The State of Criminal Justice Bachelor’s Degree Programs in the United States: Institutional,Departmental, and Curricula Features

Bachelor’s degrees in criminal justice (BCJ) now constitute one of the ten most awarded undergraduate degrees in this country, yet little attention has been paid recently to the institutional, departmental, or curricular aspects of these programs. This study used primary and secondary data collected from the population (N = 670) of US colleges and universities offering BCJ degrees during the 2015–2016 academic year to describe and assess the state of these programs. Results indicated BCJ programs are typically found at relatively small, residential, non-selective, private, sectarian, master’s-level institutions located in urban areas; the programs are housed in smaller departments labeled “criminal justice” located in academic units other than colleges/schools of arts & science; and BCJ curricula vary in total, required, and elective hours for the major, required courses in the major, and do not offer concentrations. Observations about the current state of BCJ programs are made as are recommendations for future research.     

Striking Out on Its Own: The Divergence of Criminology and Criminal Justice from Sociology

As education budgets shrink and interest in criminal justice at the collegiate level expands, large classes are being implemented in colleges and universities that traditionally have offered only small ones. If increasing criminal justice class sizes are inevitable, it is crucial that we gain an understanding of how large classes are currently taught and the extent to which these teaching techniques are employed in large criminal justice classes. This paper reports on an exploratory survey of criminal justice programs that ascertained the extent to which large classes are being offered, the organization of these courses, and how they are evaluated. These data enable us to identify current practices, speculate on the future of large classes in the criminal justice field and let us document how university/college characteristics are related to the prevalence, structure, and nature of large courses.     

Considerations for Faculty Preparing to Develop and Teach Online Criminal Justice Courses at Traditional Institutions of Higher Learning

Criminal justice programs at traditional institutions of higher learning have been moving toward offering courses online and, in some cases, placing entire programs online for the better part of the past decade. In competition with for‐profit institutions, many traditional colleges and universities have expanded their distance education programming to include online courses and programs to attract students. As a result, the number of criminal justice students has increased, as have the profits for home institutions. With this growth in the online education market, the criminal justice faculty member has been thrust, willingly or unwillingly, into the world of online teaching—a method of instruction foreign to many instructors. From the authors’ experience at their current (and in the case of the lead author a second) institution, this paper addresses many issues that must be considered by faculty members before embarking on this type of time‐intensive initiative.     

Web-based criminology/criminal justice programs in Texas colleges and universities

As part of distance learning education, web-based programs have become very popular and have been adopted nationwide by a number of higher education institutions. The adoption of web-based programs in criminology/criminal justice has grown slower than in some disciplines (e.g., business, medicine, computer science, and engineering). This study examines the state of web-based programs in 80 Texas public colleges and universities. The author concludes that although the web-based pedagogical approach is rather new and few courses have been offered, these web-based options for education are becoming increasingly available. The main reasons for the absence of a web-based program are lack of hardware in the departments, concerns for its value and integrity, lack of preparation time, and faculty's lack of familiarity with technology. Several recommendations are provided to make the web-based programs better and more available.     

The application of cognitive learning theory to criminal justice education

Most criminal justice programs began as extensions of vocational technical training courses, but within the last decade they have begun to parallel the liberal arts programs originally proposed. As a result of this reorientation, criminal justice instructors lack many of the instructional methods used by colleagues in other fields. In addition, the dual nature of criminal justice instruction, requiring both experience and theory, places demands on criminal justice instructors that their colleagues may not experience. The field needs an instructional approach that blends the best of the vocational aspects and the theoretical underpinnings. This paper reviews cognitive learning theory, specifically Kolb's experiential learning model. Recommendations are offered for the application of this model to instruction in criminal justice courses.     

