Fall 2026: Application closed
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Launch your criminal justice career with the Bachelor of Arts in Applied Criminology ‒ Honours. You’ll get the academic knowledge and hands-on experience to make you a top contender both in the job market and for grad school.
The Bachelor of Arts in Applied Criminology ‒ Honours program allows you to do self-directed research in a criminological area. While an Honours degree is not always mandatory for graduate school, completing one demonstrates your ability to complete independent research, and may give you an edge when applying for graduate studies.
Get work experience – before you graduate
You’ll cultivate applied skills through work placements in crime prevention, law enforcement, community corrections, institutional corrections, law, or research. You’ll graduate with 100 hours of work experience in the criminal justice field – giving you a leg up over the competition for jobs.
Career-focused concentrations
In the third and fourth years of the degree, you'll complete an applied concentration in Community and Institutional Practice, Crime Analysis and Prevention, or Legal Studies. See the More Information tab for details.
Graduate studies
If you’re interested in furthering your education, your credential may also transfer to graduate criminology programs at other post-secondary institutions in B.C. Visit the B.C. Transfer Guide and your transfer university’s website regularly to confirm which courses transfer.
Additional application requirements
Please note that there are additional application requirements for admissions to the Honours Program. See the admissions requirements tab for more information.
All applicants must meet the general college admission requirements for Douglas College.
Admission to the Bachelor of Arts in Applied Criminology will occur after the completion of 60 credits. Students must have the following:
a) a two year Liberal Arts or Science Diploma or Associate Arts (or equivalent) with a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0. Douglas College's Criminology and Legal Studies diplomas meet this requirement.
b) completion of the following courses (or equivalent)
CRIM 1100 (Introduction to Criminal Justice)
CRIM 1150 (Introduction to Criminology)
CRIM 1160 (Introduction to the Canadian Legal System)
CRIM 2140 (Interviewing and Professional Behaviour)
CRIM 2254 (Research Methods)
CRIM 2260 (Criminal Law)
AND
One of CRIM 1120 (Introduction to Policing) or CRIM 1170(Introduction to Corrections)
AND
One of CRIM 2251 (Psychological Explanations to Crime and Deviance) or CRIM 2252 (Sociological Explanations to Crime and Deviance)
AND
One of PSYC 2300 (Data Analysis in Psychology), GEOG 2251 (Quantitative Methods in Geography), or MATH 1160 (Introduction to Statistics)
Admission to the honours program will typically occur at the beginning of the fourth year of the program. Admission to the honours program will require:
Calculate your tuition and see the approximate cost of taking your program at Douglas College with the tuition and fee estimator. See costs broken down into categories including tuition fees, textbooks, student activity fees, U-Pass and more.
For more information, refer to the tuition fee charts.
Graduation Requirements For Students Completing By Summer 2023:
Graduation Requirements For Students Completing After Summer 2023:
In upper level courses, five core Criminology courses are required:
CRIM 3310 (Advanced Theoretical Perspectives)
CRIM 3325 (Qualitative Research Methods) (or PSYC 3300 Applied Intermediate Research Methods and Data Analysis or PSYC 3301 Applied Organizational Research Methods)
CRIM 3340 (Problem Solving and Interventions in Criminal Justice)
CRIM 3355 (Indigenous Peoples: Crime and Administration of Justice)
CRIM 4420 (Media, Crime, and Law)
As well as a practicum or field experience course such as CRIM 3345 (Criminology Practicum).
A minimum of five upper level Criminology or designate courses (plus CRIM 3345) is required for the selected area of concentration. All courses listed in these tables are eligible to be counted within the concentration. Thus, students may opt to take other upper level electives, so long as they complete five of those identified along with a field experience (CRIM 3345 or equivalent).
