Course

Women and Crime

Faculty
Humanities & Social Sciences
Department
Criminology
Course code
CRIM 3356
Credits
3.00
Semester length
15
Max class size
35
Method(s) of instruction
Lecture
Seminar
Course designation
None
Industry designation
None
Typically offered
To be determined

Overview

Course description
This course will examine how women’s criminality is conceived and responded to, both historically and in the current Canadian context. The connection between women’s victimization and criminality will be highlighted. The significance of patriarchal ideology and the role of social control agencies criminalizing women will be examined. Some of the topics to be considered are: historical subordination, traditional and contemporary criminological explanations (specific emphasis will be given to feminist and gender theories), characteristics of criminalized women, control and punishment, and strategies for change.
Course content

 

  1. Women's Marginalization in Historical Context
    • The Role of Patriarchal Ideology
      • Early History: 5th to 18th Century
      • Later History
  2. Explanations of Women's Criminality
    • Early Theories
    • Contemporary Theories:
      • Social-Psychological Theories:
        • Sociological Explanations
        • Individual Explanations
        • Feminist Criminology
  3. The Nature and Extent of Crimes Committed by Canadian Women
    • Conforming Versus Non-Conforming Women
      • Characteristics of Women and Crime
      • Intersectional Experiences
  4. Categories of Criminal Offences:
    • Property Crime
    • Illegal Drug Involvement
    • Violent Crime
    • Terrorism/The Political Offender
    • Youth Crime
    • Indigenous Women involved in Crime
  5. Gender, the Courts and the Law
    • Paternalism Thesis
    • Feminist and Gender Thesis
    • Law as Ideology Thesis
    • The Legal Defences
  6. Women, Control and Punishment
    • Social Control
    • Women's Experiences in Prison
  7. Post-Incarceration and Re-entry 
    • Release Planning and Parole Decision Making
    • Problems and Recommendations
  8. Strategies for Change
    • Individual 
    • Social
    • Structural 
Learning activities

The course will employ a variety of instructional methods to accomplish its objectives, including some of the following: lectures, seminar presentations, exams, audio visual materials including video, small group discussions, research projects and research papers.

Means of assessment

Assessment will be based on course objectives and will be carried out in accordance with the Douglas College Evaluation Policy. An evaluation schedule will be provided at the beginning of the course. Evaluation will be based on some or all of the following:

  1. Short Answer Tests
  2. Exams
  3. Oral Presentation
  4. Research Project/Term Paper
  5. Class Participation

 

Instructors may use a student’s record of attendance and/or level of active participation in the course as part of the student’s graded
performance. Where this occurs, expectations and grade calculations regarding class attendance and participation will be clearly defined in the Instructor Course Outline.

An example of one possible evaluation scheme would be:

Seminar Attendance and Participation  10%
Term Paper  20%
Debate  10%
Midterm Exam  30%
Final Exam  30%
Total 100%
Learning outcomes

At the conclusion of the course the successful student will be able to:

 

  1. Identify and discuss Indigenous women's experiences with criminalization and the criminal justice system. 
  2. Critically examine the role of patriarchal ideology in the construction of women's criminality.
  3. Discuss the relationship between social control, criminalization and gender as it pertains to women's crime.
  4. Critically analyze historical and contemporary explanations of women’s criminal involvement. 
  5. Describe the nature and extent of women's involvement in criminal activity. 
  6. Analyze women's intersectional experiences of criminalization.  
  7. Discuss legal defences relevant to women involved in violent crime. 
  8. Explain the impact of the criminal justice system on women and their families. 
  9. Analyze women's historical experience in prison and discuss contemporary prison reform.
  10. Examine issues and processes relevant to women's experiences post-incarceration. 
  11. Evaluate diverse strategies and policies for change.

 

Textbook materials

 

Textbooks and materials are to be obtained by students. A list of required textbooks and materials is provided for students at the beginning of the semester. Example texts may include

  • Scharie, T. & J. Barker (2022) Women and the Criminal Justice System: A Canadian Perspective - 3rd Edition. 
  • Barker, J. (2018). Women, Crime and the Criminal Justice System. Toronto: Edmond Montgomery Publishing.

 

Requisites

Prerequisites

CRIM 1150

Corequisites

None

Equivalencies

None

Course Guidelines

Course Guidelines for previous years are viewable by selecting the version desired. If you took this course and do not see a listing for the starting semester / year of the course, consider the previous version as the applicable version.

(Current)

Course Transfers

These are for current course guidelines only. For a full list of archived courses please see https://www.bctransferguide.ca

Institution Transfer details for CRIM 3356
Athabasca University (AU) AU CRJS 3XX (3)
Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) KPU CRIM 3217 (3)
Langara College (LANG) LANG CRIM 1213 (3)
Simon Fraser University (SFU) SFU CRIM 304 (3)
Thompson Rivers University (TRU) TRU SOCI 2XXX (3)
Thompson Rivers University (TRU) TRU CRIM 2139 (3)
Trinity Western University (TWU) TWU HUMA 3XX (3)
University of British Columbia - Okanagan (UBCO) UBCO ARTS_O 2nd (3)
University of British Columbia - Vancouver (UBCV) UBCV SOCI_V 2nd (3)
University of Northern BC (UNBC) UNBC WMST 3XX (3)
University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) UFV CRIM 212 (3)
University of Victoria (UVIC) UVIC GNDR 329 (1.5)
Vancouver Island University (VIU) VIU CRIM 3rd (3)

Course Offerings

Fall 2025

CRN Days Instructor Status
Maximum seats
35
Currently enrolled
0
Remaining seats:
35
On waitlist
0
Building
Coquitlam - Bldg. C
Room
C1007
Times:
Start Time
15:30
-
End Time
18:20
Section notes

CRIM 3356 001 - See Legal Studies (LGST) for other university transferable law and legal system courses.

This course can count towards an Associate of Arts specialization in Gender, Sexualities, and Women’s Studies