reflected in official crime statistics. During the years, changes were introduced to rape laws and legal procedures relating to domestic violence and sexual harassment at work as well as to changes in police practices.

The Long Path from a Soup Kitchen to a Welfare State in Israel

Soup kitchens are social welfare institutions that provide meals for free or for reduced prices on a regular basis. Th ere is evidence that soup kitchens have provided meals for people at different times, in diverse civilizations, and across the globe for at least six hundred years. Th ough they have clearly been sidelined by services and benefi ts provided by modern welfare states, even at the end of the twentieth and the beginning of the twenty-fi rst century soup kitchens continue to function across the globe in both developed and lessdeveloped nations. 1 Th ere is evidence that large-scale soup kitchens, known as imarets, were established in the fourteenth century in various parts of the Ottoman Empire and they remained a central social institution in the empire until its demise in the early years of the twentieth century. 2 Similarly, soup kitchens served as a means of ensuring food security in Beijing during the Qing dynasty in China, beginning in the late seventeenth century. 3 In Europe as well, soup kitchens provided a means of dealing with poverty and with a lack of work and resources during different periods. In Bavaria, the renowned Count Rumford (Sir Benjamin Th ompson) planned and established a public kitchen in 1790 and then successfully exported the idea to other European countries. 4

The Cultural Context of Juvenile Justice Policy in Israel

The paper explores the evolution of rehabilitative, rights and economic discourses, and their effect on the development of juvenile justice policies in Israel during the last two decades. Israel has adopted the main features of a neo-liberal regime and severe cuts were made to major social welfare programmes, including those dealing with juvenile offenders. However, the neo-liberal ideas of individualisation and responsibilisation did not penetrate the area of juvenile delinquency. A renewed welfarist discourse in Israel was created instead. This strongly relied on traditional beliefs in rehabilitation and treatment based on a child-centred culture, incorporating concepts of rights and embedded in practical economic considerations.

Securitization vs the yearning for peace in the Israeli casino discourse

This study analyses the controversy in Israel in the years 1958–2003 surrounding the legitimacy of casino gambling, with particular focus on how it was affected by the operations of Casino Oasis in the Palestinian Authority territory between 1998 and 2000. An interpretative narrative analysis of debates in the Israeli Knesset (parliament) and in the local press reveals that, prior to the casinos opening, most of the arguments raised were similar to those seen elsewhere in the world, with opponents objecting on moral, religious and social grounds, and those in favour emphasizing its economic and tourism benefits. However, once Casino Oasis opened its doors, the controversy took on a character not seen anywhere else in this context – opponents raised concerns about terrorism, while proponents championed the casino as a promoter of peace and coexistence – reflecting a broader, more fundamental national debate within Israeli society over the countrys physical boundaries.

Setting Things Straight Probation Officers' Perspectives on the Impacts of the Introduction of Public Defenders on Israel's Juvenile Courts

Between 1999 and 2003 public defenders were gradually introduced into Israels welfare-oriented Juvenile Courts. This article reports on the findings of a study that sought to assess the perspectives of the social work trained probation officers on the early impacts of the introduction of public defenders. The study involved in-depth interviews with 14 probation officers. The major findings of the study were that the probation officers: (1) supported the introduction of public defenders in principle but not in practice; (2) believed public defenders should be committed to the therapeutic perspective of the court and become an additional link in the treatment chain; (3) felt that their influence in the court had diminished with the arrival of public defenders; and, (4) viewed the public defenders as compromising the benefit to the young defendant of the drama of the court hearing. Many of the studys findings can be explained by Eisenstein and Jacob’s (1991) model of the courtroom workgroup.