Département de criminologie | Department of Criminology
120 Université / 120 University, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5
HISTORY OF CRIMINOLOGICAL THOUGHT
CRM 1301 C
Professor Christine Gervais
Fall 2015
COURSE OUTLINE
Class Schedule:
Day 1: Monday
Day 2: Thursday
Room: TBT 333
Professor’s Office Hours:
Thursday: 10 am to 12 pm
Office: FSS 14047
613 562-5800 x 8962
christine.gervais@uottawa.ca
Phone:
E-mail:
11:30 am – 1:00 pm
1:00 pm – 2:30 pm
Questions sent by email should receive a response within two business days or during the following
class if it is taking place within the 48 hours following receipt of the email. Note that the professor
reserves the right not to answer an email if the level of language used is inappropriate.
OFFICIAL COURSE DESCRIPTION
Conceptions of crime and punishment during the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries. Classical
period, penitentiary reform movement, first scientific studies, Italian positivist school and
other studies at the turn of the century.
GENERAL COURSE OBJECTIVES
This course examines the way that the concept of crime and assumptions about criminality
were transformed from the Roman Empire, through the Middle Ages, during the colonial
period and into the early 20th century. By challenging the evolutionary assumptions of
modernity, we will consider the social, intellectual and economic contexts in which ideas
arise and come to dominate. Careful consideration will be given to how discursive shifts
impact what is criminalized, why such behaviour is controlled and how crime is punished.
During the course, we will evaluate the continued relevance of earlier perspectives by
exploring modern criminological and criminal justice dynamics.
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TEACHING METHODS
This course will consist of lectures, documentary presentations, guest speakers and group
discussions. To ensure an atmosphere of collegiality and safety, this course will be conducted
in such a way that the instructor and students can exchange ideas without interruption and
without fear of prejudice on the basis of gender, race, ethnicity, class, disabilities, sexual
orientation, and political or religious affiliation.
***During class, laptops and other electronic devices are to be used for course purposes only.
The audio or video recording of lectures is strictly prohibited.
REQUIRED TEXT
Gervais, Christine
Fall 2015
CRM 1301 C Course Reader. Available at docUcentre: University Centre 0024.
Phone: (613) 562-5800 x 3711. http://www.uottawa.ca/print/course-packs/
*All required readings are to be completed prior to corresponding classes.*
ASSESSMENT METHODS
Assessments consist of in-class mid-term and final exams. The format includes short answer,
multiple choice and essay questions.
Components of Final Mark
Evaluation Format
Weight
In-class Mid-Term 1
In-class Mid-Term 2
Final Exam
25 %
35 %
40 %
Date
October 5, 2015
November 16, 2015
TBD - Exam Period
Absence from Exams and Late Submissions and Other Matters
Class attendance is necessary to successfully complete this course.
Absence from exams and late submissions of assignments are not tolerated. Exceptions are
made only for illness or other serious situations deemed as such by the professor. There will
be a penalty for late submissions. University regulations require all absences from exams and
all late submissions due to illness to be supported by a medical certificate. The Faculty
reserves the right to accept or reject the reason put forth if it is not medical. Reasons such as
travel, work and errors made while reading the exam schedule are not accepted.
In the event of an illness or related complications, students must notify their professor and
the academic secretariat of the faculty where they are registered prior to the exam or
assignment deadline. If there is any doubt as to the authenticity of the medical certificate,
the professor or the faculty’s academic secretariat may ask for it to be validated by the
University of Ottawa’s Health Services.
Advise your professor as soon as possible if a religious holiday or event forces your absence
during an evaluation.
Grades cannot be sent by email.
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SCHEDULE AND BIBLIOGRAPHY (READING LIST)
September 10
INTRODUCTION TO CRIMINOLOGICAL THEORY
*Williams III, Frank P. and Marilyn D. McShane (2014) “Introduction” in Criminological
Theory (Sixth Edition). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall (Pearson). 1-13.
September 14 & 17 EARLY MIDDLE AGES AND THE DEMONIC PERSPECTIVE
*Pfohl, S.J. (1994) “The Demonic Perspective: Other Worldly Interpretations of Deviance.”
Images of Deviance and Social Control: A Sociological History. New York: McGraw. 19-58.
Videos: The Passion of the Christ & The Burning Times
*Davey, B., Gibson, M., McEveety, S., Sisti, E. (Producers), & Gibson, M. (Director). (2004). The Passion
of the Christ [Motion Picture]. CA, United States: Icon Productions.
*Armstrong, M., Pettigrew, M., Johansson, S. (Producers), & Read, D. (Director). (1990). The Burning
Times [Documentary]. Montreal, Canada: National Film Board of Canada.
September 21 & 24 THE LATE MIDDLE AGES TO THE RENAISSANCE
*Johnson, Herbert; N. Wolfe (1996) “From the Lateran Councils to the Renaissance.” in History
of Criminal Justice. Cincinnati: Anderson. 47-54.
