Abstract
While the discipline of ‘criminology’ has existed within Australian universities for more than half a century, the introduction of discrete ‘criminology’ and justice programmes is much more recent. Little is known, however, about the current state of play when it comes to what a degree in ‘criminology’ actually entails. With growing student enrolments in such programmes, reflecting on the status of these programmes is important in the context of student and employer requirements and expectations. Drawing on the findings of a preliminary study, this paper will explore what it means to study for an undergraduate degree in ‘criminology’ in Australia. Specifically, we will focus on the content, availability and range of ‘criminology’ and justice degrees available in Australia, in order to gain a better understanding of the convergences and divergences across degree programmes, and make some recommendations for future research.
Introduction*
In this article, we examine the current educational landscape of criminology in Australia. Finnane (2012) recently described the early evolution of criminology education in Australia, with the first visiting lectureship in criminology being established at the University of Melbourne in 1938. The formation of a criminology department followed in the 1950s, and there was an agreement to establish the Institute of Criminology at the University of Sydney in 1959. Notably, whereas criminology education in the United States developed in sociology departments, Australia followed the British and European tradition, with its initial criminology courses located in law faculties.
The emerging discipline soon found a foothold, and [b]y the 1970s the criminological enterprise in Australia included two academic departments as well as other important academic sub-units in a number of other universities, a national institute, one state-based crime research centre, a professional society [the Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology, established in 1967] and an associated journal [the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology, which was first published in 1968]. This was a culture of significant size… (Finnane, 2012, pp. 169–170)
Through the authors’ roles in the criminology sphere in Australia (at universities in three states), it has become apparent that Australian universities are producing large numbers of graduates in the area of criminology, but that there is, at least in name, very little consistency in how these qualifications are articulated, with degree titles varying from Bachelor of Arts (Criminology), to Bachelor of Social Science (Criminology), Bachelor of Criminology and/or Criminal Justice, and Bachelor of Justice/Justice Studies. Further, it has become apparent that institutionally there is some variation in where criminology degrees are located within schools and faculties, with programmes situated within Arts, Social Sciences, Justice Studies and/or Law schools/faculties, among others. While the historical reasons for such titles and placements are beyond the scope of this particular study, what is of interest for this paper are the convergences and divergences in Australian criminology degrees in their current form, and the potential implications of these outwardly disparate classifications.
Aside from the potential difficulties such disparities may create for students wishing to undertake studies in criminology, this apparent lack of uniformity also makes it difficult for prospective employers to know what skills, knowledge and other attributes graduates of criminology degrees can be expected to possess. For example, can employers expect all graduates to have an understanding of criminological theory? What about legal or social science research methods? Is it the case that graduates with Social Science degrees could be expected to have a better grasp on statistics than those with Arts-based degrees? Or do criminology degree programmes in Australian universities have largely the same content despite their varied titles? In other words, are criminology degrees in Australia different in name or nature? Are there mere degrees of difference, or are they different degrees?
Using these considerations as a starting point, this preliminary research study sought to address the following interrelated questions:
What are the core components of undergraduate criminology or justice degrees in Australian universities? How do these components vary across universities? Is there any uniformity evident in the core components of criminology or justice degrees in Australian universities?
In order to address these questions, this article is divided into four parts. Firstly, we outline the methods used to gain insight into the constitution of criminology degrees in Australian universities. Secondly, we provide a detailed breakdown of the representation of criminology or justice degrees in Australia, and the core components that make up these degrees, comparing degree locations and core content for convergences and divergences. Thirdly, we analyse how the composition of criminology or justice degrees varies across the country. Finally, we discuss our findings in relation to the core skills and knowledge that such degrees may deliver for students and employers, and make some suggestions for future research directions. It should be noted that it is beyond the scope of this article to consider whether criminology is – or should be – a discipline distinct from sociology (for a discussion, see Maddan & Hartley, 2011; Wellford, 2007; Wrede & Featherstone, 2012). Instead, we are interested in the representation of criminology in tertiary education courses across Australia. In addition, we note but do not consider in detail the demarcation between criminology, which has in the past been seen as largely theoretical in nature, and criminal justice, which has traditionally been considered more vocational (see Wimshurst, 2011; Wimshurst & Allard, 2007, for a discussion).