How Will They Understand if We Don’t Teach Them? The Status of Criminal Justice Education on Gay and Lesbian Issues

Inclusion of race and gender in criminal justice education has, to some degree, been prompted as a result of perceived bias by criminal justice system professionals. Utilizing the race and gender experience as a template, interactions between the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered (GLBT) community and the criminal justice system are explored. This study surveyed criminal justice undergraduate degree programs to ascertain course content on gay and lesbian issues. Results indicate that an extremely small number of programs have such a course or alternatively incorporate GLBT issues within existing race and gender courses. Implications for criminal justice education 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.     

Identifying the Prevalence of Courses on Mental Illness in Criminal Justice Education

Persons with Mental Illness (PMIs) require unique consideration and individualized attention in the criminal justice system. Research has demonstrated the prevalence with which police come into contact with these individuals, the unique considerations made by courtrooms serving PMIs, the overrepresentation of PMIs in correctional settings, and the problems PMIs experience when reentering the community from incarceration. Given the growth of attention to this area, and the increased reality of challenges that criminal justice professionals encounter when working with PMIs, this paper explores the prevalence of courses on mental illness in criminal justice undergraduate programs in the United States. The current review of over 640 curricula in the United States illustrates that courses devoted solely to the topic of mental illness in the criminal justice system are particularly rare. The importance of offering more courses in the interface between mental illness and criminal justice for future professionals in the field is discussed.     

Integrating Gay,Lesbian, Bisexual,and Transgender Issues into the Undergraduate Criminal Justice Curriculum

Although criminal justice has made strides to incorporate issues of race, ethnicity, class, and gender into both research and teaching, the same cannot be said about issues of homosexuality. Prior research indicates criminal justice students are more homophobic than their peers in other majors and that bias against gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) persons continues in the criminal justice system. As a result, this article argues that criminal justice educators should integrate issues of sexuality into criminal justice curricula as part of diversity education within the discipline. Few programs currently do so. This article outlines four methods for infusing justice‐related GLBT content into criminal justice classes, including: The teachable moment; incorporating GLBT‐relevant material in required courses; incorporating GLBT‐relevant material into diversity courses; and the development of new electives. These strategies can help combat heterosexism and homophobia.     

A commitment to justice at a jesuit university: A comparison of criminal justice majors to non-majors

While both criminal justice programs and Jesuit institutions claim commitment to the realization of justice, their conceptions of justice differ. This exploratory survey of 31 criminal justice majors and 51 non-majors compares criminal justice majors' concept of justice with that of non-criminal justice majors. We find that criminal justice majors and non-majors generally do not differ in their views of justice or their rank of goals for specific criminal justice professionals, regardless of the number of theology/philosophy or criminal justice courses taken or other demographic factors.     

Consider the lawyers: Law school's lessons for criminal justice education

For two disciplines interested in similar issues, law schools and criminal justice programs may as well be on different sides of the moon when it comes to pedagogy. Undoubtedly, criminal justice has lessons to share with law, but legal instruction also offers innovations for justice education. The following essay presents my experience from both law school and criminal justice programs, offering recommendations to improve criminal justice teaching. I offer the suggestions not under any brazen notion that I have discovered the secrets to ideal pedagogy, but rather to suggest that many of law's methods would benefit criminal justice as well.     

The State of Criminal Justice Bachelor’s Degree Programs in the United States: A Descriptive Profile of Programs Housed in For-Profit Institutions

While for-profit colleges and universities (FPCUs) have long existed in the U.S., most were small, closely held companies (CHCs). Beginning in the 1990s, a new FPCU emerged that was owned by publicly traded companies (PTCs). While FPCUs owned by CHCs and PTCs offer baccalaureates in criminal justice (BCJ), little is known about the characteristics of these programs. To address this gap, the current study analyzed the population (N = 79) of FPCUs offering BCJ programs during academic year 2015–2016 by type of corporate owner. Analyses included comparisons of the two types of FPCUs on three categories of variables: institutional, departmental, and curricular characteristics. Implications of the results for baccalaureate education in criminal justice and future research on the role of FPCUs in criminal justice are presented.     

Lawyers Practicing Medicine: Criminal Justice,Criminology, Sociology and Differential Curricula

Recently there has been a vigorous dialogue over the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS) academic standards pertaining to the role of JDs within criminal justice academic programs. It is a next logical step to open a discussion on a related aspect of the ACJS standards: “doctorates in a closely related field.” This discussion should center on how “closely” the “closely related fields” should be. This article examines the relationship between an education in sociology and criminology/criminal justice programs respectively by comparing the general curricular requirements, undergraduate and graduate, in a selection of sociology and criminology and criminal justice programs. This analysis indicates that there is a great deal of similarity within the sociology curricula, which contain sociologically oriented classes and criminology/criminal justice curricula, which contain criminologically oriented courses, but there is little overlap in course offerings across these two academic areas. Specifically, sociology graduates are not exposed to a meaningful number of criminology/criminal justice classes.     

Included? The Status of African American Scholars in the Discipline of Criminology and Criminal Justice Since 2004

This article provides a re-examination of the progress of African Americans in criminology/criminal justice doctoral programs since 2004. It focuses on African-American faculty, their scholarly research, and involvement in professional associations. Recent trends in African Americans enrolled in doctoral programs also are analyzed. Findings indicate that the representation of African-American faculty and doctoral students in criminology and criminal justice programs has increased although both continue to be under-represented in programs at predominantly white institutions. Evidence of increases in their contributions to the body of knowledge and service to professional associations was notable. The article concludes with strategies and recommendations for ensuring that inclusion continues to matter in the next decade.     

Developing an online justice studies degree program: A case study

Online technology allows higher education to reach additional students. Because of its convenience many universities will offer a variety of criminology and criminal justice courses online. This paper presents a case study of the transfer of a graduate justice studies degree program from traditional instruction to online delivery. The transformation must involve the coordination of several university departments. Online course instruction includes development, instruction, and assessment stages that are distinct from traditional courses. The lessons learned from this process are discussed.     

Exploring the impact of correctional facility tours on the perceptions of undergraduate criminal justice students

Students’ negative perceptions of inmates are a challenging aspect of teaching criminal justice. Scholars suggest exposing students to the criminal justice system may provide a realistic approach to understanding offenders. Prison tours have become a viable solution for instructors who want to create such exposure, but contrasting perspectives on the impact of prison tours on students’ learning are present in research. Drawing upon theories of experiential learning, we designed a pre-/post-survey to address the following exploratory questions: (1) What perceptions do criminal justice students hold regarding corrections, inmates, and correctional officers? (2) Do these perceptions change after going on a tour of a correctional facility? Data were collected from a convenience sample of 123 students attending courses at two Midwestern universities. Findings add to the body of literature on prison tours as a component of criminal justice education and further our understanding of the complexity of student learning.     

Social Work and Criminal Justice: Are We Meeting in the Field?

Social workers are needed but infrequently involved with criminal justice systems. One way to increase the number of social workers in the criminal justice system is by exposing students to work in these settings. This study examined the number, types, and utilization of criminal justice field placements in MSW programs by surveying field education directors. On average, 7.73% of field placements were in criminal justice settings. When asked about barriers to criminal justice placements, the most frequently identified challenge was a lack of MSW supervisors. Implications for future research and education are discussed.     

Drugs in the classroom: A historical approach to drug education

This article suggests various techniques and strategies for integrating historical research methods into the drug education classroom. While most criminal justice programs offer courses on drug education, instruction has typically concentrated on policy issues. With little historical perspective on the roots of the drug problem, students are too often left with a one-dimensional perspective: that all illegal drug use should be criminalized. Like many recent historical events, the roots of the drug problem remain a distant abstraction to the current generation of criminal justice students. A historical approach to this subject using historiographic methods can lead to a better understanding of the cyclic nature of the U. S. drug problem and policies over the past century.