What do you MEAN writing is important in Criminal Justice?!?

• In Event: Rethinking Traditional Notions to Improving Practices in Criminal Justice Education

Abstract

The “writing problem” in criminology and criminal justice has been a topic discussed in the academy by scholars, such as Gibbons and Farr (1998). Teaching writing skills to criminal justice students has been a bemoaned conversation amongst beleaguered colleagues (Pfeifer & Ferree, 2006), even though writing is an essential skill that our students need to master. There is a strong assumption that criminal justice students do not want to write and are not interested in research, although both Legere (2013) and the authors have found that is not necessarily the case. Using course evaluations and university assessments of writing in both of our curriculum’s writing intensive courses—Writing for Criminal Justice and Senior Seminar—this presentation will demonstrate that students can be engaged in the writing and research process and show strong outcomes, much like those seen by Rudes, Portillo, Sloas and Hutzell (2014). However, key factors include giving students the freedom to pursue their interests and providing appropriate scaffolding for success. This discussion will also address how diversity in the classroom, particularly in the form of international students, can be both a challenge and a benefit to teaching writing to undergraduate criminal justice students.

Authors

• Amanda L. Farrell, Marymount University

• Stephanie Ellis, Marymount University