York University
Liberal Arts & Professional Studies
AP/SOCI 3810 6.0A / AP HREQ 3810
Criminalization and Regulation
Fall/Winter 2014-2015
Wednesdays: 2:30pm to 4:20 pm, CLH D
Professor Carmela Murdocca
Office: 2100 Vari Hall
Email: murdocca@yorku.ca
Course Description
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 advanced in this course 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 processes of criminalization. It is assumed that you already
possess good critical thinking, research and writing skills, and are capable of undertaking
an analysis which accounts for the intersecting systems of race, class, gender, sexualities
and nation building.
The specific learning objectives of this course are that students will be able to:
1. critically examine theoretical debates and methodological frameworks pertinent to
the study of crime and criminalization;
2. develop interdisciplinary approaches to the consideration of socio-legal processes;
3. build writing and research skills in the field of socio-legal studies;
4. develop the ability to apply conceptual and theoretical ideas to particular
empirical sites and case studies.
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Course Evaluation:
Fall Midterm Test
15%
Fall Term In Class Exam
20%
Tutorial Attendance and Participation
20%
Critical Media Analysis Assignment
25%
Final In Class Exam
20%
Evaluation Breakdown
20% Tutorial Attendance and Participation (10% per term):
Your seminar participation is an important component of this course. It provides you
with the opportunity to challenge yourself, and to think through ideas collectively,
through your active participation. We encourage your informed participation in the
seminars and are more concerned with the quality of your verbal participation than the
quantity. We expect that your comments and questions will be based upon your critical
reflections on, and engagement with, the course readings and lecture material.
Seminars require a high level of student participation. Students are evaluated on the basis
of both quality and quantity of participation.
Grades for participation will take into consideration:
•
Attendance
•
Demonstrated grasp of the weekly readings.
•
Expressed familiarity with course lecture content.
•
An analytic and thoughtful approach to the topic in question.
•
The clarity and originality of thoughts and opinions expressed during seminar
discussions.
Opinions unaccompanied by an analysis that reflects critically on course readings, films,
and lectures are to be avoided. Half of this grade will be provided at the conclusion of
the fall term.
Weekly Critical Reflection
You will write a short (paragraph) critical reflection before your arrival to your tutorial.
Typically, your critical reflection will respond to at least one of the questions listed in the
syllabus for that week. They will contain analytic content that reflects upon readings and
lecture for that week. Your TA may ask you to undertake an alternative exercise to this
format.
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Your critical reflection provides your TA with the basis for an ongoing assessment of
your progress in the course. As well, they provide a context for ongoing written
reflection, a process which will prepare you for longer writing projects. You are strongly
encouraged to refer to your critical reflection during seminar discussion. Statements of
personal opinion must express an informed critical reflection on course material, making
direct reference to that material.
Critical reflections do influence your participation mark. However, they will not be
individually graded. Critical reflections are the means by which seminar leaders keep
attendance. If you do not submit a critical reflection in the seminar, you will not be
counted as present. For this reason, late critical reflections are not accepted.
15% Fall Midterm Test
This will be an in class test designed to provide you with an early assessment of your
progress in the course. The test will consist of one essay question.
20% Fall Term In Class Exam
This will be an in class exam designed to assess your familiarity and comprehension with
the material covered in the Fall term.
20% Final Exam
This will be an in class exam designed to assess your familiarity and comprehension with
the material covered in the Winter term.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR CRITICAL MEDIA ANALYSIS ASSIGNMENT
25% Media Essay Assignment - DUE FEBRUARY 4, 2015
PURPOSE
This assignment will have you reflect on course material. It is assumed that the analyses
provided in the course will inform the work that you do for this assignment. You are
strongly encouraged to meet with your Teaching Assistant in order to discuss the
suitability of your research, prior to submitting your assignment.
The assignment requires you to undertake an analysis of the politics of representation of
crime and criminalization in a particular media story. You will select a set of newspaper
articles where crime and criminality are a theme. The assignment requires that you follow
a news stories over a period of time, or assemble a log of newspaper clippings on a given
story. At least three newspaper articles on a given story are required for this assignment
(though you can examine additional articles).
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When selecting your news story, ask yourself the following questions: What is it about
this account that interests me? What makes it suitable for this exercise? Is the content
sufficient for developing an engaging analysis, one that fully meets the criteria for this
assignment?
