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
- An Historical Overview 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?
- Classification, Case Management and Treatment
- The classification process
- The problem of measuring treatment success
- The delivery of correctional treatment
- Intermediate Sanctions and Community-Based Corrections
- Justifications for community-based programs
- Types of community-based programs
- Controversies surrounding community programs
- Current Issues and Challenges for Reform such as:
- Specialized groups: youth, women and indigenous offenders
- Mental health
- Restorative justice
- Diversity
- Identify Possible Future Trends in Canada
At the conclusion of the course the successful student will be able to:
- Identify the philosophy and purposes 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:
|
Attendance & Participation Tasks |
10% |
|
Group Presentation or Debate (with written outline) |
10% |
|
Annotated Bibliography |
15% |
|
Term Paper (e.g. Argumentative Essay, Policy Development for a Corrections Problem, Case Analysis, Journal, Blogs, Reflective Essay) |
20% |
|
Midterm Exam(contains writing component such as short or long essay, critique, case analysis) |
20% |
|
Final Exam (contains writing component such as short or long essay, critique, case analysis) |
25% |
|
Total |
100% |
Textbooks and Materials to be Purchased by Students:
A bibliography of materials/resources and a Coursepack of relevant selected readings may be required.
Griffiths, Curt T. and Danielle J. Murdoch, 2014. Canadian Corrections. 4th Ed. Scarborough: Thomson Nelson.
Winterdyk,John A. and Michael Weinrath. 2013. Adult Corrections in Canada. Whitby, Ontario: de Sitter Publications.
Criminology 3375