*Cayley, David (1998) “God is Himself Law.” in The Expanding Prison. Toronto: House of
Anansi Press Limited. 123-136.
*Sharpe, J. A. (1993) “Prosecuting Crimes in Early Modern England.” IAHCCJ 18. 41-44.
Video: Braveheart (excerpt)
*Davey, B., Gibson, M., Ladd, A., Lopata, D., McEveety, S., Robinson, E. (Producers), & Gibson, M.
(Director). (1995). Braveheart [Motion Picture]. Hollywood, CA: Paramount.
Sept. 28 & Oct. 1
CLASSICAL CRIMINOLOGY
*Williams, Frank P. and Marilyn D. McShane (2010) “The Classical School.” Criminological
Theory. 5th Edition. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall (Pearson). 15-26.
*Beccaria, Cesare (1767) On Crimes and Punishments and Other Writings. Richard Bellamy
(ed.). 1995. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 7-13; 19-21; 24-25; 31; 66-72.
*Bentham, Jeremy (1789) “An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation.”
Reprinted in 2004 in Jacoby, J. E. (ed.). Classics of Criminology. Long Grove, IL: Waveland
Press. 105-108.
October 5
FIRST MID-TERM EXAM (25%)
October 8
‘CRIME AND PUNISHMENT’ JAIL VISIT
Cost:
Class Tour: $9.75 + tax = $11.02
Location:
75 Nicholas St. Ottawa. / Meet on Sparks St. Details to follow
Time:
11:30 am (TBD) or 7pm Tour Daily ($12.75 + tax = $14.41)
More info:
http://www.hauntedwalk.com/ottawatours.php
***Readings for October 15th should be read before you attend the tour.
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October 15
NEW THEORIES, NEW PRACTICES
*Johnson, Herbert; N. Wolfe (1996) “Freedom and Prisons in the Land of the Free.” In History
of Criminal Justice. Cincinnati: Anderson. 127-146.
*Walby, Kevin and Justin Piché (2011) “The Polysemy of Punishment Memorialization: Dark
Tourism and Ontario’s Penal History Museums.” Punishment & Society. 13(4):451–472. [Online]
October 19
COLONIALISM & CAPTIVITY: INTRUSIVE GOVERNANCE
*Hogeveen, Bryan (1999) “An Intrusive and Corrective Government: Political Rationalities and
the Governance of Plains Aboriginals 1870-90.” Smandych, R. (ed.). Governable Places:
Readings on Governmentality and Crime Control. Aldershot: Ashgate. 287-312.
*Smith, Derek (2001) “The “Policy of Aggressive Civilization” and Projects of Governance in
Roman Catholic Industrial Schools for Native Peoples in Canada, 1870-95.” Anthropologica.
43(2):253-271. [Available Online via MRT Library Catalogue]
Presentation: Colonialism, Regulation & Punitiveness: Implications for Aboriginal Peoples
by Justin Holness & Belinda Hartsgrove (Wabano Centre for Aboriginal Health)
October 22
RECONSIDERING RIGHTS & REGULATION
In-Class Collective Critical Reflections - No Readings Assigned.
October 26 & 29
STUDY BREAK – NO CLASSES
November 2 & 5
MARXIST THOUGHT
*Marx, Karl (1887) “Crime and Primitive Accumulation” (45-48); Engels, Friedrich (1845) “The
Demoralization of the English Working Class” (48-50); Engels, F. (1845) “Crime in Communist
Society” (51-52); Marx, K. (1863) The Usefulness of Crime” (52-53) in Greenberg, David (ed)
Crime and Capitalism: Readings in Marxist Criminology. Palo Alto, CA: Mayfield Publishing.
1981. 45-53.
*Curran, Daniel; C. Renzetti (1994) “The Marxist Paradigm.” Excerpt from Theories of Crime.
Needham Heights: Allyn & Bacon. 25-29.
November 9 & 12
BIOLOGICAL EXPLANATIONS & THE RISE OF STATISTICS
*Williams, Frank P. and Marilyn D. McShane (2010) “The Positive School.” Criminological
Theory. 5th Edition. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall (Pearson). 27-45.
*Lombroso, Cesare (1876) “The Born Criminal.” in Criminal Man. Reprinted by Gina
Lombroso-Ferrero. 1972. Montclair, New Jersey: Patterson Smith Publishing Co. 1-27; 48-49.
*Beirne, Piers (1993) "The Rise of Positivist Criminology: Adolphe Quetelet's Social Mechanics
of Crime." in Inventing Criminology: Essays on the Rise of Homo Criminals. New York:
University of New York.
Video: Are You Good or Evil? / Born Bad
Voxant (Firm) Cable News Network. (1996). Born Bad [Documentary]. SI: Cable News Network.
Films Media Group. (2011). Are you good or evil? [Documentary H.264].
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November 16
SECOND MID-TERM EXAM (35%)
November 19
‘KNOWLEDGE,’ POWER, ENSLAVEMENT AND PUNISHMENT
*Small, Stephen and James Walvin (1994) “African Resistance to Enslavement.” in Tibbles,
Anthony (ed.). Transatlantic Slavery: Against Human Dignity. London: HMSO. 42-49.
