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 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:
|
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