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The impacts of the introduction of public defenders (PDs) in Israel's juvenile courts are examined. The analysis of the PD's role is explained in terms of Eisenstein and Jacob's courtroom work-group model.

The article examines the use of the `shadow, of the law' by a welfare agency in Israel, as a quasi-legal therapeutic technique in the treatment of adolescent girls defined as [...]

In 1988, Israel changed its rape laws, inflicting harsher penalties on convicted rapists. Using quantitative and qualitative methods, this study compared punishment meted out before and after the reform and content analyzed the judicial discourse created in the courts in both periods. The findings revealed little change in the severity of sentencing and in judges' attitudes toward rapists, victims, and the crime. The mechanism of normalization allowed judicial authorities to make concessions to rapists, reducing the severity of the offense, while continuing to ignore the plight of the victims.

Between 1948 and 1970, Israeli society witnessed a proliferation of discourses on juvenile delinquency, adopting a critical, historically informed approach. This paper shows that debates on juvenile delinquency and juvenile justice, as well as the inclusionary or exclusionary policies they promoted, were grounded within the project of nation building and interwoven in broader attempts to reshape the social and moral order of the new society. Reflecting an emerging conception of a "normal insider" citizen, a norm against which all individuals were measured, the discourse on juvenile delinquency created a hierarchy of "others." Middle-class juvenile delinquents were seen, in spite of their criminal acts, as deserving members of the new community. Delinquency in Orientals was attributed to their lack of readiness to participate in the socio-cultural milieu, something to be treated by resocialization. Arab delinquents were considered aliens and received limited services and treatment. Discourse analysis techniques indicate that this structuring of delinquent groups by class, ethnicity and nationality was part of a broader definition of the ideal moral traits of the Israeli citizen.