The course will employ a variety of instructional methods to accomplish its objectives, including some of the following: lectures, seminar presentations, audio-visual materials, small group discussions and research papers.
- Aspects of Corrections
- Purpose and principles
- Correctional jurisdiction in Canada
- History of Corrections
- Sentencing and Corrections
- Options and justifications
- Sentencing disparity
- Correctional Facilities
- The operation of external and internal influences on correctional facilities
- Key members of correctional facilities
- Are institutions meeting their objectives?
- Correctional Treatment Programs
- The classification process
- The problem of measuring treatment success
- The delivery of correctional treatment
- Community-Based Corrections
- Justifications for community-based programs
- Types of community-based programs
- Controversies surrounding community programs
- Correctional Issues
At the conclusion of the course the successful student will be able to:
- Identify the philosophy and purposed of Corrections in Canada.
- Discuss the historical development of Corrections in North America, emphasizing the development of prisons.
- Describe pre-court diversion and community service as part of court dispositions for youth and adults as practised in Canada.
- Discuss the various sentencing options and how they influence Corrections.
- Describe the philosophy, rationale, operation and evidence of success of probation in Canada.
- Identify key groups in (inmates, staff and administration) institutions and the nature of the relationship between them.
- Identify the range, rationale, and integrity of programs in correctional institutions, including educational, specialized intervention, prison industry, vocational and programs for specialized offenders.
- Describe post-institutional Corrections, namely the conditional release process. Discuss the philosophy, rationale and evidence of success of conditional release programs.
- Identify the possible and probable future trends in Corrections in Canada.
Evaluation will be based on course objectives and will be carried out in accordance with ÌÇÐÄvlog´«Ã½policy. The instructor will provide a written course outline with specific evaluation criteria at the beginning of the semester. Evaluation will be based on some of the following:
- Short Answer Tests
- Exams
- Oral Presentation
- Research Project / Term Paper
- Class Participation
An example of one possible evaluation scheme would be:
| Seminar Attendance & Participation | 10% |
| Term Paper | 20% |
| Debate | 10% |
| Midterm exam | 30% |
| Final exam | 30% |
| Total | 100% |
Textbooks and Materials to be Purchased by Students:
A bibliography of materials/resources and a Coursepack of relevant selected readings will be available. Subject to copyright approval, the manual may include readings from:
Griffiths, C. (2010). Canadian Corrections. Toronto: Nelson Thompson.