Criminalization and Regulation
I no longer teach this course. Please see the website of Professor Carmela Murdocca.
This course provides an introduction to critical issues concerning the study of crime and regulation in Canada. While a range of criminological theories will be explored, the critical analysis which will be undertaken is motivated by a specific interest in social justice. We will explore a range of theoretical approaches and conceptual tools with the objective of not only better understanding crime and its regulation in Canada, but of challenging injustices in the criminal justice system. You should be aware, therefore, that this course explores and challenges mainstream approaches to crime and criminality. This is a course for people willing to undertake these challenges.
Much of people’s knowledge about crime and criminality is derived not from their own experience, but from media and popular culture. We will explore representations of crime and criminality in media and popular culture in order to challenge the myths and stereotypes that surround crime. We will explore the relationship between processes of criminalization and the intersecting systems of race, class, gender, sexualities, and nation building. We will unpack crime as a social ‘fact’, and turn a critical eye to the explanation, measurement and administration of crime. This aim of this course is to expose the complexity of the issues and the debates surrounding crime and the process of criminalization.