Methodology
The methodology for this preliminary study was modelled on that of Prenzler, Martin, and Sarre (2010), who similarly mapped the field of policing and security studies across Australian universities and technical colleges. Following their lead, the first step in our study was to obtain a list of Australian universities from the Universities Australia website (Universities Australia, 2013). We then accessed the official websites for each of the 39 universities across Australia in order to obtain information about their degree programmes. This involved conducting searches on college/school/faculty/university webpages for information about ‘crim*’ and/or justice studies, followed by a search of the institutions’ 2013 and 2014 online handbooks, where details of ‘crim*’- and justice-related programmes and courses were also sought. As Prenzler et al. (2010, pp. 4–5) explained, ‘university handbooks list “courses” (“subjects” or “units”) and “programs” (sets of courses resulting in qualifications such as certificates, diplomas and degrees)’ and are the official source of all study-related information for Australian universities.
Given that this study aimed to provide a preliminary examination of the discipline, we kept a relatively narrow focus of analysis, choosing only to examine degrees with crim* (i.e. criminology or criminal justice) or justice in the title. In addition, only undergraduate Bachelor degrees that were the equivalent of 3 years’ duration were under consideration (i.e. certificates, diplomas and postgraduate qualifications were excluded). We note that some universities have joint/double degrees of which a criminology or justice degree is one of the components, but consider it likely that that the degree in the joint degree will be the same as any single degree also offered, at least in relation to the core courses offered, though such degrees usually place restrictions on electives. Although it was beyond the scope of the present paper to consider postgraduate qualifications, future research should consider the implications of the so-called ‘Melbourne model’ (see Riley, 2008, for a discussion), which significantly reduces the range of undergraduate degrees on offer, and moves vocational degrees to the graduate level.
Due to our focus on criminology education, we chose not to examine ‘law’ or ‘legal studies’ degrees or degrees in ‘policing’ or ‘corrections’ (unless crim*/justice was also part of the title). Furthermore, as we were primarily interested in mapping the core, or compulsory, content of these degrees, we only focused on those elements of degrees students had to complete for their degree. This meant that elective or flexible course options were not taken into account. For example, in degree programmes where students had to choose a specific number of courses (i.e. individual subjects or units) from a list of potential courses (such as four from a list of nine), we did not count any of the available courses as belonging to the core content of the degree. It is important to note here that the configuration of such flexible options varied across universities, as we further discuss below.
We also note that degrees are dynamic and evolving, and therefore subject to change. In order to mitigate the potential problems with our online methodology, and following ethics approval from the University of New South Wales (UNSW), we contacted programme coordinators/convenors to confirm degree details. In a number of cases, this communication revealed errors in the information available online, or forthcoming changes to degree names, content and/or structure. Furthermore, we recognise that by the time of publication, there may yet be further changes to the information as presented here. Notwithstanding these limitations, we present this as preliminary research to raise issues and suggest a research agenda for further examination of the present and future landscape of criminology and criminal justice education in Australia.
Findings
In 2000, Wortley and Wimshurst indicated that there were ‘[u]ndergraduate courses in the field of criminal justice, usually comprising three-year degree programs… offered by some 15 universities across Australia’ (p. 267). Things have clearly moved on, with 23 of the 39 Australian universities now offering undergraduate criminology, criminal justice and/or justice degree programmes. There may even be signs that this proliferation is not complete, with the University of Ballarat (2013) recently announcing that ‘new courses could include… criminal justice and criminology’, and in the process of our research we learnt informally that a number of other universities are also mooting the idea of introducing undergraduate criminology programmes in the near future; there is clearly a market for these degrees. Writing in the US context, Wellford (2007, p. 3) noted that ‘our academic programs continue to grow because it is believed that what we teach is useful to criminal justice policy makers and practitioners’, and perhaps in Australia too, the growth of criminology and justice degrees is in response to similar demands.