Possible curriculum framework for third and fourth years with an associated concentration is as follows:
(Note: LL -> Lower level (1000 or 2000) course. UL -> Upper leve (3000 or 4000) course)
|
Semester Five |
Semester Six |
| CRIM 3310 (Advanced Theory) | CRIM 4420 (Media, Crime and Law) |
| CRIM 3340 (Problem Solving) | CRIM 3345 (Practicum) |
| CRIM 3355 (Indigneous Peoples) | CRIM 3325 (Research Methods) |
| UL Elective | UL Elective |
| UL Elective | UL Elective |
Concentration in Community and Institutional Practice |
|
| Semester Seven | Semester Eight |
| CRIM 4410 (Mental Disorder and Law) | CRIM 3376 (Restorative Justice) |
| CRIM 3375 (Correctional Practice and Policy) | CRIM 3370 (Sex Offenders and Offences) |
| PSYC 3341 (Drugs and Behaviour) | CRIM 3356 (Female Offender) |
| PSYC 3342 (Developmental Psychopathology) | PHIL 3320 (Ethics) |
| CRIM 3335 (Human Rights and Civil Liberties) | UL or LL Elective |
Concentraton in Crime Analysis and Prevention |
|
| Semester Seven | Semester Eight |
| CRIM 3390 (Crime and Intelligence Analysis) | CRIM 3362 (Criminal Procedure & Evidence) |
| CRIM 4440 (Policing and Community) | CRIM 4480 (Forensic Sciences) |
| CRIM 3385 (Community Crime Prevention) | CRIM 4490 (Human Death Investigations) |
| CRIM 3380 (Organized Crime) | UL or LL Elective |
| UL or LL Elective | UL or LL Elective |
Concentration in Legal Studies |
|
| Semester Seven | Semester Eight |
| LGST 3310 (Sex, Love, Relationships and Law) | LGST 3330 (Indigenous Peoples and Law) |
| LGST 3320 (Immigration Law) | PHIL 3320 or BUSN 4490 (Legal Ethics) |
| CRIM 4470 (Gambling) | CRIM 3362 (Criminal Procedure & Evidence) |
| PSYC 3314 (Psychology and Law) | UL or LL Elective |
| CRIM 3335 (Human Rights and Civil Liberties) | UL or LL Elective |
Students taking the Legal Studies Concentration will also be required to take the following:
LGST 1100 (Legal Research and Reasoning)
LGST 1120 (Legal Process and Remedies)
LGST 2210 (Private Law)
LGST 2220 (Public Law)
SOSC 3399 (Directed Studies in Social Sciences) (3 credits) is also an elective option for all of the concentrations.
Honours Program
For a major in Applied Criminology with Honours, students will complete one (3 credit) seminar course (CRIM 4900) and two courses (CRIM 4910 and CRIM 4920) of supervised research. Applied Criminology Honours students will develop a brief proposal and secure a Criminology Faculty supervisor for their research and thesis prior to start of the degree.
Program Guidelines for previous years are viewable by selecting the version desired. If you took this program and do not see a listing for the starting semester / year of the program, consider the previous version as the applicable version.
Criminology practicum – deadlines and important information
The Criminology practicum course, CRIM 3345, is offered once a year and spans the Winter and Summer Semesters, providing students with opportunities to gain valuable work experience in the criminal justice field. The course has restricted enrolment and must be completed in-person with the practicum coordinator.
Students interested in completing this course must contact the practicum coordinator by the end of the Summer Semester on August 31 before the start of Winter registration.
To be eligible for CRIM 3345, students must meet all of the following requirements:
Preference will be given to students who have successfully completed the highest percentage of courses in either the Bachelor of Arts in Applied Criminology or Honours programs.
Graduation portfolio – deadlines and important information
Graduation portfolios must be submitted directly to the Bachelor of Arts (BA) program coordinator via email any time before the following deadlines: January 15 for Winter graduation and May 15 for Summer graduation. Students who submit their portfolios after these deadlines will not receive feedback until after the next scheduled graduation.
Please note that it is common for the BA program coordinator to request edits to portfolios before giving final approval. To ensure there's enough time to properly edit and resubmit portfolios, students should attempt to submit their portfolio before the established deadlines.
Professional development opportunities for the portfolio are generally considered to be one-time skills development or knowledge acquisition opportunities that are voluntary in nature and occur outside of the classroom, work experiences and volunteer experiences. While work and volunteer experience in the field is excellent for resumé-building, these are not considered professional development opportunities for the purposes of the portfolio.
For examples of acceptable professional development opportunities, please see the Criminology Student Handbook or contact the BA program coordinator.
Career opportunities include: