NCJ Number
212718
Journal
Justice Quarterly Volume: 22 Issue: 4 Dated: December 2005 Pages: 413-426
Date Published
December 2005
Length
14 pages
Annotation
The agenda presented for teaching and learning about crime, law, and justice in the 21st century intends to ensure quality while expanding the scope and depth of criminal justice education.
Abstract
This article considers the past, present, and future of criminal justice education in colleges. Massachusetts is cited as an example of a State that has experienced many of the problems in criminal justice education encountered by many other States, and it has handled these problems in a constructive way. A formal statewide review of criminal justice education programs in Massachusetts found a wide variation in the quality of criminal justice degree programs, with a small percentage failing to meet acceptable quality standards due to under-funding, outdated curricula, unqualified instructors, part-time instructors, "second-class" programs for evening students, and credit for military training and life experiences. This led to new program guidelines and standards to upgrade curricula, faculty appointments, admissions, resource availability, student services, program integrity, off-campus sites, and improvements in general program quality and effectiveness. The evolution experienced in criminal justice education from the 1970s though the 1990s has been experienced by criminal justice degree programs in other States. Overall, higher education in criminal justice has professionalized criminal justice practice and policy, has helped create new specialized professions in criminal justice, and has given criminal justice the status of an academic discipline. The future of criminal justice education must focus on standards, certification, and accreditation. These issues must encompass expanded knowledge bases that include the following: analyses of new forms of crime, the role of science in law enforcement and justice administration, public security in the face of terrorist threats and tactics, and evidence-based criminal justice policy. 12 references