In addressing the politics of representation, you are required to produce a critical media
analysis that includes an intersecting analysis of your text. Given that race, gender, class,
and age are intersecting variables, this paper requires that you demonstrate how an
intersecting analysis is relevant to the context you have chosen to explore. You will need
to account for how, for example, gender, race and age are constructed simultaneously to
produce a particular kind of representation.
We want to know what you have learned through this exercise. How does this exercise
reveal the importance of the politics of representation? How does it make clear the
importance of critical criminology? What questions does the exercise raise for you, as
you reflect upon the practices of the criminal justice system? Be sure to draw upon
course lectures and readings as you prepare your responses to these questions.
ORGANIZATION
This assignment has been designed to allow you to recognize the strong impact that the
media has on what we know about crime and process of criminalization. The purpose of
this assignment is to turn you into a critical thinker, and think outside the box regarding
what sort of messages are being produced about crime and criminalization. Your essay
should include:
1. An introductory paragraph with a clear thesis statement.
2. A brief description of the news story that you have chosen (no more than a page).
3. A demonstration of what the news story reveals about processes of
criminalization.
4. A demonstration of some of the ways in which race, gender, class and age as
intersecting variables operate in the news item that you have chosen.
5. Evidence of substantive engagement with course material (at least 6 sources
derived from course readings or lectures).
6. Evidence of research outside of course material (at least 2 sources).
7. A bibliography in an academic referencing format.
FORMAT
Your essay should be approximately 10 pages in length (12pt. font, double spaced, typed,
and stapled), or approximately 2500 words. Be succinct and effective in your content
delivery. Always include page numbers for citations or quotes from the assigned reading.
Properly number the pages (page 1 is the first text page). For any additional citations,
please use any conventional academic referencing format such as APA, MLA or Chicago
Style. If you have not already done so, it may be helpful to choose a reference style, learn
it well, and employ it consistently in your academic writing. This will save you time and
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effort as you proceed in your academic career and make it easier to submit your work for
publication if you choose to do so. You can find a guide to referencing styles here:
http://www.library.yorku.ca/ccm/Home/ResearchAndInstruction/citationmgmt/
Please follow APA, MLA or the Chicago Style. Staple the paper in the upper left-hand
corner. Do not use a report cover.
A minimum of 8 sources must be consulted in a substantive way (they must make a
theoretical or empirical contribution to your research essay), and be cited in your
references. At least 6 of these should be selected from a range of course readings
(including supplementary readings) and lectures, and at least 2 of these from your
independent library research. Avoid over reliance on one or two sources.
The newspaper articles that you use should be submitted with your assignment.
Newspaper articles should be derived from newspaper databases available through the
York University library.
Reading kit material must be cited using original publication information, not by the
citation of the bookstore reading package.
LOGISTICS and ACADEMIC HONESTY
Thoroughly review and edit your paper prior to submitting it. Students are expected to
acquaint themselves with the rules of plagiarism that govern exercises of this kind.
Please keep a copy of all work submitted even after it has been marked and returned.
Neither the instructor nor the Department is responsible for work lost. In the event that an
assignment is submitted but cannot be located, you will be required to submit another
copy immediately.
Your TA may be consulted at any stage of the research process. However, TA’s may not
be available for consultation on substantive issues in the week prior to the final due date.
Note: Please review York University’s Senate Policy on Academic Honesty found
here: http://www.yorku.ca/secretariat/policies/document.php?document=69
For further information please see the Academic Honesty Tutorial:
http://www.yorku.ca/tutorial/academic_integrity/index.html
EVALUATION
Writing should be clear, direct and grammatically correct. Your ideas will enjoy a better
reception if they are expressed with clarity. Grading is a difficult task. The following is
meant to outline the marking rubric that will be used in the evaluation of your essays.
These are the criteria that will be evaluated:
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a) grammatical sentence structure (i.e., syntax);
b) clear and precise use of language (i.e., clear definition of terms when they are carrying
meanings beyond those of vernacular usage);
c) clear articulation of the theme (or problem) that the essay addresses;
d) coherent development of the argument advanced or the theme explored in the essay
(i.e., the use of explicit transitions from one idea to the next and the demonstration of the
relevance of ideas discussed and points raised to the main theme, problem or argument);
e) skilful marshalling of evidence;
f) careful documentation of sources;
g) illuminating interpretation of sources (through location of the source in relation to its
social/historical context and through explication of the source's implicit meanings or the
uncovering of its hidden assumptions, inconsistencies, or contradictions);
h) insightful exposition of connections between and among readings, points or ideas;
i) adherence to requirements of the assignment.
