Undergraduate Program

Criminology offers courses leading to a bachelor of arts to students interested in a comprehensive, interdisciplinary approach to criminology.

The study of criminology attempts to unify all aspects of crime by an interdisciplinary and integrative approach. The curriculum assists students to acquire an in-depth understanding of the complexities of criminal, delinquent, and deviant behavior and of society's reaction to crime and deviance. Students concurrently acquire a theoretical and practical knowledge of the criminal justice system and its components, and gain insight into the philosophy, sociology, and present state of criminal law.

A wide range of disciplines including psychology, sociology and anthropology, political science, business administration, economics, philosophy, computing science, and mathematics are integrated with criminology courses into a curriculum which covers the following areas.

Understanding Individuals, Society, the System and the Law

• understanding the individual in society
• understanding human behavior
• understanding the criminal justice system
• understanding criminal behavior
• understanding the law
• understanding specific criminological problems

Learning the Techniques

• research methods and techniques
• techniques of intervention
• techniques of management, administration and planning
• relating theory to practice
• field work

This interdisciplinary program and the wide variety of criminology courses and other behavioral and social sciences integrated within it, allow students to pursue an interest in a different sector of applied criminology: crime prevention, corrections, criminal law reform and social reform.

Admission & Enrollment Limitations

The School of Criminology limits upper division admission to its major, minor and honors programs. Entry into these programs is restricted until formal approval is given by an undergraduate advisor for the School.

If you are a prospective student, please refer to the SFU Admissions website.

If you are a current SFU student interested in Criminology, please refer to admission into Criminology for more information.