https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xPpG7fwizCETU0p9T1yVcxrcvPy68UwkBKCY_Ndvn4s/edit?usp=sharing
Sean Redding
Randall Cream
WRT120
November 7th, 2019
Final Draft
No matter where you reside, the criminal justice system is a prominent feature in each and every community in the United States. There is a vast amount of job opportunities in this field, from police officers, judges, and probation officers to FBI agents, blood spatter analysis, and criminal behavioral analysis, criminal justice jobs are a key component to any working society. As a criminal justice major, it’s hard to choose just one field to go into, and even harder to obtain all of the skills needed to go into the criminal justice fields. Luckily, our community has many opportunities for interactions that can help with this specific major. Students might be able to go on a ride-along, have internships, study the local news for crime in the area, and even sit in the local court room during open case trials.
As stated by Freire, “One cannot expect positive results from an educational or political action program which fails to respect the particular view of the world held by the people. Such a program constitutes cultural invasion, good intentions notwithstanding.” (Freire, Ch.3). I believe that this quote is suggesting that one cannot expect to excel in a certain field if they only focus on the core requirements of the major but will succeed if they are familiar with other elements in the major. Specifying this concept to a criminal justice major, something like a ride-along, or internship specific to a criminal justice student’s field of interest would be beneficial to their overall goal. By doing an internship, students are able to be placed in an environment similar to the real-world experiences outside of college. Internships would be a preparation for life outside of college, especially when it comes to criminal justice majors. Being prepared in the criminal justice field is important, as many jobs in this field require a vast knowledge of the job and subject before entering.
Another concept that relates to knowledge outside of a specific major comes from Walker Percy’s theories and works on education. Percy says, “A student who has the desire to get a dogfish or a Shakespeare sonnet may have the greatest difficulty in salvaging the creature itself from the educational package in which it is presented” (Percy, pg.4). In this quote Percy was stating that a student who is strictly restrained to the limits inside one specific major may have the most difficulty excelling in the major. For a criminal justice major, there are many very simple ways to explore and to get in touch with the community in order to benefit in their majors. One way could be simply to stay updated on criminal justice related news in the community. A student could learn a large amount about what a criminal justice job would be like in a specific community by familiarizing themselves with the typical happenings of the community itself. By learning and getting familiar with the typical issues and crimes in a certain area, students can prepare for what they would be dealing with after graduating and entering the criminal justice fields. If a student were looking to become a police officer in Philadelphia, reading Philly’s local news and seeing about the many on-foot chases officers in Philadelphia have to partake in may lead this student to conclude that they must work on being physically fit for that specific job. This would then put them ahead of a student who did not have this knowledge and had the same goals.
Another way a criminal justice student can learn outside the classroom is participating in a “ride-along” with officers in the local police department. Participating in a ride-along is definitely a great learning experience for those students who would like to experience the day-to-day activities of a police officer’s duties before committing to the job. During a ride-along, the student would be allowed access to sit in the passenger’s seat of a police vehicle and ride with an officer to see what police officers really encounter. Students in Criminal Justice that want to go into the police force can request to do this with local police departments within the community. In doing this, the student can get a taste of what it is like to be on the force and see what police officers actually do on a daily basis. Freire stated, “The solution is not to integrate them into the structure of oppression, but to transform that structure so that they can become “beings for themselves’” (Freire, p. 2). In this quote Freire talks about how education can often lead to oppression, and that the way to succeed in education is to have students experience things for themselves. By participating in a ride-along, students definitely are breaking away from the educational oppression that Freire speaks about.
A huge influence and factor in every criminal justice system is the court. The court system is a way for citizens who may have committed minor violations to explain themselves and have chances at redemption, but also allows for criminals of society to stand a fair trial. All crimes committed in West Chester go through the Chester County courtroom, which would make the court room a great place for criminal justice majors to get a deep understanding for crimes and violations in West Chester. Students are able to sit on any open court case, and in doing so, can definitely learn a lot about the crimes in a certain area. Not only would students be able to physically observe and study the typical crimes through the courtroom, but they can also recognize the ways that judges may handle certain situations. Knowing how crimes and violations are handled in certain areas and societies is a huge part of understanding the society itself. As Percy states, “The great difficulty is that he is not aware that there is a difficulty; surely, he thinks, in such a fine classroom, with such a fine textbook, the sonnet must come across” (Percy, p.4). I believe that in this quote, Percy is stating that students have difficulty in certain fields because they simply do not understand the difficulty in the subject and do not go above and beyond outside of the classroom in order to understand their said topics. For example, students that simply show up to class, take the tests, and leave may be worse off than students who had taken advantage of their resources. Those students who had taken advantage of their resources would then be more experienced in the field, as they had already had the chance to explore, understand, and experience the subject first-hand.
In conclusion, criminal justice majors have many hidden advantages in society, as they are able to acquire skills and excel in their fields just by examining their community. Students may take the opportunities to excel by participating in internships, a ride-along, physical research of a society’s crimes, and sitting in a court room during open-case trials. Not only do these activities allow students to gain knowledge on crime topics, but these also allow students to experience criminal justice jobs first-hand before graduating. With that being said, it is more important than ever for students to realize the importance of research and internships, as they can gain a vast amount of knowledge by participating in said activities and gain the upper-hand on those who have not had these experiences, as criminal justice fields can prove to be extremely competitive. Once students realize the sheer importance of these activities, students will excel and succeed in the criminal justice world.