ASSIGNMENT SUBMISSION
Essay assignments are to be handed at the start of lecture on the due date specified.
LATENESS PENALTY
Assignments received later than the due date will be penalized. Late essay proposals and
essays will be penalized at -5% OF THE VALUE OF THE ASSIGNMENT PER
DAY. In order to receive an extension for medical reasons, you MUST have the
ATTENDING PHYSICIAN form completed and signed by your medical
practitioner. You can access the form here: http://www.yorku.ca/roweb/pdf/
attend_physician_statement.pdf?
CONSULTING YOUR TEACHING ASSISTANT
Teaching Assistants lead seminars, as well as mark all tests and assignments for their
seminar groups. Your TA is thus in the best position to assess your progress in the
course, and may supply additional in-seminar exercises or pedagogical materials
designed to enhance your comprehension of course materials. In a course of this size,
Teaching Assistants also provide a vital link between the Course Director and the
students. When you have questions or concerns about the course that cannot be answered
through reference to the syllabus, please consult your TA as soon as possible. When
appropriate, the TA will communicate your questions and concerns to the Course
Director.
Your TA will provide you with her/his office hours and office location. Please note that
email communication, while convenient, can add significantly to TA workload. Your TA
will provide you with a contact email address, and inform you of her/his schedule for
checking and responding to student queries. This means that you should not expect an
immediate response to your emails.
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Any specific concerns about the evaluation of your work must first be addressed with
your TA.
OVERALL COURSE GRADE
To receive a passing grade in this course, you must demonstrate knowledge of course
readings and lectures, and attend lectures and seminars regularly.
• In order to achieve a C range grade in this course, you must demonstrate an adequate
grasp of the course material. C range students have accurately memorized and can
effectively recall and repeat this material verbally and in writing.
• In order to achieve a B range grade in this course, you must go beyond accurate
memorization and repetition. B range students also demonstrate good analytic abilities.
They are able to engage in abstract thinking, verbally and in writing. They can connect
seemingly diverse issues, and use the theoretical and conceptual tools which guide our
work in this course to frame their analysis of these issues. They will also be able to
creatively and effectively extend the analysis developed in this course to every day
objects and practices in the world around them.
• In order to achieve an A range grade in this course, you must demonstrate a thorough
grasp of the course materials and analytic framework. A range students must
demonstrate excellent analytic abilities, verbally and in writing. You will meet all of the
expectations of B range students, but complete these expectations extremely well.
REQUIRED TEXTS
Professor Carmela Murdocca. AS/SOCI3810 6.O Section A Criminalization and
Regulation. York University Bookstore, 2011-12. This is a course kit. Please cite articles
using the original publication information.
Brock, Deborah, Amanda Glasbeek and Carmela Murdocca, Criminalization,
Representation, Regulation, eds. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2014.
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Course Schedule
Sept 10
Introduction to Course and Course Organization
Sept 17
What is Crime?
What is crime? What are the challenges when defining crime and criminality?
“Introduction: Thinking Differently about Crime” Brock, Deborah, Amanda Glasbeek
and Carmela Murdocca, eds. Criminalization, Representation, Regulation. Toronto:
University of Toronto Press, 2014.
Kramer, Kirsten, ed. “Chapter 1: What is Crime?,” Criminology: Critical Canadian
Perspectives, 1st edition, p. 3-14. [course kit]
Gabor, Thomas. Everybody Does It! Crime by the Public, Toronto: University of Toronto
Press, 1994, p. xi-xiv. [course kit]
Sept 24
Counting Crime
What is the incidence and prevalence of crime in Canada? What factors make crime
difficult to measure?
Mopas, Michael. “The Politics of Counting Crime” Brock, Deborah, Amanda Glasbeek
and Carmela Murdocca, eds. Criminalization, Representation, Regulation. Toronto:
University of Toronto Press, 2014.
