Has Academic Criminal Justice Come of Age?

• NCJ Number: 192452
• Journal: Justice Quarterly Volume: 18 Issue: 4 Dated: December 2001 Pages: 709-726
• Author(s): Todd R. Clear
• Date Published: December 2001
• Length: 18 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Presidential addresss delivered to the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, April 4, 2001, in Washington, DC.

Annotation

This paper reports on a study that examined the progress of the academic field of criminal justice in achieving status in the field of higher education.

Abstract

The study compiled two data sets. The first consisted of the curricula vitae of 131 members of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences and the American Society of Criminology. The second consisted of annual graduation figures for 20 doctoral programs and 19 master's degree programs. Analysis of the data shows that academic criminal justice is a growing specialization in higher education and that the academicians who are educating the increasing number of students are largely producers of scholarship as well as consumers. Regarding graduate degrees awarded, limited data were available. Regarding productivity, a wide variety of studies have been conducted with differing methodologies and measures, thus creating a problem in comparing them. Still, academic criminal justice is not easily distinguished from the established social science disciplines in terms of scholarly output. Regarding program size and matriculation numbers, criminal justice is large enough to matter in the broad scheme of higher education; however, the nature of the criminal justice degree matters even more than its frequency. In higher education there is a trend away from traditional disciplinary inquiry, with specialized languages and empirical traditions, toward multidisciplinary areas that incorporate the foundations of several disciplines for a profound integration regarding a particularly important problem. Recommendations are offered for further progress in the scholarly status of criminal justice in higher education, such as the assistance of accreditation bodies in the formalization of expectations for such education and an increase in the policy-relevant profile of criminal justice professionals, notably in consultations with legislators in the context of developing criminal justice legislation. 4 tables and 15 references