In total, we found that there were 42 individual criminology and/or justice degrees currently on offer across Australian universities. There was significant variation in the number of courses students had to complete in order to obtain these degrees, however. For example, at Bond University, there were no courses that all graduates would have to undertake to complete their degree, although the range of options was sufficiently narrow that most students would likely complete similar content. At the other end of the spectrum, at Edith Cowan University, all students were required to complete 23 core courses in their Bachelor of Criminology and Juvenile Justice degree, demonstrating the highly structured nature of this degree, with little opportunity for student choice. Somewhat surprisingly, the University of Melbourne, one of Australia's most prestigious universities (Australian Universities, 2013), and home to one of the oldest criminology degree programmes, prescribes only two core courses in its Bachelor of Arts (Criminology) degree (Applied Research Methods and Critical Analytical Skills), neither of which seem to include any specific criminology content.
Core units in Australian crim*/justice degrees.
Case study: Flinders University
One only needs look closely at a few of the degrees on offer to understand the divergent ways in which criminology degrees are articulated and structured. At Flinders University, for example, students interested in studying criminology can choose from one of five degree programmes, with a sixth degree slated for introduction in 2014. These existing five programmes are located in a number of different faculties, from the Faculty of Education, Humanities and Law (EHL), to the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, and the Faculty of Science and Engineering. There is also a wide range of programme structures on offer, with the Bachelor of Arts (Criminal Justice) having as few as three core courses, and the Bachelor of Arts (Psychology and Criminology and Justice) having as many as 15 core courses.
Discussion
Based on these findings, what knowledge, skills and other attributes can criminology and justice studies graduates be reasonably expected to possess? As can be seen in Table 1, there is a lack of uniformity in criminology and justice degrees offered by Australian universities, both in terms of the number of core courses and the topics covered by core courses. This means that while graduates of some degree programmes will have covered similar topic areas or content in their core offerings, graduates of other degrees may have completed very different courses and content areas. This circumstance is not unique to the Australian context, however, with Maddan and Hartley (2011, p. 444) in the United States similarly observing that ‘there is little consistency and agreement in criminal justice/criminology curricula across the undergraduate and graduate levels’. Furthermore, Birzer and Palmiotto (2002, pp. 204–205) observed that ‘[c]riminal justice programs are not uniform in either content or in general philosophy and purpose. Some criminal justice programs are more theoretically oriented, while others are more vocational or professionally orientated’. This accords with our findings, and while it is impossible to know the underlying reasons for these divergences in Australia, it has been highlighted by Clear (2001, p. 724), when discussing the composition of criminal justice and criminology degrees in the US, that ‘criminal justice education programs have developed willy-nilly’, and that ‘[p]rogram designers were more or less free to build a curriculum that fit their understanding of the field’. These divergences become evident when comparing the composition of degrees, with some of the courses included as core material striking us as rather odd inclusions for criminology or justice graduates. For example, ‘Editing for the Communications Professional’ at the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC), and ‘Self and Society’ at the Australian National University (ANU) seemingly offer little in the way of specific criminological content. Furthermore, there are a number of other courses that, while relevant, would appear to be rather peripheral to the discipline. For example, the core courses in the Bachelor of Criminology at Murdoch University are the ‘Australian Legal System’, ‘Introduction to Administrative Law’, ‘Law, Justice and Social Policy’ and ‘Legal Research’, all of which would assist students in understanding the legal system, but in the absence of requiring students to cover material explicitly dealing with crime or criminology.
