The Department of Criminology offers a program leading to the PhD in criminology with a particular focus on the creation and reform of criminal justice policies in Canada. The program is offered in English and in French.

Criminal justice policies are based on a combination of cultural elements, specialized knowledge, laws and social practices that determine behaviour of a potentially criminal nature and the kind of response society can or should adopt.

The field is divided into two areas. The first addresses the process by means of which criminal justice policies (including laws and institutions such as the police, prison, etc.) are created and developed. The second concerns the theoretical and empirical analysis of the implementation of such policies. It examines how institutions function and attempts to assess the social consequences of these policies so as to suggest new reforms or alternative measures of a more moderate nature and more respectful of human dignity.

Program Objectives

The doctoral program aims to prepare criminologists who have a solid understanding of contemporary issues in criminology and criminal justice policies, have in-depth knowledge of the theories and debates that characterize the discipline and are equipped to design and conduct a methodologically sound original research program.

The professors included in the list below are members of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. This means that they are authorized to supervise or co-supervise theses. A complete list of the faculty and staff members associated with the program can be found at http://www.socialsciences.uottawa.ca/crm/graduate-studies

BEAUCHESNE, Line, Full Professor
Community Policing; women professionals in penal law; impact of drugs policies on prevention and treatment strategies; philosophy of law

BITTLE, Steven, Assistant Professor
Corporate crime, Corporate criminal liability, Sociology of law and control, Criminological theory

BRUCKERT, Christine, Associate Professor
Criminological theory; erotic dance; release and reintegration from prison, sex work

CAMPBELL, Kathryn, Associate Professor
Aboriginal justice issues; miscarriages of justice; youth justice

CAUCHIE, Jean-François, Assistant Professor
Socio-historical construction of crime; criminal policies; foundations of criminal rights; modern penal rationality; reforms on criminal rights; alternative sanctions; human rights and penal justice, the study of political rationalities (classical liberalism, providentialism, neo-liberalism, neo-conservatism); surveillance technologies; risk society; figure of neo-Liberalism

CELLARD, André, Full Professor
Evolution of measures of social control; Criminal alienation; Sociology of "mental illness"; History of confinement; Social history of Quebec

CLIMACO DOS SANTOS, Edmundo, Associate Professor
Crime; epistemology, methodology, global political economy of crime (globalization, crime and justice), law; justice administration, policing, and prison; crime, law and justice(In), security and governance

CORRIVEAU, Patrice, Assistant Professor
Socio-historic of suicide in Quebec; Online juvenile pornography; Street gangs and juvenile prostitution; Adult prostitution (female and male); Homosexuality and homophobia; Criminalization of sexuality

DUBÉ, Richard, Assistant Professor
Reflexive organisations in criminal law (law reform commissions); system of thought and cognitive innovation in the field of criminal law; sociology of (penal) law, systems theory (Niklas Luhmann); epistemology

DUFRESNE, Martin, Associate Professor
History of criminal law; history of the criminal justice system; media and crime, social studies of science, technology and justice (ex: DNA Banking); youth justice YOA YCJA

FELICES-LUNA, Maritza, Assistant Professor
Political violence; (social movements; terrorism/insurgency; vigilantism and paramilitary organisations; police; state violence); armed conflict (civil war; genocide; political armies; war crimes; mercenaries and private military companies), qualitative methodology; symbolic interactionism (stigma, identity, total institutions, career); state (state/political crime; citizenship; democratic and non-democratic regimes)

FRAULEY, Jonathan, Assistant Professor
Classical and contemporary social and criminological theory esp. Foucault and Bourdieu; social control, governance and regulation; law and society; sociology of deviance; methodology and epistemology, especially critical realist philosophy of science, higher education and the regulation of economic security and academic labour; political economy of crime control and criminal justice; power crime; cultural criminology; fictional realities and criminological theorizing

FRIGON, Sylvie, Full Professor
Women, criminalization and imprisonment; the sociology of the body in prison; violent women; the social and penal reintegration of women in conflict with the law, the experience and management of health (physical and mental) of women in prison; artistic manifestations on/in prison (ex: literature, theatre and dance)

GERVAIS, Christine, Assistant Professor
Children's and women's human rights in Latin America; Feminist spirituality and social justice among religious women; Insidious potential of prevention in state intervention; Human trafficking; Education and international development, Gender-based discrimination and criminalization in religious institutions; Collateral consequences to families of sexually offending youth; Prison ministry and victim advocacy by religious women

HASTINGS, J. Ross, Full Professor
Crime Prevention; innovation in criminal justice policies and practices; youth & youth justice; communities and prevention

JOHNSON, Holly, Associate Professor
Intimate partner violence and sexual violence; including prevention; criminal justice responses; and methods of measurement; feminist theory and gender theory

JOUBERT, David, Assistant Professor
Psychoanalysis, object relations; psychological, forensic and risk assessment, clinical intervention in correctional and forensic settings; mental disorder and crime; professional development and identity; regulation of aggression in sports, with a focus on combat sports ("mixed martial arts")

