Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Fall 2020 - CRIM 313 D100

Specific Types of Crimes (3)

Violence & Aggression

Class Number: 5260

Delivery Method: Remote

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Sep 9 – Dec 8, 2020: Wed, 9:30 a.m.–12:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

  • Prerequisites:

    CRIM 101.

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Critical analysis of a specific type of crime with particular emphasis on the nature, the incidence, correlates, control and prevention. Special attention may be given to white collar crime, computer crime, organized crime, violent crimes, political crimes, sexual offence, professional crimes, morality crime, etc.

COURSE DETAILS:

This course provides an overview of the history of interpersonal violence and efforts to control it from the earliest humans to the present. The topics we cover are organized around Steven Pinker’s award-winning book, The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined, which argues – as the title implies – that we are living in one of the most peaceable eras of human history ever. The course and the book draw on research by historians, psychologists, social scientists, evolutionary theorists, philosophers, biologists, and others that supports Pinker’s arguments, as well as work by scholars who have been critical of aspects of Pinker’s analysis. Students of criminology should find the course relevant to their studies because it highlights the changing nature of violent crime, legal definitions of it, and legal responses to it – some of which include violence; and because it helps to provide a context for the decline in violent crime that has occurred in many western democracies, including Canada, since the early 1990s.  

Due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, instruction (which is normally offered “face to face” on campus) will be presented “remotely” via interactive Zoom lectures/seminars/office hours, Canvas and email. There will be no in-person meetings/ lectures/seminars/office hours during the entire Fall 2020 semester.  Please see the Canvas course container for details starting the first week of classes.  

Since the course is being offered remotely via Zoom due to COVID, please ensure you have a stable Internet connection and a functional webcam, since there will be times in lecture, seminar and office hours when we will be speaking with each other using our webcams.  

Most of this course content in the Fall 2020 semester will be offered synchronously (about 90%), i.e., I will be conducting the lecture live at 9:30 am on Wednesdays from my office or my home via an interactive Zoom call (with my webcam). This option allows students to speak up and have me answer questions live. I will be posting lecture notes after each class to Canvas. Seminars will also be conducted live after the lecture until 12:20 pm. Some components of selected lectures/seminars will be asynchronous (about 10%), e.g., watching the assigned videos and discussing them in Canvas.

Grading

  • Critical Analysis Paper #1 (first part of the course) 15%
  • Critical Analysis Paper #2 (second part of the course) 25%
  • Participation in seminar discussion 15%
  • Test 1 (Mid-term test) 20%
  • Test 2 (End-of-term test) 25%

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

1. Pinker, Steven. (2011). The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined. New York: Viking. Available as a Kindle Edition (e-book) at amazon.ca. 2. Additional electronic journal readings may also be assigned during the semester. 

Department Undergraduate Notes:

If you have any Criminology course enrollment requests (course adds, course swaps), please contact a Criminology advisor. Please do not contact instructors for enrollment assistance as they will ultimately refer you to a Criminology advisor.

Criminology course enrollment requests should be sent to a Criminology advisor no later than the last day of the Second week of classes. Late enrollment requests are subject to approval and are not guaranteed. 

Enrollment requests for non-Crim courses should be directed to the advisor for the program offering the course. 


ATTENTION: STUDENTS WITH A DISABILITY: Please contact the Center for Accessible Learning, (MBC 1250 or Phone 778-782-3112) if you need or require assistance, not your individual instructors.  
  • A student must complete ALL aspects of a course (including assignments, exams, class participation, presentations, chat room components of Distance Education courses and other), otherwise he/she will receive a grade of N. 
  • The University has formal policies regarding academic dishonesty and grade appeals. Students are strongly encouraged to familiarize themselves with policy S 10.01, the Code of Academic Integrity and Good Conduct, available on the University’s website. Information about grade appeals may be obtained from the General Office of the School of Criminology.
  • Under GP18, the University has policies and procedures which respond to our obligations under the BC Human Rights Code to provide a harassment and discrimination free environment for the students, staff and faculty of this institution.  Members of this community have an affirmative obligation to safeguard the human rights of others.
UNIVERSITY POLICY FORBIDS FINAL EXAMINATIONS WHILE CLASSES ARE STILL IN SESSION.

Please note that all teaching at SFU in fall term 2020 will be conducted through remote methods. Enrollment in this course acknowledges that remote study may entail different modes of learning, interaction with your instructor, and ways of getting feedback on your work than may be the case for in-person classes.

Students with hidden or visible disabilities who believe they may need class or exam accommodations, including in the current context of remote learning, are encouraged to register with the SFU Centre for Accessible Learning (caladmin@sfu.ca or 778-782-3112) as soon as possible to ensure that they are eligible and that approved accommodations and services are implemented in a timely fashion.

Registrar Notes:

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS

SFU’s Academic Integrity web site http://www.sfu.ca/students/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating.  Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.

Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the University community.  Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the University. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the University. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html

TEACHING AT SFU IN FALL 2020

Teaching at SFU in fall 2020 will be conducted primarily through remote methods. There will be in-person course components in a few exceptional cases where this is fundamental to the educational goals of the course. Such course components will be clearly identified at registration, as will course components that will be “live” (synchronous) vs. at your own pace (asynchronous). Enrollment acknowledges that remote study may entail different modes of learning, interaction with your instructor, and ways of getting feedback on your work than may be the case for in-person classes. To ensure you can access all course materials, we recommend you have access to a computer with a microphone and camera, and the internet. In some cases your instructor may use Zoom or other means requiring a camera and microphone to invigilate exams. If proctoring software will be used, this will be confirmed in the first week of class.

Students with hidden or visible disabilities who believe they may need class or exam accommodations, including in the current context of remote learning, are encouraged to register with the SFU Centre for Accessible Learning (caladmin@sfu.ca or 778-782-3112).