One noteworthy feature of criminology degrees at two Australian universities is the deliberate shift towards requiring students more broadly to complete core courses unrelated to their primary discipline of focus. At the University of Western Australia (UWA), all undergraduates enrolled in a Bachelor's degree are required to complete four ‘broadening units’. ‘Broadening units’ are defined as those outside a student's degree area. For students enrolled in Bachelor of Arts degree programmes, this involves completing courses from the commerce, design and/or science fields. One of the four ‘broadening units’ must focus on ‘aspects of the globalised and culturally diverse environment’ (UWA, 2013). Studying abroad, studying a language other than English, and/or studying a course with a focus on global/culturally diverse contexts meet this requirement. This university-wide mandate reflects the shift towards increased globalisation and internationalisation of tertiary education, and the perception that graduates with a ‘globalised’ undergraduate experience are in demand by employers (see Crossman & Clarke, 2010). UWA explains that the rationale for requiring students to undertake ‘broadening units’ is primarily to increase graduates’ employability and preparedness for the workplace: Employer groups and professional associations have repeatedly emphasised the need for graduates to be equipped with broader knowledge and skills to prepare them for a rapidly changing international workplace. These include highly valued attributes such as well-developed communication, research and problem-solving skills… Broadening your study at undergraduate level will ensure you are a well-rounded graduate, giving you a global perspective that will prepare you for success in a changing and increasingly international workplace. (UWA, 2013)
Similarly, at Bond University, all Bachelor degree-level undergraduate students are required to complete four courses from the ‘Core Skills Program’. Students must complete one course from each of the following four areas:
‘Communication Skills’ (Communication Skills or Public Speaking);
‘Knowledge and Critical Thinking’ (Knowledge and Society, Business Applications for Information Technology, Reasoning Skills or Scientific Thinking and Research Skills);
‘Responsibility’ (Cultural and Ethical Values or Contemporary Issues in Law and Society); and
‘Leadership, Initiative and Teamwork’ (Strategic Management or Entrepreneurship).
The rationale for requiring students to complete these ‘core skills’ courses is again primarily employability: ‘Bond University graduates are distinguishable in the workplace by their superior leadership, communication and entrepreneurial abilities … fostered through our unique Core Skills Program’ (Bond University, 2013).
Undertaking a criminology degree at either UWA or Bond University therefore requires students to complete courses unrelated to criminology or the broader social sciences or law. Importantly, while UWA's ‘broadening units’ and Bond University's ‘core skills’ units might be understood as manifestations of the shift towards producing graduates equipped for the workplace (Boden & Nedeva, 2010; Holmes, 2013) and more vocationally prepared, in a sense, these universities’ requirements are quite distinct from one another. Bond University's ‘core skills’ units seek to produce graduates with generic practical skills and knowledge (e.g. public speaking), whereas UWA's ‘broadening units’ seek to produce graduates with a diversified knowledge base. This highlights an interesting tension in the perceptions of what employers seek in graduates, and how students may be best equipped for their careers. It also highlights the dominance of the view that the primary purpose of undergraduate university education is to equip students with practical skills and knowledge for the workplace. Holmes (2013, p. 539) has argued that the days of studying for pleasure, or to broaden one's mind, are long gone and that: whilst those who would wish to hold to a liberal-humanist view of higher education may lament this increasing focus on the role that higher education can and does have in enhancing post-graduation employment, there seems to be little doubting this as the current reality.
Another noteworthy feature of criminology and justice degrees offered at Australian universities is their institutional location. As Table 1 indicates, such degrees are variously located within Faculties of Arts, Social Sciences and/or Law, or in some cases, faculties that auspice more than one disciplinary area (e.g. Flinders University's Faculty of EHL or the USC's Faculty of Arts and Business). The only exceptions are degree programmes essentially in other disciplinary areas (e.g. science) with a major in criminology, e.g. Flinders University's Bachelor of Applied Geographical Information Systems (Criminal Justice), which is located within the Faculty of Science and Engineering. While it is beyond the scope of this paper to consider whether the institutional location of criminology degrees has any bearing on their content, this could form the focus of future research.
Another related difference among criminology degrees offered at Australian universities is whether criminology is offered as a major within Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Social Science degree programmes, as discussed further below. In addition, some universities offer their criminology degrees as separate, named qualifications, rather than as an Arts or Social Science major. For example, students can complete a Bachelor of Criminology (ANU; Deakin; Murdoch), Bachelor of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Griffith; UNSW), Bachelor of Justice (Queensland University of Technology), Bachelor of Justice and Legal Studies (USC), Bachelor of Criminology and Justice (Edith Cowan University (ECU)), Bachelor of Criminology and Juvenile Justice (ECU) or Bachelor of Justice Studies (University of Canberra). With many degrees recently updating their names to include criminology and criminal justice more prominently within their titles, though, it may be timely for the criminological community to consider the role that marketing has to play in changing the names, if not the content, of degrees.
