Introduction to the Criminal Justice System
Overview
- The systems approach to the study of the Canadian Criminal Justice System.
- Sources of law and the role of government
- Criminal law and criminal justice in Canada
- Crime control philosophy and criminal justice policy
- Crime rates, crime trends, and perceptions of crime
- The Criminal Code of Canada and related Statutes
- The various parts of the Canadian Criminal Justice System and the impact these parts have on the cases passing through the system.
- services for victims
- the police
- policing roles, styles, and functions
- police powers and legal protection
- the courts
- court role and structure
- major actors in the Canadian system
- sentencing
- corrections
- probation and community corrections
- jails and penitentiaries
- conditional release
- parole (federal and provincial)
- Current issues and challenges for reform such as:
- criminal justice for youth
- mental health
- Indigenous justice
- restorative justice
- diversity
- fear of crime
- community-based policing
- sentencing
- community court
- crime prevention
- Future Directions
The course will employ a variety of instructional methods to accomplish its objectives, including some of the following: lectures, and may include field trips, guest speakers, audio-visual presentations, debates, and individual readings by students.
Evaluation will be based on course objectives and will be carried out in accordance with Douglas College policy. The course will include multiple methods of evaluation including at least one written component. The instructor will provide a written course outline with specific criteria during the first week of classes.
An example of a possible evaluation scheme would be:
Attendance and participation tasks | 10% |
Group presentation (with written outline) | 10% |
Annotated biolography | 15% |
Term paper (e.g. argumentative essay, policy development, case analysis, journal, blogs, reflective essay) | 20% |
Midterm (contains writing component such as short or long essay, critique, case analysis) | 20% |
Final (contains writing component such as short or long essay, critique, case analysis) | 25% |
Total | 100% |
At the conclusion of the course the successful student will be able to:
- Analyze criminal justice from a systems perspective
- Identify sources of criminal law and explain its relevance to criminal justice in Canada
- Describe crime control philosophy and its influence on criminal justice policy
- Analyze and interpret crime and victimization patterns and trends
- Explain the role of the public and media in criminal justice
- Describe the progression of an offender through the subcomponents of the Canadian criminal justice system
- Describe the structure and function of the following components of criminal justice:
- the police
- the courts
- corrections
- Identify current criminal justice issues and challenges for reform.
Texts will be updated periodically. Typical examples are:
- Curt T. Griffiths, 2015. Canadian Criminal Justice: A Primer, 5th Ed. Scarborough: Thomson Nelson.
- Goff, Colin, 2016. Criminal Justice in Canada , 7th Edition. Scarborough: Thomson Nelson.
- Roberts, Julian and Grossman, Michelle, 2016. Criminal Justice in Canada: A Reader, 5th Ed. Scarborough: Thomson Nelson.
Requisites
Prerequisites
No prerequisite courses.
Corequisites
No corequisite courses.
Equivalencies
No equivalent courses.
Course Guidelines
Course Guidelines for previous years are viewable by selecting the version desired. If you took this course and do not see a listing for the starting semester / year of the course, consider the previous version as the applicable version.
Course Transfers
These are for current course guidelines only. For a full list of archived courses please see https://www.bctransferguide.ca
Institution | Transfer Details for CRIM 1100 |
---|---|
Alexander College (ALEX) | ALEX SOSC 1XX (3) |
Camosun College (CAMO) | CAMO CRIM 154 (3) |
College of the Rockies (COTR) | COTR CRIM 131 (3) |
Justice Institute of BC (JIBC) | JIBC INVE 1000 (1) or JIBC LAWS 1202 (3) |
Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) | KPU CRIM 1101 (3) |
Langara College (LANG) | LANG CRIM 1115 (3) |
North Island College (NIC) | NIC CRM 131 (3) |
Okanagan College (OC) | OC CRIM 121 (3) |
Simon Fraser University (SFU) | SFU CRIM 131 (3) |
Thompson Rivers University (TRU) | TRU CRIM 1161 (3) |
Trinity Western University (TWU) | TWU HUMA 1XX (3) |
University of British Columbia - Okanagan (UBCO) | UBCO SOCI_O 249 (3) |
University of British Columbia - Vancouver (UBCV) | UBCV SOCI_V 2nd (3) |
University of Northern BC (UNBC) | UNBC SOSC 1XX (3) |
University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) | UFV CRIM 103 (3) |
University of Victoria (UVIC) | UVIC SOCI 1XX (1.5) |
Vancouver Island University (VIU) | VIU CRIM 131 (3) |
Course Offerings
Winter 2025
CRN | Days | Instructor | Status | More details |
---|---|---|---|---|
CRN
12417
|
Tue | Instructor Last Name
Jantti
Instructor First Name
Hannele
|
Course Status
Open
|
See Legal Studies (LGST) for other university transferable law and legal system courses.
CRN | Days | Instructor | Status | More details |
---|---|---|---|---|
CRN
12610
|
Thu | Instructor Last Name
Ivers
Instructor First Name
Aaren
|
Course Status
Open
|
See Legal Studies (LGST) for other university transferable law and legal system courses.
CRN | Days | Instructor | Status | More details |
---|---|---|---|---|
CRN
12729
|
Wed | Instructor Last Name
de Beer
Instructor First Name
Beth
|
Course Status
Open
|
See Legal Studies (LGST) for other university transferable law and legal system courses.
CRN | Days | Instructor | Status | More details |
---|---|---|---|---|
CRN
13236
|
Fri | Instructor Last Name
Jantti
Instructor First Name
Hannele
|
Course Status
Open
|
See Legal Studies (LGST) for other university transferable law and legal system courses.
CRN | Days | Instructor | Status | More details |
---|---|---|---|---|
CRN
13436
|
Thu | Instructor Last Name
TBA
Instructor First Name
(Faculty)
|
Course Status
Open
|
See Legal Studies (LGST) for other university transferable law and legal system courses.
CRN | Days | Instructor | Status | More details |
---|---|---|---|---|
CRN
13437
|
Tue | Instructor Last Name
Chang
Instructor First Name
Tara
|
Course Status
Open
|
See Legal Studies (LGST) for other university transferable law and legal system courses.
CRN | Days | Instructor | Status | More details |
---|---|---|---|---|
CRN
14053
|
Instructor Last Name
de Beer
Instructor First Name
Beth
|
Course Status
Open
|
See Legal Studies (LGST) for other university transferable law and legal system courses.
CRN | Days | Instructor | Status | More details |
---|---|---|---|---|
CRN
16154
|
Wed | Instructor Last Name
TBA
Instructor First Name
(Faculty)
|
Course Status
Open
|
See Legal Studies (LGST) for other university transferable law and legal system courses.