*Hill, Lawrence (2007) “We Glide over the Unburied.” The Book of Negroes. Toronto:
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd. 55-95. [Fiction]
Video: Amistad
Allen, D., Cooper, B., Curtis, B., Deason, P., MacDonald, L., Parkes, W.F., Shriver, T., Spielberg, S., Wilson, C.
(Producers), & Spielberg, S. (Director). (1997). Amistad [Motion Picture]. Universal City, CA: Dreamworks.
November 23 & 26 INTELLECTUAL & PSYCHIATRIC EXPLANATIONS OF CRIME
*Dugdale, Richard (1877) “The Jukes: A Study in Crime, Pauperism, and Heredity.” Reprinted
in 2004 in Jacoby, J. E. (ed.). Classics of Criminology. Long Grove: Waveland Press. 157-164.
*Goddard, H. H. (1914) “Feeble-mindedness.” Reprinted in 2004 in Jacoby, J. E. (ed.). Classics
of Criminology. Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press. 165-171.
*Ackerknecht, E (1968) "Eighteenth Century Psychiatry." and "Pinel, Esquirol and the French
School." and "The Theory of Degeneration." in A Short History of Psychiatry. (translated by Dr.
Sula Wolf) New York: Hafner. 34-53 & 54-59.
*Stephen, Jennifer (1995) “The ‘Incorrigible,’ the ‘Bad,’and the ‘Immoral’: Toronto’s ‘Factory
Girls’ and the Work of the Toronto Psychiatric Clinic.” In Knafla, Louis; S. Binnie (eds). Law,
Society and the State. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. 405-439.
Video: The Sterilization of Leilani Muir
McCrea, G., Krepakevich, J.Graydon McCrea (Producers), & Whiting, G. (Director). (1996).
The Sterilization of Leilani Muir [Documentary]. Montreal, Canada: National Film Board of Canada.
November 30
PSYCHOLOGICAL EXPLANATIONS OF CRIME
*Miller, J. Mitchell, Christopher J. Schreck and Richard Tewksbury (2008) “Psychological
Theories of Crime” (Chapter 4). Criminological Theory: A Brief Introduction. Boston: Pearson /
Allyn and Bacon. 62-86.
December 3
SOCIOLOGICAL EXPLANATIONS OF CRIME
*Pfohl, S.J. (1994) "The Anomie Perspective.” Images of Deviance and Social Control: A
Sociological History. New York: McGraw. 251-261; 274-275.
*Durkheim, Émile (1938) “The Normal and the Pathological.” from The Rules of Sociological
Method. Reprinted in Pontell, Henry N. (ed.). (1999) Social Deviance: Readings in Social
Theory and Research. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. 34-37.
December 7
THEORY, POLITICS AND PRACTICE IN CONTEXT
Video: Punishments
Rancourt, D., Leduc, V., Fournier, M., Morris, G., Productions Coscient Inc., & Films for the Humanities.
(2000). Punishments [Documentary]. Princeton, N.J: Films for the Humanities & Sciences.
December 9
CONCLUSION
*Jeffery, C. R. (1972) “The Historical Development of Criminology.” (excerpt). in Pioneers of
Criminology. H. Mannheim (ed). New Jersey: Patterson Smith. 458-498.
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Beware of Academic Fraud!
Academic fraud consists of dishonest and wrongful acts on exams, test or assignments, resulting in flawed grades
and assessments. The University does not tolerate academic fraud, and anyone found guilty of this behaviour is
subject to severe penalties.
Examples of academic fraud
 Plagiarize or cheat in any way
 Present falsified research data
 Submit work you did not write in full or in part
 Present work from another course without written permission from the professors involved
The Internet has made it very easy to detect cases of plagiarism since, with just a few words entered in a search
engine, professors can quickly locate original sources of plagiarized work.
For more information on academic fraud and how to avoid it, visit the Faculty’s page on academic writing resources:
http://socialsciences.uottawa.ca/undergraduate/student-life-academic-resources.
Persons who commit or attempt to commit academic fraud or who are involved in any way in cases of fraud
committed will be penalized. Here are some examples of sanctions for academic fraud:
 The student will receive a grade of “F” for the assignment or course;
 The requirement to complete additional credits (3 to 30 credits);
 Suspension or expulsion from the Faculty.
You can read the regulation at:
http://www.uottawa.ca/about/academic-regulation-14-other-important-information
For more information, refer to the Students’ Guide to Academic Integrity:
http://web5.uottawa.ca/mcs-smc/academicintegrity/documents/2011/academic-integrity-students-guide.pdf
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Resources for You as a Student
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Mentoring Centre - http://socialsciences.uottawa.ca/mentoring
Academic Writing Help Centre - http://www.sass.uottawa.ca/writing/
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Counselling Service- http://www.sass.uottawa.ca/personal/
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