Shaping the Future of Criminal Justice Education: Insights from ACJS Leadership Survey Analysis

Abstract

Higher education has been in a time of rapid evolution and significant challenges prior to COVID-19, but a large and continuously growing body of empirical evidence suggests that the pandemic greatly accelerated those trials and brought them to a flashpoint. To our knowledge, the present work is the first post-pandemic to explore perceptions about the future of criminal justice (CJ) education. The present work seeks to address this gap and explore what factors CJ educators and advanced students identify as current and future challenges, concerns, and areas they need training or support. To gauge these perceptions, feedback was solicited from a select group of leaders, students, and journal editorial board members. Results explore priorities surrounding the increasing politicalization of higher education and the field in general, as well as the use of artificial intelligence, attacks on academic freedom, balancing research and teaching responsibilities, creating curriculum relevant to new forms of crime, teaching diverse populations, declining program enrollments, and negative public perceptions about the value of CJ degrees as central concerns. Implications and direction of future research are offered.