1967 Presidents Commission- 50 th Anniversary – Has Higher Education Met its Obligation?

1. 1967 Presidents Commission- 50th Anniversary – Has Higher Education Met its Obligation? Ray Bynum, Debbie Ferguson, Frederick Lawrence, David May, Lorraine Priest, Raymond Delaney

2. Criminal Justice Curriculum How can criminal justice curriculum be improved to better address cultural conflict?

3. Purpose of Education • During the early 20th century, higher education was faced with a crisis. A series of conferences were held to resolve one central question. • Is the purpose of education to benefit the individual or society? • (1928 Conference on Higher Education, American Education Association)

4. 1965 Law Enforcement Assistance Act • Creation of evaluation and planning commissions, and community relations programs for police departments. • Courses in police science in colleges and universities, comprehensive education in corrections. • Establishment of state police education standards. • Training in riot prevention and control. • Specific education programs at colleges and universities for the improvement of officers and supervisors.

5. 1967 President’s Commission • Education reduces prejudice toward minority groups. • Police personnel with two to four years of college should: • Have a better appreciation of people with different racial, economic and cultural backgrounds. • Have the innate ability to acquire such understanding. • Demonstrate less bias, prejudice and use of excessive force. • A significant positive long term effect on community relationswas predicted.

6. Riots and Other Incidents • Attica - 1971 • New Mexico - 980 • Atlanta - 1987 • Lucasville, Ohio - 1993 • Abu Grahib, Iraq - 2003 • National Democratic Convention - 1968 • Ferguson - 2014 • Baltimore - 2015

7. In Response to Prison Riots in 1980’s • Michigan DOC requires 15 college credits as a condition of employment probation. • College credits must include a minimum of: • Two classes in corrections; • Two classes in counseling/human behavior; and • One class in legal issues. Ambroyer (1991)

8. Conflicted Role • College and university criminal justice curricula are in conflict with the criminal justice system. • Criminal justice curriculum was designed as a social science, not to resolve issues in the streets. • Need to create a educational program which raises awareness and enhanced critical thinking. (Bueger, 2004)

9. College Education - Law Enforcement • Fewer complaints about excessive use of force, disciplinary actions and other infractions (Wymer, 1996). • Increased flexibility in dealing with difficult situations, result in better interaction with diverse cultures, and better verbal and written communication skills (Varricchio, 1999) • Greater flexibility in accepting and implementing change (Wymer, 1996; Varricchio, 1999; Totzke, 2002). • Education is seen as a means of improving the officer and criminal justice organization (Seiter, 2013). • College degree does reduce the level of bias and prejudice in both law enforcement and corrections (Telep, 2011)

10. Justice • The intent of the Commission was to change the system, not to necessarily control crime, but to create justice. • The intent of having academia help create this change never really materialized, but research did increase. • This effort has resulted in: • Better leadership and professionalism in criminal justice. • Three major concepts of professionalism in criminal justice • Technically competent people. • People committed to the right values, • People who feel authorized to imagine and act. (Moore, 1997)

11. 25th Anniversary Of the 1967 Commission Walker(1994)and others looked at the report for the 25th Anniversary. He noted: • “The growth of knowledge about policing…(resulted in)an intellectual revolution” • “Change in policing itself…has been uneven” • “In some areas, it has been enormous... in others not as much” • “they assumed the agenda of professionalism would take care of all problems…professionalism, per se, did not necessarily take care of police- community relations”

15. College Education - Organizations • New information on improving the existing culture is neutralized by the Basic academy and FTO / CTO (Wimhurst & Ransley, 2007) • The existing culture is protective of itself, even if it is dysfunctional (Wimhurst & Ransley, 2007) • Information in criminal justice improves the individual, but not the organization. (from the current study)

16. Wimhurst, K. & Ransley, J. (2007) College (personal benefit) Academy New Information NewInformation Field Training OUTER INNER In Service Training - College Education ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE (created by authors)

17. Race and Ethnic Relations in Corrections Curriculum • Corley, Nalla, & Hoffman (2005) noted “while corrections staff thought race  and ethnic relations should be a focus of graduate corrections curriculum” (p. 388) • Less than three fourths of introductory texts address this issue. • Texts that do address, include only • one chapter on the topic.

18. College Cultural Conflict Courses • The 1967 President’s Commission felt a college degree would solve the cultural conflict in criminal justice. In the Minnesota study, police chiefs were concerned about the skills the officers developed. Michigan DOC requires college courses as a condition of employment. None emphasized the need for courses on cultural conflict. • A study was conducted with 926 college criminal justice professors (members of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences) on the philosophy of punishment and cultural conflict courses. Seven professors completed the survey. A few commented: • “One course on cultural diversity is not enough to change an organization” • “While courses on cultural diversity are provided to current and future officers, it is not provided to the community”

19. Review of 30 US Criminal Justice Programs (2016) • Purpose – to determine the quantity of cultural diversity, conflict, ethics, & decision making courses being provided. • Most programs offer at least one or two courses covering issues of cultural diversity, ethics, and decision making. • Eastern Kentucky has developed an entire degree program focused on Social Justice. • Some programs take an integrative approach by having one identified course; but diversity content is addressed across the curriculum to further facilitate cultural diversity. • One or two courses are insufficient to adequately address cultural diversity. • Progress in being made, but more remains to be done.

20. References • Amboyer, D. (1991). Entry level correctional officer perceptions of academy training, higher education curricula of the correctional officer academic program, and frequency of job task performance (Michigan). Doctoral Dissertation Abstract. • Bynum, R (2007) Staff Education and Transformational Leadership in Criminal Justice. Doctoral Dissertation. Northern Arizona University. • Conley, J. et al. (1994) The 1967 President’s Commission report: Its impact 25 years later. Anderson Publishing Co. • Moore, M. (1997). Looking backward to look forward: The 1967 Crime Commission report in retrospect. National Institute of Justice Journal. • Seiter, R. (2011) Corrections : An introduction. Boston. Pearson Education. p. 397-399 • Telep, C. (2011, Sept.) The impact of higher education on police officer attitudes toward abuse of authority. Journal of Criminal Justice Education. 22(3), 392-413. • Totzke, M. (2002). The influence of education on the professionalization of policing. Capstone Project. University of Nebraska. http://www.unomaha.edu/~wwwpa/project/totzke.html • Varricchio, D. (1999). Higher education in law enforcement and perceptions of career success. Doctoral Dissertation. Seton Hall University, College of Education and Human Services. • Wimhurst, K. & Ransley, J. (2007). Police education and the university sector: Contrasting models from the Australian experience. Journal of Criminal Justice Education. 18(1), 106- 22. • Wymer, C. (1996). A comparison of the relationships between level of education, job performance and beliefs on professionalism within the Virginia State Police. Doctoral Dissertation. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University • Winslow, R. (1968). Crime in a free society. Selections from the President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice. Berkley, CA: Dickenson Publishing Company.