Interestingly, three universities (Bond University, Macquarie University and the University of Tasmania) offer both Bachelor of Arts (Criminology) and Bachelor of Social Science (Criminology) degree programmes. Macquarie University's Bachelor of Arts (Criminology) and Bachelor of Social Science (Criminology) degrees share seven core courses (Crime, Justice and Society; Crime, Policy and Governance; Criminology: An Introduction; Policing and Crime; Social Innovation, Governance and Professional Leadership; Social Order and Social Control; and Strategic Issues in Criminology); in other words, all seven core units in the Bachelor of Arts (Criminology) must also be completed by Bachelor of Social Science (Criminology) students. Bachelor of Social Science (Criminology) students are also required to complete four additional core courses, most of which have a focus on research methods (Advanced Social Research Methods; Evaluation, Planning and Policy; Internships in Social Research; Methods of Social Research). On the other hand, Bond University offers both a Bachelor of Arts (Criminology) and a Bachelor of Social Science (Criminology), although neither of these has compulsory core units (see discussion above).
The University of Tasmania has an unusual structure, in that students may complete a criminology major following one of four paths: two sociology courses; two psychology courses; two law courses or Introduction to Politics and Policy OR Introduction to International Relations + ONE of History: Making Modern Europe, Asia: Enduring Tradition, Sociology A, Journalism Theory and Practice, Introduction to Law, Introduction to Politics and Policy, Introduction to International Relations. (course codes omitted; see University of Tasmania, 2013).
As set out in Table 1, all students seeking a Criminology major, regardless of the entry pathway chosen, must then do three core courses (Crime and Criminal Justice; Social and Political Research and Sociology of Deviance). While the arguments for flexibility in degree structures are valid, we must also acknowledge that even we found the structure of such courses difficult to navigate.
UNSW and Deakin University both offer a Bachelor of Arts (Criminology), as well as a Bachelor of Criminology and Criminal Justice and Bachelor of Criminology respectively. Like Macquarie University, students enrolled in a Bachelor of Criminology and Criminal Justice or a Bachelor of Arts (Criminology) at UNSW must complete the same six core courses (Introduction to Criminal Justice; Criminology: An Introduction; Criminal Law and Justice 1; Criminal Law and Justice 2; Explaining Crime and Criminology Capstone), with Bachelor of Criminology and Criminal Justice students also completing a further eight core courses, many with an emphasis on research skills (Applied Social Research 1; Applied Social Research 2; Policy Analysis Case Studies; Research and Information Management; and Social Science and Policy Project). In contrast, Deakin University's Bachelor of Criminology and Bachelor of Arts (Criminology) have identical core requirements (see Table 1).
While it may be tempting to assume that degree programmes that are Arts-based (e.g. a Bachelor of Arts (Criminology)) are more flexible and have fewer core requirements than those that are social science-based, since it is often assumed that social sciences are more empirically focused, this does not appear to be the case. While this may be the case within universities (e.g. UNSW), it does not appear to be the case among universities, with some Arts-based degrees (e.g. those at RMIT and Victoria University) having far more core requirements than some social science-based degrees (e.g. Swinburne, Bond University and JCU).
Although we recognise the need for flexibility and innovation, we note that there is no ‘set’ knowledge that all graduates can be expected to possess. In addition, we imagine it may at times be confusing for students to craft their own degree programme – indeed, it was difficult for us to determine what courses were, or were not, required to be undertaken as part of a degree. It was also difficult to differentiate between some of the degrees offered within the one institution. For example, students who wish to attend Bond University may struggle to work out whether it is in their best interests to undertake a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in Criminology, or a Bachelor of Social Science degree with the same major (neither of which require students to complete any specific units), let alone whether they would be better off undertaking a Bachelor of Social Science degree with a combined major in ‘Psychology and Criminology’, ‘Criminology and Behaviour Management’ or ‘Criminology and Counselling’. We readily understand the desire to provide degree programmes which reflect student preferences, but also believe there is a need for predictability as to the core knowledge expected, as well as comparability among degree programmes.
Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS) criminal justice and criminology degree content.
Source: ACJS (2005).
