Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Prof.:
Dr. Julian Hermida
Course number: 2180
Teaching hours: Tuesdays/Thursdays 11.35-12.55
Term: Fall and Winter
Office: Room 2131
Tel.: 494-6278
Office hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1 to 1.30 pm, Tuesdays from 6.15 to 6.45 pm, or by appointment (Fall).
Winter office hours may change. If so, they will be announced in class at the beginning of the winter term and posted on the course website.
Email address: julian.hermida@dal.ca
The objectives of the course are
to introduce students to the social scientific study of criminal behavior. The class
will examine the notion of crime as a social phenomenon, the theories of crime,
the development of criminal law, the methods and strategies to control criminal
behavior and the main research findings in
criminology. Additionally, the class will delve into the study of the structure
and impact of the criminal justice system, with emphasis on contemporary
Canadian criminal justice.
The course also aims at helping students
develop critical thinking, research, and writing skills. This class provides a
general understanding of sociology of crime and criminal justice and a sound
basis for further study in the area of social order and human justice.
· Knowledge is a constantly evolving process, which can be constructed personally and collectively.
· From an individual perspective, knowledge is personal, socially and historically contextualized, and dependent on psychological variables.
· From the class perspective, knowledge is a collective construction, where all participants can make their contribution.
· In the process of constructing knowledge, there is a dialectic relationship between action and reflection, where one feeds the other and vice versa.
· Successful learning is based on a personal involvement of students in their own learning.
· The learning environment, including the teaching methods, the teacher’s attitude, and the class atmosphere, among other factors, is determinative of the students’ approach to learning, as well as, the learning outcomes.
· The role of the teacher is that of a facilitator and tutor rather than a lecturer.
· Student peers are a powerful source of learning.
Evaluation is conceived mainly as formative.
This course is
conceived so that students can:
1.
Understand crime
as a social phenomenon.
1.1 Understand criminal behavior, and crime
control as social phenomena.
2.
Appreciate and
view crime from a sociological perspective.
2.1. Understand the methods used
by criminologists.
3.
Critically evaluate
the major theories and fundamental concepts in criminology 3.1. Analyze the
basic theories of crime.
3.2
Be familiar with
the major schools of criminology.
3.3
Be aware of the
development of sociological criminology.
3.4
Understand the
basic concepts, topics, issues, and terminology used by criminologists.
4.
Be aware of the
influence of race, ethnicity, gender, immigration status, and social class on
the process of defining criminality and the process of labeling criminals.
5.
Critically
analyze the structure of the criminal justice system and the impact of the
criminal justice system.
5.1. Understand the different models of
conceiving the justice system.
5.2. Value and appreciate the significance of
rights and guarantees in the Canadian criminal justice system.
5.3. Comprehend the differences between
individual rights and social control perspectives.
5.4. Critically assess the prevailing theory of
offense and crime participation in the Canadian criminal justice system.
6.
Apply
sociological theories of crime to a myriad of contemporary criminology and
criminal justice problems.
6.1. Use the knowledge on sociological theories
of crime and criminal justice to analyze contemporary problems of Canadian
society.
6.2. Apply the theories on crime and criminal
justice to propose solutions to some of the current crime problems of Canadian
society.
6.3. Critically reflect on media reports and
cultural products concerning crime and criminality.
Deploy a range of advanced transferable skills, such as, oral and
written communication skills, the accurate exposition of complex arguments and
sets of research findings, the critical evaluation of competing explanations or
complex arguments relating to some criminology and criminal justice sensitive
topics.
Classroom activities will be designed to encourage students to play an
active role in the construction of their own knowledge and in the design of
their own learning strategies.
We will combine traditional lectures with other active teaching
methodologies, such as group discussions, cooperative group solving problems,
analysis of video segments depicting scenes relevant to criminology and
criminal justice topics, debates, and construction of web sites. Class
participation is a fundamental aspect of this course. Students will be
encouraged to actively take part in all group activities and to give short oral
group presentations throughout the course. Students will be expected to
interact with media resources, such as, web sites, videos, DVDs, etc. In line
with the postulates of Writing Across the Curriculum, writing will be
integrated in all class assignments.
