Community Criminal Justice: Bachelor of Arts (also: Honours)
Description
The Bachelor of Arts in Community Criminal Justice program is designed to enable students to critically examine and explore the concepts and practices of justice, equality, and fairness that underpin our social and legal institutions. In so doing, students embark on an active and sustained engagement with institutions of civil society that can be productively harnessed to bring about social justice.
By combining theory and practice, students investigate issues of class, race, gender, and socio-economic conditions and examine how they shape our society. This program integrates opportunities to engage in undergraduate research, service learning, and practicum placements that provide students with highly transferable and marketable knowledge and skills.
The Bachelor of Arts in Community Criminal Justice program provides students with the following benefits:
- A broad understanding of crime and social justice issues within community, national, and international contexts.
- Courses unique in Canada that unite practical and professional skills with community building and social justice.
- An understanding of social and legal responses to crime and justice and the inter-relationship of these responses on societal attitudes.
- A solid understanding of, and familiarity with, the research techniques that allow us to accurately document crime, victimization, attitudes, and social and legal change.
- Ability to think critically and respond innovatively to emerging trends in community-based justice and related agencies.
- Opportunities to work in direct partnership with local agencies and faculty on projects or engage in research, working closely with academic supervisors.
- An understanding of, and ability to use, various means to promote social justice, including conflict resolution, restorative justice, community advocacy in a human rights framework, and an ability to deal with the many regulatory regimes that affect people in the justice system.
This unique program ensures that graduates have covered a range of theoretical, scientific, legal, and practical courses. Specific upper-division courses build knowledge and skills in:
- understanding historical and contemporary perspectives of social justice and injustice
- developing individual skills and leadership abilities to work effectively with community-based agencies and organizations that promote social justice goals
- understanding crime in communities and its prevention
- empirical data collection, analysis, and presentation
- conflict resolution and mediation
- professional communication skills
- project planning, management, and evaluation
- advocacy, human rights, and decision-making in regulatory agencies
- professional ethics
Students who are interested in applying to graduate school or prefer more extensive research experience are encouraged to undertake a structure program leading to an Honours degree. Students may obtain a Bachelor of Arts in Community Criminal Justice (Honours) degree by completing a further 12 credits of coursework centered around developing, researching, and writing an Honours Thesis.
Note: See the Bachelor of Arts Honours, Major, and Minor in Criminology for information on an alternate program.
Career Opportunities
The limited success of traditional responses to crime, violence, poverty, homelessness, mental illness, and other social issues has increased calls for different approaches and strategies. New awareness of the burdens and social costs associated with these issues requires communities to rethink and refocus their efforts. KPU's Bachelor of Arts in Community Criminal Justice features a unique focus on community-based solutions to crime and social justice issues. Our innovative program prepares students for career opportunities in community-based work, social service delivery, legal advocacy, public safety, human rights, and the non-profit sector. The conceptual, critical, and applied skills that students acquire in this program will be attractive to employers in a wide range of settings, including community-based agencies and traditional organizations concerned with the justice field.
Program Admission Requirements
Students may apply for admission into the Bachelor of Arts in Community Criminal Justice program in first or third year.
Year One Admission
Students who enter in their first year must have:
- a grade of 'B' in English 12 (or equivalent) and
- a grade of 'C' in either Principles of Math 11 (or equivalent) or Applications of Math 12.
Year Three Admission
Students may also enter in year three on completion of an Associate of Arts in Criminology (or equivalent) with a CGPA of 2.00 or higher. They should apply on the condition that they will have completed their Associate of Arts in Criminology by the semester prior to entering the program. (See Associate of Arts Degree in Criminology). Students with a Diploma in Criminology will need to complete the remaining requirements for the Associate of Arts in Criminology if seeking admission to the Bachelor of Arts in Community Criminal Justice.
Honours Admission:
In order to be considered for admission to the Honours program, students normally:
- have completed 90 credits or more at the time of application;
- must achieve a CGPA of 3.5; and
- have completed CRIM 3104 and CRIM 4410.
Students with a CGPA less than 3.5 (but not below 3.0) may be granted admission with special permission. Interested students can obtain an application from the Criminology Degree Coordinator.
Program Requirements
Community Criminal Justice Honours
The following are the requirements for the Community Criminal Justice Honours program.
In addition to the 120 credits required by the Community Criminal Justice degree program, Honours students will need to complete the following additional 12 credits of course-work: |
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| CRIM 5000 | Honours Thesis I | 3 credits | |
| CRIM 5010 | Honours Seminar | 3 credits | |
| CRIM 5020 | Honours Thesis II | 6 credits | |
To qualify for the Community Criminal Justice Honours degree, students must have been admitted to the Honours program prior to earning the Community Criminal Justice degree. Students may receive either the Community Criminal Justice degree or the Community Criminal Justice Honours degree, but not both.
Community Criminal Justice Degree
The Bachelor of Arts in Community Criminal Justice requires that students complete 120 credits of post-secondary studies (132 credit hours for the Honours degree option). The program was recently revised and now integrates required practical elements into a new curriculum focusing on social justice. The first two years consist of 60 credit hours earned through completing the requirements of the Associate of Arts in Criminology (or equivalent). For the remaining 60 credits, students must successfully complete courses in the following categories.