Haggerty, Kevin D., “Chapter 3: Canadian Criminal Statistics,” Criminology: Critical
Canadian Perspectives, Kirsten Kramer, ed., 1st edition, p. 33-55.
CBC News, “Crime rate falls to lowest level since 1973.” [Moodle]
See also: Statistics Canada. Crime and Justice Statistics, http://www.statcan.ca
Oct 1
Discipline and Punish
How can Michel Foucault’s insights enrich our research on the regulation of crime?
What cautions need to be issued?
Foucault, Michel. Discipline and Punish. New York: Vintage, 1979. Selections: ‘The
Body of the Condemned,’ p.3-16, ‘Panopticism,’ p. 200-203. [course kit]
Murdocca, Carmela. “Michel Foucault: Theories and ‘Method.’ Brock, Deborah,
Amanda Glasbeek and Carmela Murdocca, eds. Criminalization, Representation,
Regulation. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2014.
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Rose, Nikolas. Governing the Soul: The Shaping of the Private Self. London: Free
Association Books, Second Edition, 1999, p.1-11. [course kit]
Oct 8
The Politics of Representation
What are the politics of representation? What is discourse? Why is an analysis of the
politics of representation critical to challenging our assumptions about crime and
criminality?
Khan, Ummni. “The Politics of Representation.” Brock, Deborah, Amanda Glasbeek and
Carmela Murdocca, eds. Criminalization, Representation, Regulation. Toronto:
University of Toronto Press, 2014.
Pickering, Michael. Stereotyping: The Politics of Representation. New York: Palgrave,
2001, x-xv. [course kit]
Lenz, Timothy. “How to Read What You Watch,” Changing Images of Law in Film and
Television Crime Stories New York: Peter Lang, 2003, p.17-21. [course kit]
Oct 15
Law, Nation-Building and Colonialism in Canada
Why is colonialism central to understanding crime in Canada? How can a historical
perspective assist us in problematizing the notion of crime? What is the role of moral
regulation? What does it mean to undertake a historical and spatial analysis of crime?
Razack, Sherene H. “When Place Becomes Race,” Race, Space and the Law: Unmapping
a White Settler Society. Toronto: Between the Lines, 2002, 1-20. [course kit]
Strange, Carolyn and Tina Loo. Making Good: Law and Moral Regulation in Canada,
1867-1939. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1991, p. 3-36. [course kit]
Razack, Sherene H. “Gendered Racial Violence and Spatialized Justice: The Murder of
Pamela George,” Race, Space and the Law: Unmapping a White Settler Society.
Toronto: Between the Lines, 2002, p. 121-156. [course kit]
Oct 22
In Class Midterm Test
Nov 5
Racialization and Criminalization
How is the process of criminalization also racialized? What are the politics of
racialization, criminalization and representation? What is the relationship between
colonization and racialization?
Murdocca, Carmela. “Racialization, Criminalization, Representation.” Brock, Deborah,
Amanda Glasbeek and Carmela Murdocca, eds. Criminalization, Representation,
Regulation. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2014.
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Jiwani, Yasmin. “The Criminalization of ‘Race,’ the Racialization of Crime,” Crimes of
Colour: Racialization and the Criminal Justice System in Canada Wendy Chan and
Kiran Mirchandani, eds. Peterborough, Ontario: Broadview Press. Peterborough:
Broadview Press, 2002, p. 67-86. [course kit]
Nov 12
Gendering Crime: Masculinities
How are masculinities present and not present in analyses of crime? What can a
historical exploration of representations of masculinity reveal about shifting perceptions
of men and crime?
Lee, Ruthann. “Gendering Crime: Men and Masculinities.” Brock, Deborah, Amanda
Glasbeek and Carmela Murdocca, eds. Criminalization, Representation,
Regulation. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2014.
Newburn, Tim and Elizabeth Stanko. Just Boys Doing Business? Introduction: Men,
Masculinities and Crime London: Routledge, 1994, p.1-5. [course kit]
Collier, Richard. “Sex, Gender and the (Criminal) Bodies of Men,” Masculinities, Crime
and Criminology, Richard Collier, ed. London: Sage, 1998, p.1-35. [course kit]
Nov 19
Gendering Crime: Women
Why are women under represented in crime statistics? How is this explained through and
analysis of gender? What can an historical exploration of representations of reveal about
shifting perceptions of women and crime?
