A Community Needs Assessment of Juvenile Delinquency and Victim Services: An Academic Community Engagement Experience

• In Event: Service Learning & Community Engagement in Criminology Courses

Abstract

The current research consists of a community needs assessment that was conducted to determine and describe the service needs of youth in Walker County, Texas. As part of an academic community engagement course, students enrolled in a Victimology class at Sam Houston State University during the Spring 2014 semester conducted qualitative interviews with key stakeholders in the community. Along with uncovering the needs of a special population and raising overall awareness amongst stakeholders, a side benefit of the project was introducing fieldwork to undergraduate students. Specifically, they experienced a teaching method that involved academic community engagement and learned research skills such as how to (1) identify and schedule interviews with key stakeholders, (2) conduct and record qualitative interviews, (3) transcribe those interviews, (4) give group presentations of findings, and (5) write a final report. The effectiveness of academic community engagement as a teaching tool is also examined using a short survey, as are the benefits to the community.

Authors

• William Cawley, Sam Houston State University

• Sara Simmons, Sam Houston State University

• Kelly Knight, Sam Houston State University