NCJ Number
140982
Date Published
1989
Length
16 pages
Annotation
The article describes structure and curriculum of the discipline of criminology at Belgian universities.
Abstract
In the past generation, criminology has become a sought after field of study which is offered at six large Belgian universities. Criminology is no longer an auxiliary study of criminal law, but feeds into other disciplines such as sociology, anthropology, history, and economy. The structure of the curriculum is determined by each individual university; however, the administrators collaborate to establish minimum graduation standards. The basic degree usually includes interdisciplinary requirements such as philosophy, psychology, and physiology as well as the core classes in history of criminal justice, general criminology, and criminological statistics. Beyond the undergraduate degree, each university also offers a 2-year advanced degree and a doctoral program. The faculty, which as a rule have earned a doctorate, are heavily involved in research and publication in addition to their teaching loads. The article emphasizes that, in the future evolution of this young discipline, the universities must remain the chief originators of high quality independent research.