Teaching patrol officer problem solutions in academic criminal justice courses

This article describes the need for college and university courses teaching proven problem solutions for police patrol officers. It is argued that it is unreasonable and unnecessary to expect patrol officers to routinely develop new problem solutions, and that they should rather be expected to know and use proven solutions. This paper reports findings of a survey of students in a university which offers such a course. The rated importance of specific course subjects and the number of classes needed to cover subjects are also reported. The mean rating, on a 0-to-4 scale, of the value of such a course to students planning to work in patrol was 3.77.     

Does majoring in criminal justice affect perceptions of criminal justice

Research continues to show that the public holds misperceptions about crime and criminal justice. The media influences the public in many of these misperceptions, often shaping beliefs and ideologies. Higher education gives criminal justice majors the opportunity to gain much more accurate knowledge than the general public. Nonetheless, it is the public that heavily influences the development of the criminal justice system. It is important, therefore, to examine the influence of criminal justice education. Criminal justice majors and non-majors in a Midwestern university were surveyed with regard to demographics and perceptions of crime and criminal justice. Results indicate that criminal justice majors have significantly different perceptions about criminal justice issues than non-majors. Implications for educating the public are discussed.     

A national survey of comparative criminal justice courses in universities in the United States

In recent years there has been growing interest in comparative/international criminal justice issues. Consequently, a number of scholars and professional organizations have encouraged course offerings in these areas. In this article, results are reported from a national survey carried out to determine the prevalence of courses addressing comparative criminal justice and the course content, structure and the characteristics of faculty who teach them. A questionnaire was mailed to 381 heads of four-year criminal justice programs in the United States; 169 (44%) usable returns were received from four-year institutions. The results indicated that 58 (34%) of the criminal justice programs provide some comparative/international courses. Faculty who are actively involved in these are usually at the upper ranks and have primary interests in England and Japan. Analysis of course content revealed that most emphasize writing skills and critical thinking about comparative issues, and that there appears to be a developing consensus on certain core concepts involved in the teaching of such topics.     

Exploring the beliefs surrounding student evaluations of instruction in criminology and criminal justice undergraduate courses

Student evaluations of instructors are given consideration in a number of important decisions concerning instructors such as hiring, merit pay, and in the tenure and promotion process. However, a number of popular beliefs surround the interpretation of these evaluations. Using student evaluations for the three research-oriented universities in the state of Florida as a database, a number of these beliefs are explored. Specifically, the effects of instructor attributes (such as gender, rank and grades) and course characteristics (such as class size, type, number of course meetings, and time of day offered) on the end of the semester student evaluation rankings are discussed.     

Restorative justice in the criminal justice curriculum

A perennial challenge for criminal justice educators is deciding which reform movements in criminal justice are worthy of coverage. Restorative justice is one such new movement that has made significant inroads in both criminal justice policy and practice. In this article, we argue that there are numerous benefits to including coverage of restorative justice in a criminal justice curriculum. We also offer a number of concrete suggestions for helping students learn about this radically different approach to dealing with crime.     

Ethics courses: Their impact on the values and ethical decisions of criminal justice students

Numerous articles and books advocate the importance of ethics as an essential component of a criminal justice curriculum. While there are several approaches suggested, one of the most popular methods of assuring coverage of this important topic is to add an ethics course to the curriculum either as a required or an elective course. Teaching students ethical theories, principles and providing them with the opportunity to discuss discipline specific ethics problems is thought to help contribute to the establishment of ethical practitioners.

The purpose of this research is to examine the impact of a semester long criminal justice ethics course on the students' value orientations, and their perceptions of both the seriousness of ethical violations and their likelihood of engaging in such behaviors. Our findings are consistent with the results of researchers evaluating ethics courses in other disciplines. Implications for criminal justice ethics education are discussed.     

Social studies teacher candidates' views on the controversial issues incorporated into their courses in Turkey

Incorporating controversial issues into pre-service teacher education provides teacher candidates with opportunities not only to gain effective civic competence but also to develop skills and experience in their teaching of controversial issues. The purpose of this study was to ascertain social studies teacher candidates' views on the controversial issues involved in their courses in Turkey. The study was based on semi-structured interviews with 15 teacher candidates. It was found that controversial issues were not sufficiently included in teacher candidates' courses and that teacher candidates have difficulty in discussing critical issues in class. This study also introduced the idea that teacher candidates experiencing controversial issues in pre-service teacher education can gain positive attitudes towards teaching such issues in their professional lives and can form their own teaching strategies. Teacher candidates came to believe that good teachers should include controversial issues related to the course content and both teachers and teacher candidates should prepare for their discussion phase.     

