AP/CRIM 1650 6.00

Introduction To Criminology

This course provides students with a general introduction to the field of criminology. Recognizing that “crime” and “criminal justice” are social products rather than objective facts, and acknowledging the various tensions between the image and the reality of crime and criminal justice in our society, the course examines three key topic areas including: (1) the definition, measurement, and causes of criminal behaviour, (2) the effects of gender, age, class, and race on rates and perceptions of crime and the administration of criminal justice, (3) morality offenses such as drug use, prostitution, and corporate and white-collar crime, and (4) the impact of the media and the political process on representations of crime and the design of criminal justice policies. By challenging these claims and exposing the myths that underlie them, the course will lay the groundwork for a more sophisticated approach to the “crime problem” in Canada.