Glasbeek, Amanda. “Women Gone Bad? Women, Criminalization, and Representation.”
Brock, Deborah, Amanda Glasbeek and Carmela Murdocca, eds. Criminalization,
Representation, Regulation. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2014.
Jiwani, Yasmin, “Hiearchies of worthiness: Women and Victimhood in Canadian
Media,” [Modle and available online: http://briarpatchmagazine.com/articles/
view/hierarchies-of-worthiness]
Nov 26
Governing Sex Offenders and the New Penology of Risk
(Guest Lecture)
Lacombe, Dany, “Consumed with Sex: The Treatment of Sex Offenders in Risk Society”
British Journal of Criminology 2008, 48, p. 55-74. [moodle]
Wacquant, Loic. “Moralism and Punitive Punishment: Hunting Down Sex Offenders” in
Wacquant, L. Punishing the Poor: The Neoliberal Government of Social Insecurity.
Durham and London: Duke, 2009, p. 209-239. (Chapter 7) [course kit]
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Dec 3
Fall Term Test
Jan 7
Critical Theories of Criminology
What is critical criminology? What is Marxist criminology? What is critical race and
post-colonial theory? What do these approaches offer to the study of crime and
regulation?
Brooks, Carolyn, “Critical Criminology: Rejecting Short Term Solutions to Crime,”
Bernard Schissel and Carolyn Brooks, eds. Marginality and Condemnation: An
Introduction to Critical Criminology, 2nd Edition. Halifax: Fernwood, 2008, p. 5379.
Mawani, Renisa and David Sealy. “Chapter 9: On Postcolonialism and Criminology,”
Criminology: Critical Canadian Perspectives, Kirsten Kramer, ed., 1st edition, p.
159-172. [Moodle]
Jan 14
In Class Library Presentation for Essay Assignment
Jan 21
The Rise of Criminological Thought through the 17th, 18th, 19th and
20th Centuries
What was the historical context for the development of classical theory and for biological
and psychological positivism? What are the implications of these approaches? What is
the legacy for contemporary attitudes toward crime and punishment?
Rimke, Heidi. “Chapter 5: The Pathological Approach to Crime: Individually Based
Theories, Criminology: Critical Canadian Perspectives, Kirsten Kramer, ed., 1st
edition, p. 79-92. [Moodle]
Jan 28
Aboriginal Peoples and Criminalization
How were Aboriginal peoples’ social, economic and political conditions produced
through colonialism? What is their position in the criminal justice system? What are
some of the proposed solutions?
R. v. Gladue, [1999] 1 S.C.R. 688, excerpts [course kit]
Lash, Jean. Case Comment: R. v. Gladue,” Canadian Woman Studies, 20 (2000), p.8591. [course kit]
Samuelson, Les and Patricia Monture-Angus. “Aboriginal People and Social Control:
The State, Law, and ‘Policing,’” Bernard Schissel and Carolyn Brooks, eds.
Marginality and Condemnation: An Introduction to Critical Criminology, 2nd
Edition. Halifax: Fernwood, 2008, p. 200-219. [course kit]
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Feb 4
The War on Drugs: Tales of Race, Class and Gender
[ESSAY ASSIGNMENT DUE]
What is the political and economic context for ‘the war on drugs’? What historical
comparisons can be made? What is the relationship between race, gender and the “war
on drugs”?
Boyd, Susan. “Representations of Women in the Drug Trade,” Criminalizing Women,
Gillian Balfour and Elizabeth Comack, eds. Halifax: Fernwood Publishing, p. 131153. [course kit]
Sudbury, Julia. “‘Mules,’ ‘Yardies,’ and Other Folk Devils: Mapping Cross-Border
Imprisonment in Britain,” Global Lockdown: Race, Gender and the Prison
Industrial Complex. London: Routledge, 2005, p. 167-184. [course kit]
R. v. Hamilton [2003] O.J. No. 532, excerpts [course kit]
Supplementary reading:
Hamilton, [2004] Court of Appeal (Ontario)
http://www.ontariocourts.on.ca/decisions /2004/august/C39716.htm
Feb 11
The Criminalization of Poverty
Why do some theorists and activists claim that poverty has been re-moralized,
pathologized, and de-facto criminalized? What are the politics of race, class and gender
in the criminalization of poverty?
