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 Douglas College policy. 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.