The Criminal and Social Justice program, based at Okanagan College's Penticton campus, will provide students with an Arts-based criminal and social justice education. It is a two-year, four-semester program in which students will take a variety of criminal and social justice related courses in Sociology, Psychology, Political Science and Criminology, as well as elective Arts courses of personal interest. Some fields of inquiry may include indigenous studies, gender studies, race and ethnicity, globalization and poverty.

Students will graduate from this two-year program with a Diploma in Criminal and Social Justice and transfer into degree opportunities at other institutions in British Columbia and elsewhere, or they can move directly into the workforce, as there is growing labour demand in the field of criminal and social justice.

Students exit the program with a solid, practical understanding of criminal and social justice issues in Canada and the world, as well as the academic skills of analytical reasoning, critical thinking, communication, and information retrieval that will be applied to their future profession and academic pursuits.

This program is intended primarily to provide students with the education necessary for further study. After transfer and additional study, career options include:

• Corrections Officer
• Community and Probation Control Officer
• Forensic Psychologist
• Victim’s Assistance Worker
• Youth Advocate
• Police Officer

Program Outline

Year One - Semester I

• PSYC 111 Introduction to Psychology: Basic Processes
• SOCI 111 Introduction to Sociology I
• ENGL 100 University Writing
• CRIM 111 Introduction to Criminology
• POLI 101 Introduction to Politics

Semester II

• PSYC 121 Introduction to Psychology: Personal Functioning
• SOCI 121 Introduction to Sociology II
• CRIM 121 Introduction to the Criminal Justice System
• GSWS 100 Introduction to Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies
• Electives (3 credits)

Year Two - Semester III

• CRIM 235 Canadian Law and Legal Institutions
• CRIM 260 Social Science Research Methods
• SOCI 270 Deviance and Social Control

Semester IV

• CRIM 210 Law, Youth and Young Offenders
• CRIM 230 Criminal Law
• CRIM 203 Psychological Perspectives on Crime and Deviance