SSCI 5081G - Crime and Social Justice

This graduate course is a seminar on social justice. Social and environmental justice is grounded in human rights and the dignity of every human being. It is based on the principles of solidarity, sustainability and equality. Social and environmental injustices are underpinned by a suite of common factors including class, poverty, racism, gender discrimination and lack of due process that marginalize people and communities. This course fosters students’ abilities to investigate and understand these root causes and to engage in the active promotion of social and environmental justice principles and the resolution of community-level injustices. Furthermore, this course makes an effort to examine how collective identities - not just of race, class and gender, but of religion, ability, sexuality and age - play a large part in determining the nature of an individual’s encounter with the criminal justice system. Integrating themes of history and context, power and powerlessness, and social and political action throughout, the text examines the concept of difference, the specific issues that different groups face with respect to the justice system and the kinds of reform necessary to mitigate inequalities.
Credit hours: 3