NCJ Number
180704
Journal
Law and Order Volume: 47 Issue: 12 Dated: December 1999 Pages: 37-41
Date Published
December 1999
Length
5 pages
Annotation
Whether or not a college degree makes for more effective police officers depends not only on what is taught but how it is taught.
Abstract
Dean Daniel Maier-Katkin of Florida State University suggests the aim of the school of criminology and criminal justice is a scholarly inquiry in criminology and criminal justice to further understanding of the root causes of criminality, to influence public policy through the development of strategies for crime control, and to promote justice in the enforcement and administration of law. If a curriculum is to promote improved policing, it must help students engage in critical reflection and the testing of new meanings through deliberate reflection on the evidence and alternative arguments. To encourage such a process, teachers should ask probing questions in class and devise assignments that help students confront their beliefs and test their skills. Overall, educational endeavors should become student-centered by exposing to the student his/her current perspectives and abilities and presenting the student with alternative views and actions that can produce better outcomes.