In addition, the standards stipulate that degrees are required to include ‘a systematic examination of the issues of diversity in criminal justice’ and ‘ethical perspectives and judgments in applying [students’] knowledge to related problems and changing fact situations’ (ACJS, 2005, para. B.6; for background, see Birzer & Palmiotto, 2002). In relation to issues of diversity, we are aware that some Australian universities have introduced or are in the process of introducing a compulsory course in Indigenous studies as part of all degrees. Our analysis indicates that only eight degrees at six universities currently include this as a core course, although we recognise that it may be a component of other core courses. We would argue that some consideration of Indigenous justice issues should be an essential component of all criminology/justice degrees, given the historical relationship between the emergence of the crime control project and the dispossession of Indigenous people (see Finnane, 2012), and the contemporary over-representation of Indigenous people in the Australian criminal justice system.
It should also be noted that since 1992, Australian law degrees or diplomas are only recognised as a qualification for admission to practise as a legal practitioner if every student is required to study the so-called Priestley 11 courses, named after the chair of the Law Admissions Consultative Committee which recommended adopting this standard. These courses include Torts, Contracts, Criminal, Constitutional, Property, and Administrative Law, as well as Ethics and Professional Responsibility. It may now be timely to consider whether criminology/justice qualifications should likewise require completion of core courses and, if so, what these courses should be. Such a step would clearly necessitate further research with programme and course convenors, students and employers. This would require consideration of a range of issues, for example, the purpose of such accreditation, who would undertake the accreditation, the impact on student numbers and the implications for current students and recent graduates. As well as considerations of content, there is also the issue of nomenclature: ‘The names of degrees do carry meanings for students’ (Wortley & Wimshurst, 2000, p. 277). Indeed, Wortley and Wimshurst (2000) suggested that the name of a degree and associated meanings might also have considerable implications for the perceived employability of graduates. In their survey of students at Griffith University, they found Criminology and ‘Criminology and Criminal Justice’ degrees were rated as more useful, vocational and in touch with the real world than a degree majoring in ‘Justice Studies’. Indeed, partly on the basis of Wortley and Wimshurst's findings, Griffith University proceeded to re-badge both the name of its degree and school from ‘Justice Administration’ to ‘Criminology and Criminal Justice’ (and subsequently saw an increase in both the number of applicants and applicants’ tertiary entrance scores). Similarly, UNSW rebranded their degree from a Bachelor of Social Science (Criminology) to a Bachelor of Criminology and Criminal Justice in 2011.
Conclusion
In 2001, Clear (p. 726), writing in the US context, declared that ‘[a]cademic criminal justice has come of age’. According to Wellford (2007, p. 4), the ‘study of crime and justice is difficult and noble’ and ‘[t]he future of the study of criminal justice systems and operations is quite robust’. Criminology education certainly appears to be robust in Australia, and is a very broad discipline, encompassing everything from advanced statistics to feminist ethnography, as well as critical criminology and forensic anthropology. It should also be noted that the name and content of criminology degrees is culturally and historically specific. For example, Wimshurst and Ransley (2007) describe the introduction of policing-oriented degrees in Queensland following the Fitzgerald Inquiry (see also Wimshurst & Allard, 2007).
In this paper, we have sought to map criminal justice education in Australia. We see this as a preliminary step on the path towards a broader discussion about how our criminal justice education should look. Birzer and Palmiotto (2002, pp. 205–206) argued that a criminal justice education should adequately provide students with not only the tools to compete for jobs, but also provide students with the idiom, metaphor, allusion, and rhetoric needed for a common universe of discourse in the profession… [and] should facilitate the development of the social skills necessary for success in modern, complex and bureaucratic criminal justice organizations.
To this end, we suggest that future research is needed in relation to the following questions:
Why do students enrol in criminology degrees? Do they study primarily for pleasure or employability? What careers do criminology students imagine they will have after graduating with a criminology degree? What careers do criminology graduates actually go on to have?
Key to this discussion is an understanding of the potential disjuncture between what we imagine we are preparing criminology students for and what they ultimately do after graduating. It is beyond the scope of this paper to fully address this question; however, in light of the findings of this preliminary study, we argue that addressing it is vital for the continued relevance of criminology degrees and criminal justice education at Australian universities.
Footnotes
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the students from SLSP3002 Social Science and Policy Project at the University of NSW 2012 for their assistance in the early stages of this study.
Funding
This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.