The Specter of Authoritarianism Among Criminal Justice Majors

Adding value? A review of the international literature on the role of higher education in police training and education

“…This literature pointed towards questionable attitudes towards female recruits (Austin and Hummer, 1994) and increasingly negative perceptions of the public (Ellis, 1991), and reinstated questions about the value of higher education beyond the legitimacy and credibility provided to the police by accreditation. A recent comparative study (Owen and Wagner, 2008) provided further support for this contention and indicated that criminal justice students demonstrated higher levels of authoritarianism than graduates from other disciplines. These research findings emulated those of Austin and O'Neill (1985) and Bjerregaard and Lord (2004) who questioned the value of education in influencing attitudes towards criminal justice ethics.…”

Differences Across Majors in the Desire to Obtain a License to Carry a Concealed Handgun on Campus: Implications for Criminal Justice Education

“…A growing number of studies in the last several decades have examined various differences between students majoring in criminal justice (CJ) and those studying in other disciplines (Austin & O'Neill, 1985;Farnsworth, Longmire, & West, 1998;Lambert et al, 2008;Mackey & Courtright, 2000;Mackey, Courtright, & Packard, 2006;McCarthy & McCarthy, 1981;Owen & Wagner, 2008;Tsoudis, 2000;Wolfer & Friedrichs, 2001). This type of research is typically intended to either inform CJ educators about the types of lessons or discussions that should be included in classes in order to adequately prepare students for their eventual careers, or with the goal of determining whether individuals seeking a career in the CJ system are different in some way from others.…”

Policing hate crime in a Multicultural society observations from Canada

“…We saw some evidence of this in Ontario in response to the alleged incidents of hate crime against Asian anglers north of Toronto. Indeed, community outcry resulted in the establishment of an inquiry into those events (Ontario Human Rights Commission, 2007,2008.…”

“…The mainstream and often conservative education they receive typically reinforces the problematic us vs. them mentality that marginalizes and stigmatizes the other. Recent surveys of CJ students, for example, have found them to be more homophobic and racist than peers from other programs (Wimshurst et al, 2004;Cannon, 2005;Owen and Wagner, 2008). One team of researchers has found that criminal justice majors tend to be both more punitive and less empathetic than their peers in other majors (Mackey and Courtright, 1998;Courtright et al, 2005).…”