There continues to be much debate in the criminal justice academic community
about the value of the degree in the practice of law enforcement. Most of the debate
centers on earlier research that was both non-discipline specific and did not include
direct data collected from persons holding the degree and serving as police officers.
Unfortunately, there is little identifiable research into whether criminal justice graduates
perceive their degree as having a positive impact on their career in law enforcement.
This research is an exploration of the relationship between criminal justice higher
education and the majoring graduate?s success in a law enforcement career. The research
is vital in understanding the perceived relationship between the criminal justice degree
and the law enforcement career from a program graduate/law enforcement practitioner
perspective.
The study utilized qualitative inquiry and interpretive phenomenological analysis
to develop major themes of the graduates' perceptions of how their criminal justice
degree has contributed to their success in a law enforcement career. The findings of the study indicate that most graduates perceive the degree as
having direct links between college course curriculum and the academy training
programs for law enforcement officers. There is also an indication that strong criminal
justice related writing requirements improve career opportunities. In addition, the study
supports the inclusion of required internship programs in the criminal justice curriculum,
and the use of regular and adjunct faculty with career experience in law enforcement.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/ETD-TAMU-2009-08-7076 |
| Date | 2009 August 1900 |
| Creators | Franks, George Robert |
| Contributors | Lincoln, Yvonna S. |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Book, Thesis, Electronic Dissertation, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
Page generated in 0.0016 seconds