University and the Field - Collaboration in Professional Education and Training

• NCJ Number: 86618
• Journal: Juvenile and Family Court Journal Volume: 33 Issue: 3 Dated: (August 1982) Pages: 71-76
• Author(s): W H Parsonage; R E Sharp; D Katkin
• Date Published: 1982
• Length: 6 pages
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Presented at the 1981 Meeting of The Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, March 12, 1981

Annotation

This article describes the collaborative model involving academia and the field used in Penn State's curriculum for the administration of justice. Future directions for such a model are discussed.

Abstract

An important element of the needed reexamination of approaches to criminal justice education and training is the rethinking of the relationship between academic research and training and the pragmatic concerns of the field. From the outset, Penn State's program in the administration of justice has enjoyed a relationship with operating criminal and juvenile justice agencies in Pennsylvania and contiguous States. This relationship was founded on a series of conferences and negotiations between the university and representatives of the field, which resulted in guidelines for continuing collaboration. The guidelines are attentive to the university's obligations in meeting the needs of practitioners and the field's agreement to provide access for research, field placement, and inservice training. In the area of instruction, there are multiple interactions between the university and the field; for example, as a requirement for graduation, students must complete at least one full term of internship in an administration-of-justice or related agency. Other collaborations include (1) student participation in field projects involving participant-observation research, (2) a graduate internship program with a juvenile justice agency, (3) the use of practitioners as part-time instructors, and (4) the use of field professionals in the development and administration of the curriculum. More attention must be given to studying the criminal justice student, his/her background, current work experiences, and professional developmental needs. Further, criminal justice education should move toward competency testing as preferable to the accumulation of academic credit as a measure of progress. The general curriculum content of Penn State's administration-of-justice program is provided, along with five notes.