Students must complete all of the following courses: |
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| CMNS 3100 | Technical Report Writing | 3 credits | |
| CRIM 3000 | Justice/Injustice | 3 credits | |
| CRIM 3104 | Qualitative Research Methods | 3 credits | |
| CRIM 3800 | Service Learning in Criminology and Justice | 6 credits | |
| CRIM 4301 | Community Advocacy and Human Rights | 3 credits | |
| CRIM 4400 | Ethics and Professional Development | 3 credits | |
Students must complete at least 6 credits from the following courses in the Justice group: |
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| CRIM 3213 | Community Corrections | 3 credits | |
| CRIM 3307 | Issues in Conflict Resolution | 3 credits | |
| CRIM 4240 | Aboriginal Peoples and Justice | 3 credits | |
| New courses will be listed in the near future, so please check the department web page in the fall. | |||
Students must complete at least 6 credits from two or more of the following groups: |
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| Group A: Methods | |||
| CRIM 3103 | Quantitative Data Analysis II | 3 credits | |
| CRIM 3115 | Crime Mapping | 3 credits | |
| CRIM 4410 | Policy and Program Evaluation | 3 credits | |
| Group B: Theory | |||
| CRIM 3100 | Advanced Theories of Crime and Community | 3 credits | |
| CRIM 3111 | Contemporary Sociological Criminology | 3 credits | |
| CRIM 3113 | Critical Criminology | 3 credits | |
| CRIM 4112 | Contemporary Psychological Criminology | 3 credits | |
| Group C: Criminal Justice | |||
| CRIM 3118 | White-Collar and Corporate Crime | 3 credits | |
| CRIM 3217 | Women, Crime, and Justice | 3 credits | |
| CRIM 3249 | Issues in Youth Justice | 3 credits | |
| CRIM 4201 | Community Safety and Crime Prevention | 3 credits | |
| CRIM 4235 | Minorities and the Criminal Justice System | 3 credits | |
| Group D: Law | |||
| CRIM 3302 | Procedure and Evidence | 3 credits | |
| CRIM 3305 | Law and Society | 3 credits | |
| CRIM 3351 | Philosophy of Law | 3 credits | |
| CRIM 3512 | Mental Disorder and Canadian Law | 3 credits | |
| CRIM 4300 | Administrative and Regulatory Law | 3 credits | |
Students must complete at least 6 credits from the following courses in the Applied category: |
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| CRIM 4154 | Community Criminal Justice Project I | 3 credits | |
| CRIM 4155 | Community Criminal Justice Project II | 6 credits | |
| CRIM 4800 | Practicum in Criminology and Justice | 12 credits | |
Students also must complete an additional 9 credits of criminology electives and 12 credits selected from outside criminology in arts, science, or other areas (breadth requirements). |
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Students must complete at least 45 credits at the 3000 or 4000 level. Depending on course selection at the CRIM 4000 level, students might require additional upper-level courses as either CRIM electives or any other electives. |
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Co-operative Education
The BA in Community Criminology Justice is offered with a Co-operative Education option. Co-operative Education gives a student the opportunity to apply the skills gained during academic study in paid, practical work experience semesters. Degree students in the Co-op option are expected to complete a minimum of three work terms while completing their degree. Work terms generally occur full-time in separate 4 month work semesters but may also be available part-time over an 8 month continuous (parallel) placement. Work semesters alternate with academic study.
Students wishing to enter and participate in the Co-op Option must meet the following requirements:
Declaration/Entrance Requirements:
- Successful completion of 30 program credits based on first year entry or admission to third year
- Minimum GPA of 2.7
Program Continuance Requirements:
Continuation in the co-op option requires:
- Completion of COOP 1101 prior to 75 programs credits (based on first year entry)
- Minimum program GPA of 2.7
Work Term Requirements:
Participation and enrolment in a co-op work term requires:
- Successful completion of COOP 1101
- Successful completion of 45 program credits based on first year entry or admission to third year
- Instructor permission
Co-op Requirements
The Co-operative Education designation requires successful completion of the following courses:
Required: |
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| COOP 1101 | Job Search Techniques | 1 credit | |
And all of: |
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| COOP 1150* | Co-op Work Semester 1 | 9 credits | |
| COOP 2150* | Co-op Work Semester 2 | 9 credits | |
| COOP 3150* | Co-op Work Semester 3 | 9 credits | |
Optional: |
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| COOP 4150* | Co-op Work Semester 4 | 9 credits | |
* Part-time (parallel) work terms may be taken over two semesters as COOP 1150A/1150B, COOP 2150A/2150B, COOP 3150A/3150B, or COOP 4150A/4150B respectively.
Additional requirements:
In addition to the requirements stated above, all Co-op students must satisfy the General Co-operative Education Requirements.
Credential Awarded
Upon successful completion of the Honours program, students are eligible to receive a Bachelor of Arts in Community Criminal Justice (Honours).
Upon successful completion of the degree program, students are eligible to receive a Bachelor of Arts in Community Criminal Justice.
