ADCJ 4100 Corrections: Policies and Practices

The United States incarcerates more people than any other country in the world. This is due largely to cultural principles about the role of the individual in society and the belief that people freely make the choices that they make. Yet few American prisoners are successfully rehabilitated; nearly two-thirds of current prisoners have been previously incarcerated for other crimes. This course examines historical correctional policies and practices to understand the current status of the correctional system and investigates emerging correctional paradigms designed to better prepare criminal offenders for successful reintegration into society.

Course overview

Department
Advancing Studies
School
ADV
Credits
4
Level
Undergraduate
Offered
Periodically in the Fall, Periodically in the Spring, Periodically in the Summer

Course evaluations

Response-weighted averages from Boston College’s official course evaluations (Avalanche/Blue).

Course rating
4.86 / 5 · Excellent
7 responses
Instructor rating
5.00 / 5 · Excellent
7 responses
Terms evaluated
1
Most recent: Spring 2026

Scales: overall ratings run from 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent); agreement questions from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree); weekly effort from 1 (up to 1 hour) to 5 (10 or more hours).

Evaluations by term and instructor
TermInstructorCourse overallInstructor overallWell organizedClear learning objectivesIntellectually challengingHelpful assignmentsApplicable beyond courseAttendance necessaryWeekly effortResponses
Spring 2026Peyton Paxson4.95.04.94.94.94.94.94.77–9 hrs/week7 of 9

Data freshness

Course and evaluation data last updated 2026-10-09. Source details and limitations are documented in Data Sources and Methodology.

Instructors

Sections

  • Section 01
    Spring 2027 · Joanne Barros · Gasson Hall 309 W 06:15PM-09:35PM · Offered