Diverse Applicants Wanted: Exploring Motivations to Work Across the Criminal Justice System

• In Event: Variation in Support for the Criminal Legal System

Abstract

Scholarship finds that student motivations to become criminal justice practitioners vary by race, sex, and whether they intend to work in policing, courts, or corrections. However, literature rarely includes other vital criminal justice professions such as social worker, federal agent, and researcher in our understanding of these motivations. This study fills this gap by exploring student motivations to work in a range of criminal justice professions using original quantitative data from graduate and undergraduate students across the United States. Going further, it explores the role of skin tone in the motivations to work in each role, an understudied element of identity. Preliminary findings suggest that working as a front-line corrections officer is the least desirable profession, across diverse groups. However, race, sex, and skin tone are influential in shaping motivations to work in other professions. The study concludes with a discussion of translational implications and suggestions for future research.

Author

• TaLisa Carter, American University