Evaluation is conceived mainly as formative and feedback will be
provided all throughout the course. While strictly respecting University,
Faculty and Department standards and policies, reasonable efforts will be made
to include shared evaluation practices, i.e., a process where students have an
active role in their own evaluation.
The evaluation of the students’ achievement of the objectives of the
course will be based on five main components: an essay or oral presentation,
class participation/portfolio, and three exams. The first exam accounts for 30%
of the final grade. Each of last two exams accounts for 20%. The essay or oral
presentation accounts for 10% of the final grade and class
participation/portfolio accounts for 20%.
Successful attainment of objectives depends mainly on class attendance
and active class participation.
EXAMS
Students will discuss and propose good-faith questions for each of the
exams based on the topics dealt with in the course. If the questions have a
general consensus they will be part of a test bank. The exams will only contain
questions that have been included in the test bank.
Passing requirements and scale of
evaluation: The definitive
evaluation criteria for the exams will be given to the students once the test
bank has been completed. In general, however, a positive response must be given
to the following questions in order to obtain full grade for each question in
the exam. The criteria are formulated in the form of questions. The value of
each evaluation criterion will also be given once the test bank for each exam
is completed.
1. Did you answer the question comprehensively? Are all relevant problems discussed? Was the answer readable and well organized? Did you make connections between issues discussed in your answer? Did your answer show an understanding of the topic dealt with?
2. Did your answer discuss problems by reference to theoretical issues learned during the course? Did your answer show an understanding of the appropriate readings or class discussions? Did your answer show an understanding of the discussions and issues arisen in class? Did your answer make reference to class discussions, activities, and readings?
3. Is there a critical personal assessment of the topic discussed? Does the personal assessment show some originality?
CLASS PARTICIPATION-PORTFOLIO
Students are expected to actively participate in every class with a
positive attitude and to treat their classmates and instructor with respect.
Their participation must make a positive impact on the class activities. Students
are expected to be prepared for every class. Class attendance is a prerequisite
to obtain the corresponding percentage of the grade under the class
participation-portfolio category. Students are expected to create a portfolio
to record all class assignments. Each portfolio will include, at least, the
following materials: (i) a title page and a table of contents; (ii) all class
activities, including one minute papers, small group activities and proposals
for the test banks made in class, and (iii) a short summary essay on two of the
activities included in the portfolio. The idea is to complete these two
activities with knowledge acquired in the course after we originally did those
two activities.
Portfolios will be turned in for review and feedback at least once
during the year. A major prerequisite for the creation of a good portfolio is
active participation in every class assignment. The deadline to hand in the
portfolio is March 23, 2006 in class.
Passing requirements and scale of
evaluation: a positive response must be given to the
following questions in to obtain the maximum grade within this evaluation
component. The criteria are formulated in the form of questions which the
teacher will ask with respect to each student. All these criteria have the same
value.
ESSAY OR ORAL PRESENTATION
Students may choose to write an essay or give
an oral presentation. The deadline for communicating the option is September
29, 2005.
Students who do not make an explicit option by
the deadline will have to write an essay unless there are some available spots
for a presentation.
Oral presentation
Students must select a topic for the oral presentation together with the
professor. Students may conduct the presentation individually or in teams made
up of 3 or 4 students.
Students are expected to research about the topic and to read from
several sources for the presentation. The oral presentation may consist of a
short talk, a discussion led by the students, a debate among the members of the
group or between the team and the rest of the class, a panel discussion, or any
other form. The students are free to structure the presentation as they deem
fit and to make use of any available audiovisual resources. The oral
presentation will last a maximum of 15 minutes. During the preparation of the
presentation, students are welcome to meet with the professor for consultation,
suggestions, and feedback on the evolution of the presentation. Students will
have to present an outline of the presentation to the professor at least one
week before the day of the presentation. The outline will have to include the
equipment needed for the presentation, if any. During the presentation, the
professor’s role will be limited to listening passively. The rest of the class
must actively participate in the presentation as an active audience. The
professor will provide feedback after the presentation is over.
Passing requirements and scale of
evaluation: a positive
response must be given to the following questions in order to approve the
presentation. The criteria are formulated in the form of questions which the
teacher will ask with respect to each presentation. All these criteria have the
same value.
