Michael Welch, Ph.D.
Professor
Criminal Justice
retrowelch@crimjust.rutgers.edu
www.professormichaelwelch.com
Office: Lucy Stone Hall A-357, Livingston Campus
Office Hours: Tuesday & Thursday 3.44pm to 4.44pm
You Tube Channel: Professor Michael Welch https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBpCDH7vPWAXSzCSSsjjmlw
SYLLABUS
PURPOSE OF THE COURSE:
In a post-9/11 world, torture has been revitalized as a (questionable) tool for the global war on terror. The course analyzes moral, ethical, and legal implications to policies and practices involving extraordinary renditions, detainee maltreatment, "enhanced" interrogation, and torture. Special attention is directed at the phenomenon known as modern torture in which "science" is incorporated into interrogation methods. Among other things, those "no-touch" torture tactics are designed to evade human rights prosecutions. To contextualize those developments, controversies in the Southern Cone of Latin America, Northern Ireland, and elsewhere in Europe provide important case studies. (See also Learning Goals listed below.)
REQUIRED READINGS (pdfs available for free downloads on the Canvas Page)
Welch, Michael (2020) In the Sites of Operation Condor: Memory and the Afterlives of Clandestine Detention Centers. Social Justice: A Journal of Crime, Conflict & World Order, 47 (1-2): 1-38.
Welch, Michael (2022) Torture & Torment: Transform the Body. In The Bastille Effect: Transforming Sites of Political Imprisonment. University of California Press.
Welch, Michael (2009) "American Pain-ology in the War on Terror: A Critique of 'Scientific' Torture." Theoretical Criminology, 13(4): 451-474.
Welch, Michael (2011) Illusions in Truth Seeking: The Perils of Interrogation and Torture in the War on Terror. Social Justice: A Journal of Crime, Conflict & World Order, 37(2-3): 123-148.
Welch, Michael (2017) 'Doing Special Things To Special People in Special Places': Psychologists in the CIA Torture Program. The Prison Journal, 97(6):729-749.
Welch, Michael (2016) "Clinical Torture: Drifting in the Atrocity Triangle." Onati Socio-Legal Series, 6(4): 957-974. FREE DOWNLOAD https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2871636
SUGGESTED READINGS:
Physicians for Human Rights (2014) Doing Harm: Health Professionals' Central Role in the CIA Torture Program. New York: Physicians for Human Rights.
Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (2014) Study of the Central Intelligence Agency's Detention and Interrogation Program. Unclassified. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing.
Institute on Medicine as a Profession (2013) Ethics Abandoned: Medical Professionalism and Detainee Abuse in the War on Terror. New York: Institute on Medicine as a Profession
EVALUATION OF STUDENT PERFORMANCE:
Two Exams: 100 points each
Final Project:100 points each
Total Semester Points: 300
Week 1: Intro/Overture / La Clinica Read: Welch, Michael (2020) In the Sites of Operation Condor: Memory and the Afterlives of Clandestine Detention Centers. Social Justice: A Journal of Crime, Conflict & World Order, 47 (1-2): 1-38.
Week 2: Early European Torture (Amsterdam Torture Museum Read: Welch, Michael (2020) In the Sites of Operation Condor: Memory and the Afterlives of Clandestine Detention Centers. Social Justice: A Journal of Crime, Conflict & World Order, 47 (1-2): 1-38.
Week 3: Argentine Junta & Torture Read: Welch, Michael (2020) In the Sites of Operation Condor: Memory and the Afterlives of Clandestine Detention Centers. Social Justice: A Journal of Crime, Conflict & World Order, 47 (1-2): 1-38.
Week 4: Pinochet Regime & Torture (Chile) / Review Read: Welch, Michael (2020) In the Sites of Operation Condor: Memory and the Afterlives of Clandestine Detention Centers. Social Justice: A Journal of Crime, Conflict & World Order, 47 (1-2): 1-38.
Week 5: Stroessner Dictatorship (Paraguay) / Exam 1 (Thurs, 30 Sept) Read: Welch, Michael (2020) In the Sites of Operation Condor: Memory and thefterlives of Clandestine Detention Centers. Social Justice: A Journal of Crime, Conflict & World Order, 47 (1-2): 1-38.
Week 6: Torture in Montevideo (Uruguay) / Northern Ireland Prisoner Abuse Read: Welch, Michael (2022) Torture & Torment: Transform the Body. In The Bastille Effect: Transforming Sites of Political Imprisonment. University of California Press.
Week 7: Northern Ireland Prisoner Abuse Read: Welch, Michael (2022) Torture & Torment: Transform the Body. In The Bastille Effect: Transforming Sites of Political Imprisonment. University of California Press.
Week 8: War on Terror & Torture Read: Welch, Michael (2009) "American Pain-ology in the War on Terror: A Critique of 'Scientific' Torture." Theoretical Criminology, 13(4): 451-474.
Week 9: War on Terror & Torture / Review Read: Welch, Michael (2011) Illusions in Truth Seeking: The Perils of Interrogation and Torture in the War on Terror. Social Justice: A Journal of Crime, Conflict & World Order, 37(2-3): 123-148.
Week 10: War on Terror & Torture / Exam 2 (Thurs, 4 Nov)
Week 11: Torture in Berlin Read: Welch, Michael (2017) 'Doing Special Things To Special People in Special Places': Psychologists in the CIA Torture Program. The Prison Journal, 97(6):729-749.