KEMPA, Michael, Associate Professor
Human security; policing; political economy; social theory

KILTY, Jennifer, Assistant Professor
Women in prison; self-harming behaviours; prison abolition; transcarceration; psy care in prison; the social construction of dangerous girls and women, identity building and negotiation of prisoners

LEHALLE, Sandra, Assistant Professor
Human rights and control institutions; prison; penal and correctional policies and practices; law reform and law creation; torture and inhumane and degrading treatment

MELCHERS, Ronald-Frans, Associate Professor
Criminal justice statistics; evaluation research; evidence in law and policy; police; public policy; community intervention

PARENT, Colette, Full Professor
Feminism and criminology; wife assault; sex work

PETRUNIK, Michael, Adjunct Professor
Dangerous offenders; intervention; minorities and justice; social policy; violence and abuse

PICHÉ, Justin, Assistant Professor

PIRES, Alvaro, Full Professor
Criminal law reform and criminal policy; history of knowledge on crime and punishment; social sciences epistemology and (qualitative) methodology; sociology of law and criminal law philosophy

QUIRION, Bastien, Associate Professor
Risk assessment and management; rehabilitation and correction; harm reduction; sociology of risk; drug addiction treatment

RANASINGHE, Prashan, Assistant Professor
Law and society; the regulation of public space; homelessness; history of criminology/criminological thought

ROBERT, Dominique, Associate Professor
Qualitative research; social studies of science, technology and justice (ex: DNA); health and justice; penal policies

STEEVES, Valerie, Associate Professor
Online hate propaganda and pornography; human rights and technology; media stereotyping; privacy and surveillance; social construction of crime

STRIMELLE, Véronique, Associate Professor
Imprisonment; parole; social reinsertion of ex-convicts; women and girls in custody; restorative justice; history of juvenile delinquency modes of regulation in 19th century Canada

VANHAMME, Françoise, Associate Professor
Community sanctions, informal regulation, vindicatory justice; penalties and penal measures: nature, role (speech and use) evolution, sentencing: context and process; theories in criminology, zemiology

WALLER, Irvin, Full Professor
Putting knowledge into practice (Harnessing) to reduce victimization and protect victims; comparative crime policy and use of incarceration (North America, Europe, Latin America and the World), engaging public and legislators in policy reform with Less Law, More Order: The Truth about Reducing Crime; making shift in Canadian policies from reactive and just desserts to effective prevention based on evidence, (federal, provincial, municipal policies); rights for victims of crime; rebalancing justice - services and rights for crime victims (successes, laws and constitutional change)

WEBSTER, Cheryl, Associate Professor
General deterrence; court efficiency; trends in imprisonment rates; court structure

To be eligible for admission to the PhD program, students must hold a master's degree (thesis or research paper) in criminology or a related discipline, with a minimum average of 75 % (B+). A brief description (one or two pages) of the proposed research project must be submitted. Admission to the program will depend on the possibility of finding a professor to supervise the candidate's research.

Language Requirements

All applicants must be able to understand speak and write either English or French proficiently. Applicants whose first language is neither English nor French must provide proof of proficiency in one or the other. The list of acceptable tests is indicated in the “Admission” section of the general regulations of the FGPS.

In accordance with University of Ottawa policy, students have a right to produce their written work and to answer examination questions in French or in English.

Second Language Requirement

Students who are not bilingual at the time of admission may take a placement test upon admission and, depending on their score, they will have to take and pass second language course(s) (e.g. FLS2513/ELS2113) to ensure they attain the required standard by the end of their second year of studies.

Transfer from Master’s to PhD Program

Students in a master’s program who have achieved an 80% (A-) average in their last two years of undergraduate studies may be allowed to transfer to the PhD program without being required to write a master’s thesis provided they meet the following conditions:

• Completion of 5 graduate courses (15 credits) with a grade of A- or better in each.
• Satisfactory progress in the research program.
• Written recommendation from the supervisor and the thesis advisory committee.
• Approval by the graduate studies committee.

The request to transfer must be made during the fourth session of registration or earlier. The student must register in the PhD in the fifth or, at the latest, in the sixth session. Following transfer, all the requirements of the doctoral program must be met.

• CRM8100 DOCTORAL SEMINAR (3cr.)
  and
  
• CRM8110 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY IN CRIMINOLOGY II (3cr.)
  and
  
• CRM8102 CURRENT ISSUES IN CRIMINOLOGY (3cr.)
  
• CRM9998 EXAMEN DE SYNTHÈSE / COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATION
  
• CRM9997 PROJET DE THÈSE / THESIS PROPOSAL
  
• CRM9999 THÈSE DE DOCTORAT / PhD THESIS
  

Transfer from Master's to PhD Program

Duration of the Program

Residence

Minimum Standards

Thesis Advisory Committee

Academic Unit Coordinates