White-collar crime in the criminal justice curriculum

Recognition of the significance of white-collar crime has grown substantially in recent years, but this growth has not been reflected adequately in the field of criminal justice or in the criminal justice curriculum. Through a content analysis of criminal justice and criminology textbooks and program course offerings the authors demonstrate the relative neglect of white-collar crime, and especially its marginal position in the criminal justice curriculum. Some hypothetical reasons for this relative neglect are explored. An argument is made on both theoretical and pragmatic grounds for more sustained and more systematic integration of white-collar crime into the criminal justice curriculum.     

Freshman interest groups in criminal justice education

Freshman group programs have been promoted by many institutions of higher learning. However, few empirical evaluations of such programs have been reported in the scholarly literature, and none have focused on programs in criminal justice education. Subjects in this study included 130 students enrolled in an introductory criminal justice course at one institution, a portion of which (32 students) were also enrolled in sections of a group program called Freshman Interest Groups. Results showed that students enrolled in this program did better in the course than their freshmen peers and upper-class students, which analyses showed was largely due to higher attendance.     

Teaching literature in the criminal justice curriculum

This article presents an argument for the integration of literature, especially novels, into the criminal justice curriculum. Included is a discussion of novels and short stories that work well in criminal justice courses. Approaches for integrating literature with traditional empirical and theoretical material are also discussed. Reading and discussing excellent literature can be an effective means to develop a student's sense of empathy and skills of critical thinking. This argument is set in the context of the broader debate of the relationship of criminal justice to the rest of the liberal arts.     

Liberal education and the criminal justice major

New perspectives on the impact of college on students, on linking general education, the major, electives and extra-classroom experiences toward the goal of “integrated learning,” and renewed emphasis on the importance of producing liberally educated college graduates, present opportunities for criminal justice educators to make their field a keystone in the architecture of a liberal education. In this essay, I argue that the multidisciplinary perspectives that characterize the field of criminal justice, as well as its core intellectual concerns, make criminal justice well-suited to serve as the infrastructure for a high-quality undergraduate liberal education program.     

A task force to reduce prison overcrowding: Implications for criminal justice policy,planning and research methods courses

This article describes an undergraduate criminal justice research methods course that uses interactive teaching methods to explore the dynamics of policy analysis and program evaluation. The issue of prison overcrowding is introduced after a solid base of research methods concepts has been mastered. Prison overcrowding is presented in a detailed scenario that includes changes in state and local policy. Student workgroups explore issues involved in prison overcrowding using multiple sources of information, including the World Wide Web.     

Student satisfaction with distance education in a criminal justice graduate course

As distance education becomes more widespread and sophisticated, a key concern should be how well programming meets the needs of its student clientele. The present study examines student satisfaction across learning environments (studio versus remote) and over time. Survey questionnaires were administered in a distance education course, and scales were constructed for (1) evaluation of the instructor and (2) specific aspects of distance education. Attitudes were generally favorable, although most students would still prefer a “traditional” classroom and satisfaction ratings significantly declined over time. Implications for improving services are explored regarding technological aspects of the classroom that pose difficulties for some students.     

The logic of inference in criminal justice statistics

An approach to teaching criminal justice statistics is advanced that focuses on broad similarities between all inferential tests. Tests of inference include all processes in which a hypothesis is generated and, ultimately, rejected or not. The process of a criminal trial, which is an inferential test, is employed as an extended analogy, through which specific statistical concepts are introduced. The advantages to criminal justice students of learning statistical concepts through a justice-specific framework are discussed.     

Assessing jail coverage in introductory criminal justice textbooks

Despite their integral and multi-functional role within the criminal justice system, jails receive limited societal and research attention. The present study assesses the extent to which jail-related information is presented in fourteen leading introductory criminal justice texts. In general, it was found that there are 4.8 pages of prison-related information for every one page of jail coverage, and that roughly 72% of all jail-related information is found within the corrections sections of introductory criminal justice texts. Suggestions regarding future directions for authors of these texts are offered.     

Career choices and characteristics of criminal justice undergraduates

Four hundred undergraduate criminal justice students from twelve colleges and universities in seven states participated in an anonymous, written survey designed to determine career choices and expectations as well as other demographic information. Approximately half of the students surveyed indicated that they were pursuing a career in law enforcement. Almost one-third indicated that they had no career plans. We found that reasons for studying criminal justice vary by race and gender, as do career goals.