Week 12: Watch Film: Free Angela Davis and All Political Prisoners https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2350432/ Read: Welch, Michael (2016) "Clinical Torture: Drifting in the Atrocity Triangle." Onati Socio-Legal Series, 6(4): 957-974. FREE DOWNLOAD https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2871636
Week 13: The Stasi / THANKSGIVING Read: Your Select Journal Articles (for The Final Project)
Week 14: The Stasi and Disintegration / Angela Davis Exhibit at Zimmerli Art Museum (Rutgers) http://zimmerlimuseum.rutgers.edu/voorhees-galleries/angela-davis-%E2%80%94-seize-time#.YSKlatNKiRs Read: Your Select Journal Articles (for The Final Project)
Week 15: Wrap-Up / Final Project (Thursday, 9 Dec) FINAL PROJECT (100 points, TEN PAGES TOTAL) TBA Your paper should be TEN PAGES (single-spaced, 12 pitch). (Use citation style contained in the book Escape to Prison.) Precious points will be awarded to projects boasting an insightful title. DEADLINE (THURSDAY) 9 DECEMBER 2021.
There are NO extra-credit assignments.
Final Grades:
90 - 100% A
87 - 89% B+
80 - 86% B
77 - 79% C+
70 - 76% C
60 - 69% D
00 - 59% F
ABSENTEE POLICY (for all courses taught by Professor Welch): A total of SIX absences (any combination of excused and unexcused) results in a FULL GRADE reduction (e.g., C falls to D)
MISSING CLASS? In the very unlikely event that you miss class. Do NOT email Professor Welch. Instead, have a classmate take notes for you - cheers!
TRIGGER ALERT: All courses taught by Professor Welch have a MAXIMUM trigger alert (e.g., graphic analysis of torture, especially at the hands of government operatives).
Nota Bene: Photographing, Video, or Audio recording are strictly prohibited, along with note-taking for commercial purposes.
IS THIS COURSE RIGHT FOR ME?
Students often enroll in a class without the benefit of knowing much about the course, the professor, and what is expected of them. In deciding whether this course suits your personal needs, interests, and lifestyle, the following checklist may be of assistance. Should you have difficulty with any of these items, this course is probably not suited for you.
Program in Criminal Justice, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, March 2008
Learning Goals: A Statement of Principles
The Program Committee for the Program in Criminal Justice at Rutgers University in New Brunswick has adopted a series of learning goals for students who complete the major. These goals represent the consensus of the faculty regarding the concepts a student should grasp and the skills a student should acquire in the course of completing the major. These goals guide the choices faculty make about the structure of the curriculum and the requirements for our majors. Moreover, they guide faculty and instructors preparing course material and teaching courses.
The Program in Criminal Justice will provide students with a rich understanding of crime and criminal justice in the United States and abroad through an interdisciplinary approach that blends a strong liberal arts educational experience with pre-professional instruction in the field of criminal justice. Graduates of the program will be well-informed citizens on the topic of crime and justice, and qualified for graduate study or for employment as practitioners in a variety of legal, policymaking, and law enforcement fields.
Criminal justice majors graduating from a research university should be able to use critical thinking, factual inquiry, and the scientific approach to solve problems related to individual and group behavior. In addition, students should have an understanding of the legal, political and policymaking processes that affect criminal justice systems in the United States and elsewhere in the world. Finally, students should be familiar with the institutional structures and latest developments in the field in order to engage in meaningful debate about current public policy issues.
Learning Goals for Criminal Justice Majors
Competence:
Theory. Students who complete the major in criminal justice should understand and be able to articulate, both orally and in writing, the core theoretical concepts that form the foundation of analysis and research in criminology and criminal justice today. Core concepts are derived from explanations of crime from a variety of perspectives, including biogenic, psychological, and sociological approaches. There are myriad theories of crime that are informed by these perspectives, including, classical, control, critical, ecology, labeling, learning, strain, and trait-based approaches. Theoretical literacy should extend to multicultural and international understanding.
Institutions. Students who complete the major in criminal justice should understand the special role of three types of institutions: Police, Corrections, and Courts. In addition, students should know how institutional forms vary across jurisdictions and how these institutions interact with and influence each other.
Research Methods. Students who complete the criminal justice major should be familiar with the tools, techniques, and data sources necessary for empirical analysis. Students should understand the various ways that empirical analysis is used in the scientific approach: for description, for developing, and for testing theories. They should be able to analyze data using computer applications and should be familiar with basic statistical techniques and regression analysis. They should be able to read and assess research from a wide range of sources, including general interest, academic, and government publications.
Critical Thinking: Upon completion of the major students should be able to apply their understanding of core concepts and quantitative tools to analyze and research real world problems, and evaluate alternative policy proposals on a range of criminal justice issues, from micro-level analyses relevant to particular cases to management concerns to macro-level analyses of legislative and other broad-scale policies. Accomplishment of this goal will require that students can apply their literacy and numeracy skills to different institutional structures, within the U.S. and across countries.
Scholarship: Qualified majors should have an opportunity through such avenues as advanced coursework, internships, and faculty interactions to conduct independent research on matters of central relevance to the field of criminal justice.