1. Does the presentation deal with the selected topic? Does the presentation show an understanding of topic dealt with?
2. Does the presentation show a clear, coherent, and comprehensive treatment of the selected topic?
3. Does the presentation integrate knowledge acquired throughout the course?
4. Is there a critical personal assessment of the topic presented? In other words, the presentation is not a mere repetition of the main ideas exposed in the texts assigned as compulsory bibliography.
5. Have the students engaged the audience throughout the presentation?
Essay
The topic of the critical research essay must be selected from the topics actually discussed in class. Other Criminology or Criminal Justice topics need the previous authorization of the professor. It is expected that the length of the research paper will not exceed 10 double-spaced pages.
Passing requirements and scale of evaluation: a positive response must be given to the following
questions in order to approve the research paper. The criteria are formulated
in the form of questions which the teacher will ask with respect to each paper.
All these criteria have the same value.
1. Does the research paper adequately deal with the selected topic? Does the research paper show an understanding of the topic dealt with?
2. Does the research paper show a clear, coherent, and comprehensive treatment of the selected topic?
3. Does the research paper integrate knowledge acquired throughout the course?
4. Does the research paper make reference to class discussions and activities?
5. Does the research paper follow the style, language, citation method, and organization analyzed in class?
Grading system
A+: 95-100 B+: 80-84 C+: 65-69 D: 50-54
A: 90-94 B: 75-79 C: 60-64 F: 0-49
A-: 85-89 B-: 70-74 C-: 55-59
The curriculum is flexible and is open to suggestions from students. We can examine criminology and criminal justice issues of interest to most students, even if they are not listed here. The following is a sample of issues which we will most probably be discussing. Note that we may not examine every single topic listed here.
1. A brief history of criminology
2. Gender and crimes
3. Victims and victimization
4. Theories of victimization
5. Criminal Law and its Process
6. Theory of offense
7. Restorative justice
8. Choice Theory
9. Trait theories: biological and psychological trait theories
10. Social structure theories
11. The Chicago School
12. Violent crimes
13. Violence against women
14. Strain theory
15. Merton and Durkheim
16. Theory of anomie
17. Cultural deviance theory
18. Terrorism
19. International crimes
20. Property crimes
21. Social Process theories
22. Social learning theory
23. Labeling theory
24. Primary and secondary deviance
25. Substance abuse and crime
26. Social conflict theory
27. Marxist criminology
28. Radical feminist theory
29. Marxist feminism
30. Peacemaking criminology
31. Culpable and non culpable homicides
32. Public order crimes
33. Corporate crime
34. Canadian criminal justice system
35. Sentencing
36. Crime participation
37. The police
38. Correctional institutions
39. Release and re-entry
40. The courts
CLASS SCHEDULE
This is a tentative calendar of readings and class activities. If class discussions
or class activities take longer than originally estimated because everybody
gets involved, they will not be cut short to follow this schedule of readings.
They will simply be put off for the following class or rescheduled.
Additionally, the teacher may substitute new topics for some of the ones
included in this schedule, particularly if most students show an interest for
some topics not planned to be covered. Changes to this schedule, including
changes of midterm dates, will be announced in class and posted on the course
website. Although reference is made to pages and chapters from the recommended
textbooks, students can read these topics from any other Criminology or
Criminal Justice book, respectively.
