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Criminology CoursesFor all WDW Criminology courses, students must be enrolled in the Specialist or Major Program in Criminology. WDW200Y1 The nature of crime and the Canadian system designed to control it. Introduction to major approaches to understanding crime and the development of criminal law, significant research on crime and the criminal justice system, laws and procedures related to crime and crime control in Canada. Not open to first year students. WDW220Y1 An introduction to criminal law and the criminal process. The essential elements of criminal liability, including defences to criminal charges, the general characteristics of offences against the person, sexual offences, regulatory offences, and ‘victimless offences.’ The criminal process, from investigation to sentencing, and the implications of the Charter of Rights for both substantive criminal law and criminal procedure. WDW300H1 Major social and political theories of crime, law and justice, and their implications for policy development in the criminal justice system. The origins of central ideas that influence criminological theory and policy, seen in an historical context. Students are encouraged to develop the analytical skills needed to think critically about criminal justice policy. WDW310H1 Criminal justice history in the context of Canada’s social, political and economic development from the 18th to the 20th centuries. Topics covered include: colonization and resistance, gender and sexuality, policing and punishment, and the development of criminal law. WDW320H1 The historical evolution of the modern prosecution system. The exercise of discretion, and accountability for prosecutorial decision-making, recent adaptations and alternatives to the existing prosecution process, including current concepts of diversion, ‘reintegrative shaming’ and ‘restorative justice.’ WDW335H1 A theoretical framework is developed to examine the nature of policing, its structure and function. Attention is given to the history of policing and to its public and private forms. An examination of the objectives and domain, as well as the strategies, powers, and authority of contemporary policing; including decision-making, wrong-doing, accountability, and the decentralization of policing. WDW340H1 The study of punishment from historical and philosophical perspectives, with a focus on contemporary Canadian policy issues. Topics covered include penal theory, prisons and non-carceral forms of punishment, and the goals of penal reform. WDW350Y1 An introduction to social science research methods used by criminologists. An understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of published criminological research is developed. Specific technical issues of sampling, measurement and statistics are taught in the context of examining alternative ways of answering research questions. WDW360H1 The increasing involvement of psychiatrists and other mental health professionals in the criminal justice system over the past 150 years, including contemporary Canadian practices. Emphasis is placed on understanding and evaluating competing interpretations of this phenomenon. WDW365H1 Legal, psychological and sociological understandings of issues in the criminal justice system, through a consideration of topics including: criminal intent, the insanity defence, the concept of ‘psychopathy’, the use of ‘battered woman syndrome’ as part of a self-defence, issues of transcultural psychiatry, and jury screening for bias. WDW370H1 Administration of the youth justice system in Canada. The Youth Criminal Justice Act provides a legal framework for considering individual rights, the protection of society, and the welfare of young people. An analysis of legal principles and practices at various stages in the youth justice process. Policy issues and proposals for reform. WDW375H1 Historical and contemporary definitions of illegal conduct by young persons. The nature and extent of youth crime, and an analysis of theories which attempt to explain it. Assessment of the effectiveness of treatment and other strategies for preventing and responding to youth crime. WDW380H1 Theoretical and policy discussions of the ways in which criminal law and the criminal justice system regulate gender and sexuality. Topics such as violence against women, abortion, prostitution, pornography and sexual orientation are considered, leading to an analysis of gender issues in modern states by feminist, legal and political theorists. WDW385H1 Cultural constructions of crime, disorder, dangerousness and risk are integral parts of the criminal justice system. A critical analysis of how police, crown attorneys, judges and the media construct their authority through symbols and images, in order to “explain” and manage crime, and how these representations are regarded in public discourse.
Regimes for prohibiting and regulating consensual activities such as
drug use, pornography, prostitution, abortion, assisted suicide and gambling.
Historical
evolution of the law, current substantive elements required for conviction,
philosophical and criminological perspectives on the decriminalization or
legalization of these activities, and an examination of how other countries
regulate them. WDW390H1/391H1/392H1/393H1/394H1 Topics vary from year to year, but the objective of the course is to explore emerging issues in Criminology, and their social, legal, ethical and political implications. WDW395H1 Independent study under the direction of a Criminology faculty member. WDW400H1 An advanced seminar exploring in detail current issues in Criminology. Topics vary from year to year, but the objective of the course is to discuss current issues and their social, ethical and legal implications. WDW405H1 An advanced seminar exploring how new conceptions of risk and uncertainty are transforming responses to crime. Leading edge theories and empirically based studies of how risk and uncertainty are addressed in law, the contemporary criminal justice system, and other social institutions. WDW410H1 An advanced seminar examining themes of Canadian criminal justice history, from the late-eighteenth to the mid-twentieth centuries. The course does not concentrate on the “facts” of history; rather it examines how historians interpret and present historical material. Critical analytical skills are developed through the exploration of historical writing. WDW415H1 An advanced seminar examining the development of criminal justice and penal policies in Canada, the United States, Western Europe and Russia; the way authorities in those countries define and manage political deviance and the intrusion of politics into the administration of justice, especially in non-democratic settings. WDW420H1 An advanced seminar exploring in detail current issues in criminal law. Topics vary from year to year, but the objective of the course is to discuss current policy and case law developments in the criminal law, and their social, political and ethical implications. The role of Parliament and the judiciary in the development of the criminal law is considered. WDW435H1 An advanced seminar examining the policing function from an historical, social and legal perspective, with emphasis on changes in the organization, structure and control of policing, and the implications of the different forms of policing for crime control, maintenance of order, and social control. WDW440H1 An advanced seminar examining contemporary issues in criminal punishment. Theories of punishment and the development of prisons in the wider system of social control in Western societies. Modern penal systems from social and legal perspectives. WDW450H1 An individual research project under the direction of a Criminology faculty member. Approval of the Undergraduate Co-ordinator is required. WDW480H1 The meaning, purposes and sources of interpersonal violence, including an examination of debates over defining and documenting violence, and a review of the research on the relationships between illegitimate, interpersonal violence and state-approved or state-initiated violence. Cultural, social and individual correlates of interpersonal violence; law’s violence; and how violence is justified and denied.
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