Hermer, Joe and Janet Mosher. “Introduction,” Disorderly People: Law and the Politics
of Exclusion in Ontario, Joe Hermer and Janet Mosher, eds. Toronto: Fernwood
Publishing, 2002, p. 11-21. [course kit]
Mosher, Janet. “The Shrinking of the Public and Private Spaces of the Poor,” Disorderly
People: Law and the Politics of Exclusion in Ontario, Joe Hermer and Janet
Mosher, eds. Toronto: Fernwood Publishing, 2002, p. 41-53. [course kit]
Chunn, Dorothy E. “From Welfare Fraud to Welfare as Fraud: The Criminalization of
Poverty,” Criminalizing Women, Gillian Balfour and Elizabeth Comack, eds.
Halifax: Fernwood Publishing, p.217-235. [course kit]
Gray, Jeff, “Proposal to get panhandlers off streets receives strong endorsement,” The
Globe and Mail,” 6 May 2008: A11. [course kit]
Safe Streets Act, http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/DBLaws/Statutes/English/99s08_e.htm
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Feb 25
Policing Aboriginal Protest (Guest Lecture)
What is the historical relationship between dissent and policing in Canada? What is
public order policing? How can we understand the policing of Aboriginal dissent and
protest?
De Lint, Willem, "Introduction" Intelligent Control: Developments in public order
policing in Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2009, pp. 3-14. [Moodle]
Dafnos, Tia. “Social Movements and Critical Resistance: Policing Colonial Capitalism
Order.” Brock, Deborah, Amanda Glasbeek and Carmela Murdocca, eds.
Criminalization, Representation, Regulation. Toronto: University of Toronto Press,
2014.
Selection from Linden, Sidney (2007) Ipperwash Inquiry Report, Volume 2. Retrieved
May 11, 2009 from
http://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/inquiries/ipperwash/report/vol_2/pdf/E_
Vol_2_CH02.pdf
Read only the following sections: Volume 2, Chapter 2: “Primer on Aboriginal
Occupations” p 18-30 (12 pgs) and Volume 2, Chapter 9: “Policing Aboriginal
Occupations” p. 182 - 188 (6 pgs) [link available via Moodle]
Mar 4
Policing, Surveillance and Border Control
What is the relationship between policing and surveillance? How can we understand
surveillance as a new form of policing? What are the implications of surveillance for
border control?
French, Martin A. and Simone A. Browne, “Profiles and Technology: Stereotypes,
Surveillance, and Governmentality. Brock, Deborah, Amanda Glasbeek and
Carmela Murdocca, eds. Criminalization, Representation, Regulation. Toronto:
University of Toronto Press, 2014.
Browne, Simone A., “Digital Epidermalization: Race, Identity and Biometrics.” Critical
Sociology 36, 1 (2010), p. 131-150. [Moodle]
Pratt, Anna, “Wanted by the Canada Border Agency.” Brock, Deborah, Amanda
Glasbeek and Carmela Murdocca, eds. Criminalization, Representation,
Regulation. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2014.
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Mar 11
Corporate Crime
What is corporate crime? Why has it received so little attention from the Canadian
criminal justice system?
Bittle, Steven. “Where Are All the Corporate Criminals? Understanding Struggles to
Criminalize Corporate Harm and Wrongdoing.” Brock, Deborah, Amanda
Glasbeek and Carmela Murdocca, eds. Criminalization, Representation,
Regulation. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2014.
Snider, Laureen. “Relocating Law: Making Corporate Crime Disappear,” Locating Law:
Race/ Class/ Gender Connections, 2nd Edition, Elizabeth Comack, ed. Halifax:
Fernwood, 1999, p. 180-206. [course kit]
Mar 18
Human Rights and Criminalization
How have socio-legal scholars and criminologists approached the issue of human rights?
What is the relationship between human rights violations and state crime?
Oliver, Marcia. “In the Name of Human Rights: Governing and Representing NonWestern Lives in Post 9/11.” Brock, Deborah, Amanda Glasbeek and Carmela
Murdocca, eds. Criminalization, Representation, Regulation. Toronto: University
of Toronto Press, 2014.
