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Differing Curricular Needs in Criminal Justice and Police Science

NCJ Number
75268
Author(s)
W L Lucas
Date Published
1979
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This paper, which was presented at the 1979 meeting of the American Society of Criminology, argues that criminal justice and police science, while often treated as synonymous or at least complementary educational areas, maintain quite different focuses which demand independent curricular development.
Abstract
Criminal justice, concerned with issues related to social control, stresses education and calls for an academic curriculum emphasizing theory, philosophy, and research. Police science, in contrast, is concerned with practical issues related to operational development of the police craft. Its emphasis on training demands a curriculum which concentrates on professional, technical, and skills development to prepare students for careers in policing. Development of criminal justice curriculum should not include courses offering vocational or technical training which would be typical of a police science curriculum. Recognition of criminal justice as a separate discipline from police science will enhance development of criminal justice as a program of academic study. Once the criminal justice curriculum strongly reflects an academic orientation, criminal justice programs will gain esteem on university campuses, meaningful accreditation standards can be provided, credentials of criminal justice faculty will improve, and current problems in transferring credits earned from criminal justice courses at junior colleges to colleges and universities will diminish. A list of 15 references is included. (Author summary)