Full Description
Building on nearly three dozen books using a similar format, Letters to a Young Criminologist, provides a long overdue, valuable, and engaging analysis and advice for individuals considering a career as an academic criminologist.
Drawing on the author's three decades of experience as a criminologist working in government and university settings, academic research, personal experience, and numerous conversations with students, administrators, and fellow criminologists over the years, the book offers helpful, practical, and highly accessible insights for experts and non-specialists alike. Key features include:
Offers helpful, practical, and valuable analysis and advice for people considering a career as an academic criminologist.
Tailored primarily to undergraduate and graduate students and untenured assistant professors, but relevant to a broader audience.
Draws on the author's extensive experience and scholarly research and combines research and personal anecdotes.
Provides accessible insights for both specialists and those new to the field.
While the book is primarily directed at undergraduate and graduate students and early-career academics in this increasingly popular academic field/discipline, its insights are equally relevant to criminal justice practitioners and professionals, including people contemplating or currently working in law enforcement, corrections, probation, or parole as officers, court personnel, and criminal lawyers.
Contents
PART A: Perception & image of the academic field of Criminology/Criminal Justice Letter 1: Who is the real criminologist? Letter 2: What are the positive and negative aspects of being an academic criminologist? Letter 3: I have a criminal record and/or was formerly incarcerated. Is being an academic criminologist a viable career option for me? Letter 4: Are the majority of criminologists former criminals or Criminal Justice practitioners? Letter 5: Are most academic departments, schools, and colleges of Criminology or Criminal Justice so-called "cop shops"? Letter 6: Do other social science disciplines look down on Criminology/Criminal Justice? Letter 7: What is the difference between criminologists who work for community colleges and those who work for universities? Letter 8: Does the academic field of Criminology/Criminal Justice promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in hiring, promotion, research, and teaching practices? Letter 9: What do criminologists wear? Letter 10: How should criminologists decorate their offices? PART B: Educational & Training Path/s Letter 11: What classes should high school students who want to become criminology/criminal justice professors take? Letter 12: Is earning a degree in criminology/criminal justice a good step if I want to be a criminal profiler? Letter 13: Does earning a Ph.D. in criminology/criminal justice enable somebody to commit the perfect murder? Letter 14: What level of education is required to be an academic criminologist? Does a person need to earn a doctorate to become a criminologist? Letter 15: I have a law degree. What are my chances of being hired as a criminologist for a department, school, or college of Criminology/Criminal Justice? Letter 16: Should I earn a Ph.D. in criminology/criminal justice or an allied field? Letter 17: What is the best Ph.D. program for earning a graduate degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice? Letter 18: Where should graduate students in the field of criminology/criminal justice look for funding for their education? Letter 19: Are some publication outlets more friendly for graduate students in Criminology/Criminal Justice? Letter 20: Should criminologists be skeptical of people (e.g., politicians, community leaders, activists, etc.) who seem to have all the answers to crime, crime control, and Criminal Justice reform? Letter 21: What are my favorite books in criminology/criminal justice? Letter 22: How can I deepen my knowledge of criminology/criminal justice? PART C: Job Prospects & Career Trajectories in the Academy & beyond Letter 23: Will earning a Ph.D. in criminology assist me in becoming a crime fiction writer? Letter 24: Will earning a Ph.D. in Criminology/Criminal Justice help me get hired as a criminologist for a criminal justice agency or a research consulting organization? Letter 25: Is being a criminologist a good way to positively impact criminal justice policy and practice? Letter 26: I'm thinking about working abroad as a criminologist. Is that a good idea? Letter 27: Should aspiring criminologists gain practical experience before, during, or after earning a doctorate in Criminology/Criminal Justice? Letter 28: Should criminologists be generalists or specialists? Letter 29: What are the "hot" research topics and questions in Criminology/Criminal Justice? Letter 30: Is it difficult for someone who has earned a doctorate in criminology or criminal justice to leave academia, work for a criminal justice agency, and then return to academia? Letter 31: What are the job/career prospects for individuals with doctorates in Criminology/Criminal Justice? Letter 32: Is it easier to be hired as a professor of Criminology/Criminal Justice than in other allied fields? Letter 33: How much money could I expect to make if I become a criminologist? Letter 34: Is earning a bachelor's, master's, or doctorate in Criminology/Criminal Justice a good stepping stone to becoming a criminal lawyer? PART D: In the trenches: Teaching, Research & Service Letter 35: How would you describe the typical criminology/criminal justice student? Letter 36: What is the best type of instruction in the field of criminology/criminal justice? Letter 37: My students and I feel uneasy discussing controversial, ideological, and political topics in class. What should I do? Letter 38: Can a person be a criminologist who works for a university without conducting or publishing scholarly research? Letter 39: Is one type of research method better than another for doing Criminology/Criminal Justice research? Letter 40: Do criminologists need to publish in Criminology or Criminal Justice journals, or is it okay to publish articles in cognate fields? Letter 41: Must criminologists write books, or is writing peer-reviewed articles better? Letter 42: Should criminologists partner with local Criminal Justice agencies to conduct research? Letter 43: Do criminologists need to secure funding, usually referred to as grants or contracts? Letter 44: Is securing research funding in Criminology/Criminal Justice easier than in other fields? Letter 45: Should criminologists distrust official data on crime, criminals, or Criminal Justice agencies? Letter 46: Should criminologists give preference to data that is collected via lived experience? Letter 47: Should aspiring criminologists join the prominent learned societies in their field? Letter 48: Should criminologists attend academic conferences in the field of Criminology/Criminal Justice? Letter 49: Should prospective criminologists become active and take on leadership roles in Criminology/Criminal Justice learned societies? Letter 50: Should criminologists speak to the news media? PART E: Parting words of wisdom or criminologist for a career Letter 51: Conclusion: Reflections on Career fulfillment as a criminologist
