LS 403Crime and Public Policy

Units: 0.50
Faculty: Arts
Subject: Legal Studies

When it runs

Ran in 6 of the last 7 terms. Winter 2027: scheduled. Spring 2027: schedule not out yet.

Public policy responses to crime includes patterns in police decision making about what constitutes a crime, expert and lay theories on the causes of crime, political pronouncements on what to do about criminal offenders, and beliefs about the purposes of incarceration, amongst other formal and informal facets of the criminal justice system. Focusing on the experience of marginalized groups such as youth, women, and racialized persons, this course will help students develop a critical understanding of the ways in which public policy responses to crime can reproduce wider patterns of discrimination in society, especially those pertaining to race and Indigeneity. Through examination of current research in this area students will gain reflexive analytical skills to critically evaluate the relationship between the law and inequality.

Prerequisites

Complete all of the following
- Students must be in level 4A or higher
- Enrolled in 4G-Legal Studies, H-Legal Studies, or Legal Studies Minor

Antirequisites

None listed.

Leads to

No course lists it as a requisite.

Fall 2026 sections

Enrolment from UW Open Data, which can trail Quest by up to two days. Instructors and rooms: Schedule of Classes.
Section	Class	Enrolled	Meets
SEM 001	4038	27 / 28	W 18:30–21:20

Winter 2027 sections

Enrolment from UW Open Data, which can trail Quest by up to two days. Instructors and rooms: Schedule of Classes.
Section	Class	Enrolled	Meets
SEM 001	3461	0 / 28	F 08:30–11:20
SEM 002	7705	0 / 28	T 14:30–17:20
SEM 701	1296	42 / 9999	Online or by arrangement

Reviewed on UW Flow

100% liked it50% easy50% useful

From 3 ratings and 1 comment on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.

I took this course online/in-person in W22 with Allison Chenier. Course breakdown was: 3 reading assignments (10% each = 30% total), take-home midterm (30%), and final paper (40%). Online/in-person lectures consisted of Dr. Chenier giving a presentation on the week's topic (ppt slides posted on LEARN). There were required readings each week (anywhere between 1-6 articles) - imo not all of them are really "required" but you do want to keep up with most of them to use for the course assignments. Questions for the midterm and final paper were provided in advance. The course covers a range of topics related to criminal justice policy including selective criminalization, special marginalized…

Jul 2023 · liked itOn UW Flow Remove this

Discussed on r/uwaterloo

2 posts and comments in 2 threads mention LS 403, January 2014 to December 2024. Quoted word for word, newest first; each reply sits under the post and the comment that started its branch. Search r/uwaterloo for newer posts.

Fall 2017

Oct 28, 2017 Any way to disable UWCourseLinker from posting? 16 points, 26 comments

“posting a reply to my comment I find the bot annoying.”

u/Jackhofmann: “PSYCH 483 PSYCH 484 PSYCH 485 PSYCH 486 PSYCH 490R PSYCH 499A PSYCH 499B PSYCH 499C PSYCH 621 PSYCH 630 PSYCH 677A PSYCH 704A PSYCH 704B PSYCH 707 PSYCH 710 PSYCH 714 PSYCH 717 PSYCH 720A PSYCH 721A …”

u/Jackhofmann: “… LS 300 LS 306 LS 319 LS 322 LS 325 LS 327 LS 344 LS 351 LS 366 LS 374 LS 386 LS 401 LS 402 LS 403 LS 428 LS 434 LS 492 LS 496 LS 498 MATBUS 470 MATBUS 471 MATH 103 MATH 104 MATH 106 MATH 109 MATH 114 MATH 115 MATH 116 MATH 117 MATH 124 MATH 127 MATH 128 MATH 135 MATH 136 MATH …”

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Winter 2014

Jan 20, 2014 Legal Studies and Criminology Program 2 points, 3 comments

“Hey all, Was wondering if anyone had some information about this program. I've obviously read online but was looking for reviews or things that people have heard about this program. …”

u/DotAClone: “I'm currently in the ARBUS LS program. My advice is, if you are interested in getting into law school (as are most of these students) just go to York and take a psychology or sociology program. …”

u/skylar44: “… (LS 401, 402, 403, PHIL 327, etc) To OP: Build a rapport with your professors early on. I took Honours LS (no criminology) with tons of SOC and PSCI classes and I loved it. I'm also heading to law school in the fall. …”