Woolford, Andrew. “Criminological Nightmares: A Canadian Criminology of
Genocide,” Critical Criminology in Canada: New Voices, New Directions, Aaron
Doyle and Dawn Moore, eds., p. 136-161. [course kit]
Human Rights Watch, International Justice: International Criminal Court, Basic Fact
Sheet and Questions and Answers, http://hrw.org/campaigns/icc/;
http://hrw.org/campaigns/icc/whowhat.htm
Mar 25
The Prison Industrial Complex
What is the critique of the ‘prison industrial complex’? Should prisons be abolished?
Can their use be minimized? Can they be radically transformed? How can the
theoretical directions that we have explored throughout the course be useful in thinking
through this set of issues?
Davis, Angela. Are Prisons Obsolete? New York: Seven Stories, 2003, p.9-39. [course
kit]
Apr 1
Final In Class Exam
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Senate Policy on Academic Honesty
The Policy on Academic Honesty is an affirmation and clarification for members of the University
of the general obligation to maintain the highest standards of academic honesty. As a clear
sense of academic honesty and responsibility is fundamental to good scholarship, the policy
recognizes the general responsibility of all faculty members to foster acceptable standards of
academic conduct and of the student to be mindful of and abide by such standards.
Academic honesty requires that persons do not falsely claim credit for the ideas, writing or other
intellectual property of others, either by presenting such works as their own or through
impersonation. Similarly, academic honesty requires that persons do not cheat (attempt to gain
an improper advantage in an academic evaluation), nor attempt or actually alter, suppress, falsify
or fabricate any research data or results, official academic record, application or document.
Suspected breaches of academic honesty will be investigated and charges shall be laid if
reasonable and probable grounds exist. A student who is charged with a breach of academic
honesty shall be presumed innocent until, based upon clear and compelling evidence, a
committee determines the student has violated the academic honesty standards of the
university. A finding of academic misconduct will lead to the range of penalties described in the
guidelines which accompany this policy. In some cases the University regulations on nonacademic discipline may apply. A lack of familiarity with the Senate Policy and Guidelines on
Academic Honesty on the part of a student does not constitute a defence against their
application. Some academic offences constitute offences under the Criminal Code of Canada; a
student charged under University regulations may also be subject to criminal charges. Charges
may also be laid against York University students for matters which arise at other educational
institutions.
2.
Senate Guidelines on Academic Honesty
2.1
Summary of Offences Against the Standards of Academic Honesty
The following summary of offences is not exhaustive, nor are the definitions provided for each
offence confined to the examples cited.
2.1.1 Cheating is the attempt to gain an improper advantage in an academic evaluation. Forms
of cheating include:
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•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Obtaining a copy of an examination before it is officially available or learning an
examination question before it is officially available;
Copying another person’s answer to an examination question;
Consulting an unauthorized source during an examination;
Obtaining assistance by means of documentary, electronic or other aids which are not
approved by the instructor;
Changing a score or a record of an examination result;
Submitting the work one has done for one class or project to a second class, or as a
second project, without the prior informed consent of the relevant instructors;
Submitting work prepared in collaboration with another or other member(s) of a class,
when collaborative work on a project has not been authorized by the instructor;
Submitting work prepared in whole or in part by another person and representing that
work as one’s own;
Offering for sale essays or other assignments, in whole or in part, with the expectation
that these works will be submitted by a student for appraisal;
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• Preparing work in whole or in part, with the expectation that this work will be submitted by
a student for appraisal.
2.1.2 Impersonation is to have someone impersonate one’s self in class, in a test, examination
or interview, or in connection with any other type of assignment or placement associated with a
course or academic program. Both the impersonator and the individual impersonated may be
charged.
2.1.3 Plagiarism is the misappropriation of the work of another by representing another
person’s ideas, writing or other intellectual property as one’s own. This includes the presentation
of all or part of another person’s work as something one has written, paraphrasing another’s
writing without proper acknowledgement, or representing another’s artistic or technical work or
creation as one’s own. Any use of the work of others, whether published, unpublished or posted
electronically, attributed or anonymous, must include proper acknowledgement.
2.1.4 Improper research practices. Academic research includes the collection, analysis,
interpretation and publication of information or data obtained in the scientific laboratory or in the
field. Forms of improper research practices include:
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•
•
Dishonest reporting of investigative results, either through fabrication or
falsification;
Taking or using the research results of others without permission or due
acknowledgement;
Misrepresentation or selective reporting of research results or the methods used.