|
Date |
Topic |
Readings |
|
September 8 |
Introduction and
orientation |
|
|
September 13 |
Criminology views
and introduction to Criminology. |
Chapter 1 from
Criminology book. |
|
September 15 |
Process |
Pages 146 to 167 and chapter 8 from Criminal Justice
book |
|
September
20, 22, October 4, 6 and 18 |
Theory
of offense |
Chapter
2 from Criminology book and class notes. |
|
September
27 and 29 |
Sexual
assault |
Pages
284 to 290 from Criminology book and class notes. |
|
September 29 |
Methods of data collection |
Pages 41 to 69 from Criminology book. |
|
October 10 |
Crime patterns |
Pages 69 to 80 from Criminology book. |
|
October 13 |
Victims |
Chapter 4 from Criminology book. |
|
October 25 and 27 |
Restorative Justice |
Pages 250 to 251 from Criminology book and 31to 33, 139, 195, 192 and 202 from Criminal Justice book. |
|
November 3 |
FIRST MID TERM |
|
|
November 8 |
Money Laundering |
Class notes. |
|
November 15 and 17 |
Classical and Neoclassical school of criminology |
Chapter 5 from Criminology book. |
|
November 22 and 24 |
Stalking |
Class notes |
|
November 29 |
Death Penalty |
Pages 130 to 131 from Criminology book and class notes. |
|
January 3, 5, and 24 |
Homicides |
Chapter 290 to 294 from Criminology book and class notes. |
|
January 10 |
Positivist school of Criminology |
Chapter 6 from Criminology book. |
|
January 17 |
Social Control and Strain theories |
Chapters 7 and 8 from Criminology book. |
|
January 19 |
Labeling theory |
Chapter 8 from Criminology book. |
|
January 24 |
Sentencing |
Chapter 6 from Criminal Justice book. |
|
January 31 |
Feminist criminology |
Pages 247 to 250 from Criminology book and class notes. |
|
February 7 |
SECOND MIDTERM |
|
|
February 9 |
Corporate crimes |
Chapter 13 from Criminology book. |
|
February 14 and 16 |
Participation |
Class notes. |
|
February 28 and March 2 |
Parole and probation |
Chapter 8 from Criminal Justice book. |
|
March 14 |
Critical Criminology |
Chapter 9 from Criminology book. |
|
March 16 |
Kidnappings and abductions |
Class notes. |
|
March 21 |
Substance abuse and crime |
Criminology book page 383 and class notes. |
|
March 23: |
Integrated theories of crime |
Chapter 10 from Criminology book. |
|
March 30 |
THIRD MIDTERM |
|
|
April 4 and 6 |
|
·
Canadian Criminal Justice Today: A Primer, by Curt T.
Griffiths and Alison Hatch Cunningham (Toronto: Nelson Thomson
Learning, 2003)
A web site for the course is available at http://www.julianhermida.com Students will be able to consult the course outline, test banks, class notes, and other useful information.
All important announcements, such as exam dates, presentation dates,
reading assignments, and deadlines are given in class and will not appear on the
web site.
ETHICS
None of the activities imply interviewing or interacting with human beings outside the classroom. However, if students want to interview or interact with people for any of these activities please contact the teacher well in advance to comply with ethics requirements.
OFFICE HOURS POLICY
In these large classes, it is sometimes difficult to get to know each and every one of my students. So, I would like to meet personally with as many of you as possible during the term. Please come see me during my office hours. I am available not only for class help but also for other academic-related issues, such as writing letters of reference or helping with prospective graduate studies. I want to be available to answer questions for all students. So in addition to regular office hours and seeing me by appointment, I will every so often end class early, and invite students who have questions to meet with me right then and there. Also note that if access to the second floor is barred after 5 PM, please call me from downstairs and I will go down and let you in.
PLAGIARISM
Dalhousie University now subscribes
to Turnitin.com, a computer based
service which checks for originality in submitted papers. Any paper submitted
by a student at Dalhousie University may be checked for originality to confirm
that the student has not plagiarized from other sources. Plagiarism is
considered a serious academic offence which may lead to loss of credit,
suspension or expulsion from the University, or even the revocation of a
degree. It is essential that there be correct attribution of authorities from
which facts and opinions have been derived. At Dalhousie there are University
Regulations which deal with plagiarism and, prior to submitting any paper in a
course, students should read the Policy on Intellectual Honesty contained in
the Calendar or on the Dalhousie web site at: http://www.registrar.dal.ca/calendar/ug/UREG.htm
- 12.
The Senate has affirmed the right of any
instructor to require that student papers be submitted in both written and
computer readable format, and to submit any paper to a check such as that
performed by Turnitin.com. As a student in this class, you are to keep an
electronic copy of any paper you submit, and the course instructor may require
you to submit that electronic copy on demand. Copies of student papers checked
by this process will be retained by TurnitIn.com.
STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
There are various university polices and
procedures regarding university student disability issues. Student
Accessibility Services handles the process of identifying students with
disabilities, the types of accommodations appropriate for each student, and
helps provide those accommodations. Students with disabilities should
register as quickly as possible at Student Accessibility Services if they want
to receive academic accommodations. To
do so, students may phone 494-2836, e-mail <disabilities@da.ca>, or drop
in at the Killam, G28. For
more information, consult the SAS website at http://www.dal.ca/~services/ssd.html#learnproc.