Waist Deep in the Big Muddy: The JD/PhD Debate in Criminal Justice Education

Abstract

There is an ongoing debate in criminal justice departments as to whether a person with a JD degree has the education necessary to be a full-time faculty member. Recently, several authors have argued that a JD should be sufficient and that a PhD should not be required. In this essay I argue otherwise. JD training is not equivalent to PhD training. PhD training provides a background in social science methods, statistical analysis, and theory that JD training does not. The discipline of criminal justice needs to assert control over its credential standards lest others do it for us

Lawyers Practicing Medicine: Criminal Justice, Criminology, Sociology and Differential Curricula

“…Criminology, Criminal Justice, and Sociology Historically Criminology and criminal justice has a relatively short history as a distinct academic area (Hemmens 2008). While the study of criminology spans back into the 1700s, the study of criminology and criminal justice was historically found in other disciplines.…”

“…According to Clear (2001), critics argued that "criminal justice was based on weak empirical and theoretical foundations, and that it had nothing to offer which was not already available through some established discipline, principally sociology and the law" (p. 710). To add to this argument of weak empirical and theoretical foundations, Hemmens (2008) argued that, pedagogically, criminology and criminal justice has been "largely dismissed variously as nothing more than police training, too practitioner-oriented, not academic enough, co-opted by government agencies with grant monies, and a refuge for low-achieving students" (p. 28). Thus, criminal justice has endured many criticisms in its emergence as an academic area.…”

“…Recently there has been a vigorous debate over the role of the terminal JD within criminology and criminal justice academic departments (see Enriquez 2008;Hemmens 2008). As Hemmens (2008) noted, A medical school could choose to hire a Harvard Law School graduate.…”

“…As Hemmens (2008) noted, A medical school could choose to hire a Harvard Law School graduate. I would not want that "doctor" operating on me.…”

Toward a New Methodology for Legal Research in Criminal Justice

“…Recent writers note that there are differences in legal research and social science research, but legal research is not inferior to nor more prestigious than social science quantitative research; legal research is simply different (Hemmens 2008). DiCristina (2000) asserts that quantitative research methods should not be preferred over qualitative methods in criminal justice research.…”