In some ways it is unique, for example, in the number of professional and career persons found in the programs. In other ways it religiously adheres to traditional academic values such as rigorous admission and retention criteria. This article reviews the difficulties perceived by criminal justice doctoral students and compares these with concerns of doctoral students in a closely related academic discipline, sociology. The discussion looks at the criminal justice doctoral candidate. An attempt is made to understand why these students exhibit enthusiasm and hard work. The situational elements confronting doctoral students in criminal justice also are considered. Finally, one of the most crucial realities of the doctoral student's life, attributes and actions of faculty members, are reviewed in some detail because these attributes and actions have a significant impact on a student's progress through a doctoral program and on the advancement of knowledge in this discipline. (Author abstract)