2.1.5 Dishonesty in publication. It is a violation of academic honesty to knowingly publish
information that will mislead or deceive readers. This includes the falsification or fabrication of
data or information, as well as the failure to give credit to collaborators as joint authors or the
listing as authors of others who have not contributed to the work. Plagiarism is also considered a
form of dishonesty in publication.
2.1.6 Dissemination of information without permission. Information or experimental data
that was collected with a member of faculty or another student, and other works that involved the
participation of a faculty member or another student, should not be submitted for publication or
otherwise disseminated without their permission.
2.1.7 Abuse of confidentiality. Taking or releasing the ideas or data of others that were given
with the expectation that they are confidential is inappropriate. This includes the ideas or data
obtained via the evaluation of confidential grant proposals, award applications or manuscripts that
will be or may have been submitted for possible funding or publication. Unless one is authorized
to do so, it is improper to obtain a password assigned to another or to copy or modify a data file
or program belonging to someone else. Proper authorization means being granted permission
either by the owner or originator of that material, or by an appropriate faculty member or
administrator.
2.1.8 Falsification or unauthorized modification of an academic document/record. It is a
breach of academic honesty to falsify, fabricate or in any way modify, either through omission or
commission, an application to the University or a program, course student examination or test,
transcript, grade, letter of recommendation or related document, a degree, a physician’s
letter/form or any other document used in support of an academic application, record,
petition/appeal or endeavor.
2.1.9 Obstruction of the academic activities of another. It is a violation of academic honesty
to interfere with the scholarly activities of another in order to harass or gain unfair academic
advantage. This includes interference or tampering with experimental data, with a human or
animal subject, with a written or other creation (e.g., a painting, sculpture or film), with a chemical
used for scientific study, or with any other object of study.
2.1.10 Aiding and abetting. Encouraging, enabling or causing others to do or attempt any of the
above with intent to mislead an instructor, academic unit, program, office or committee as to a
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student’s academic status, qualifications, actions or preparation, or knowingly aiding or abetting
anyone in a breach of academic honesty shall itself be considered misconduct.
2.2
Summary of Penalties for Academic Misconduct
When verified, violations of academic honesty may lead to the following range of penalties, which
may be imposed singularly or in combination for any offence. The following penalties are listed in
ascending order of severity.
2.2.1
2.2.2
2.2.3
2.2.4
Written disciplinary warning or reprimand.
Required completion of an academic honesty assignment.
Make-up assignment, examination or rewriting a work, subject to a lowered grade.
Lower grade on the assignment, examination or work.
2.2.5
Lower grade in the course.
2.2.6
Failure in the course.
2.2.7 Permanent grade of record. The grade assigned shall remain as the one grade of
record for the course, even if the course is repeated. This penalty can be added to any other
penalty, but shall always be attached to the penalty of failure in the course.
2.2.8 Notation on transcript. Notation on transcript can be a separate penalty or it can be
added to any other penalty. Transcript notation shall always be included in cases of suspension,
withholding or rescinding a York degree, diploma or certificate and expulsion from the University.
Transcript notation can be for a limited period, at the end of which the notation will be removed
from the student’s transcript. When no period is specified for a transcript notation, a student may
petition to the Faculty Petitions Committee to have the notation removed after a period of five
years from the date at which the notation was entered, with the exception of notation of expulsion
from the University.
2.2.9 Suspension from the University for a definite period, not to exceed 5 years, with
transcript notation. Suspension is defined as a penalty of a variable but limited period during
which the student may not register in the University, imposed for serious academic offences such
as plagiarism and cheating. A student who is otherwise eligible to graduate, but is suspended,
may not apply to graduate until the suspension expires or is lifted. This penalty may be awarded
only by a Faculty-level committee which is recognized by a Faculty Council as the responsible
body to assign this penalty.
2.2.10 Expulsion from the University with transcript notation. Expulsion is defined as
permanently terminating a person’s right to continue as a student in the University. This penalty
may be awarded only by a Faculty-level committee which is recognized by a Faculty Council as
the responsible body to assign this penalty.
2.2.11 Withholding or rescinding a York degree, diploma or certificate with transcript
notation. When a Faculty decides to rescind a degree, diploma or certificate, the decision, with
supporting documentation, must be forwarded to the Senate Appeals Committee for approval on
behalf of Senate.
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