DPA vs. DCJ?

Does anyone have any thoughts about the Ph.D. in CJ at Walden? I am considering it as a backup plan. I applied to the D.CJ. program at Cal U of PA and now awaiting the April 2nd decision deadline. According to Cal U, they received over 100 applications for their inaugural cohort (July 2017) but only admitted 26. The program seem to be on demand and the admittance seems competitive especially since they make all the decisions at once.

 

Two colleagues just lost their contracted positions for teaching full-time in a bachelors CJ program because they do not have "CJ specializations" listed on their doctoral transcripts. One has a PhD in social work and the other has a PhD in adult education. They both have CJ masters degrees. They are both being retained as CJ part-time adjuncts.

 

No specific thoughts about their Ph.D. in CJ, but a thought about Walden in general: I'd avoid them because they are a proprietary (profit-making) school, and that's in a time when all proprietary schools are suspect.

Have you checked out Union? (Disclosure: I graduated the old Union, before they changed to their current crappy model.) They are non-profit and have always had a good rep with the LEO community.

Best of the bunch if you're able to get in and you're still in PA (where I sit as we speak): CalU.
:drive:

 

Steve,

I understand your point. I am not really interested in studying at another for-profit school. Union doesn't have a CJ doctorate and their tuition is too high. My biggest issue is that I am limited to Cal U, Nova, Walden and Capella for CJ doctorates online. Nova is way too expensive plus I don't want to do the GRE. I really hope I get into Cal U because I really don't want to consider a for-profit school. I could also wait until 2019 to reapply at Cal, God forbid I don't get accepted. I am still young so I have time but I want to get this out of the way ASAP. Btw, I'm still in the beautiful commonwealth Hope to relocate to the warm south though!

 

Now that PhDs in criminology and criminal justice are becoming more common, schools can be pickier. There are still a lot of PhDs in sociology teaching in this field probably because it's easy for sociology majors to specialize in criminology. I haven't come across too many CJ professors who have degrees in social work or education. Sociology, criminology, and criminal justice PhDs make up the bulk of criminal justice/criminology professors.

 

Sociology, criminology, and criminal justice PhDs make up the bulk of criminal justice/criminology professors.[/QUOTE]Imagine that.

 

At the top CJ/criminology schools, the plurality of PhDs are actually in sociology rather than criminal justice and criminology. There is no one degree that makes up a majority at the top schools. Most people wouldn't imagine that.

 

Here is the evolution of degree programs:
- Sociology (ALL work was done in this category)
- Police Science
- Administration of Justice (or varying Justice names)
- Criminology
- Criminal Justice (this degree title seems to be prevalent now)
- Criminal Justice Administration
- Homeland Security (post 9/11)
- Next up?

There are also distinct differences between:
- Criminology (theory)
- Criminal Justice (practitioners - or how the CJ system operates)
- Homeland Security (esoteric)

 

As long as the doctoral transcript reads "criminal justice" specialization on it, then you'll be ok.

Samples:
DPA with CJ specialization
DCJ with CJ specialization
PhD with CJ specialization

The doctoral coursework will determine the specialization that is printed on the transcript.

 

In reality, the difference between criminology and criminal justice is almost non-existent, especially when you get to the doctoral level. Criminal justice covers a lot of theory, and the theories are mostly sociological. Biological and psychological theories aren't covered in depth at most schools.

 

3 Differences Between Criminal Justice and Criminology

3 Differences Between Criminal Justice and Criminology - Southeastern University

 

Those are the differences in theory, but not the differences in practice. Anyway, the person who wrote that article is clueless. People with criminology degrees don't go on to become criminal psychologists and private investigators. They get the same jobs CJ majors get, most of which, don't even require a degree.

 

You're stuck here. Forever.

And now that you are our prisoner, we will laugh at you. Again. And again.

Face it, dude, you are a shill for a degree mill. And you got caught at it.

You even threaten like a degree mill shill.

So we laugh at you one more time.

Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!

So there.

 

Chrisjm18, you are correct. For example, the University of South Florida has two different MA tracks at the graduate level:

MA Criminal Justice (practitioner based)
MA in Criminal Justice Administration | USF Criminology

MA Criminology (theory & methodology based)
MA in Criminology | USF Criminology

 

What do you have to say about this?

https://online.ccj.pdx.edu/news-resources/articles/the-differences-between-criminology-and-criminal-justice.html

Occasionally, criminology and criminal justice incorrectly treated interchangeably in public forums. Despite certain shared characteristics, the two areas of study differ in several ways. Criminology is by definition the study of crime. It’s a social science that shares characteristics with sociology. Criminologists are “question askers” and information seekers, always searching for the reason behind why crimes are committed and how they can be prevented in the future. Criminology involves extensive research and analysis, and ideally that research and analysis helps create more appropriate and effective social responses to crime.

Criminal justice, on the other hand, is more closely focused on how the law is made and enforcement and how punishment is carried out. It examines the workings of the justice system at all stages, from the moment a crime is detected, to police, to the courts, and all the way through corrections. More simply, criminal justice studies center on what happens after a crime is committed and how the legal system functions in legislating, enforcing laws, punishing offenders, responding to victims, and ultimately impacts crime.

 

Good reference. There are several universities, especially in the UK that offer both criminal justice and criminology degrees.

 

My criminal justice program is like the first paragraph that describes criminology programs. However, it is a PhD program. It's supposed to be research-oriented. That's why I said the differences are almost non-existent at the doctoral level.

 

That's not a criminal justice program. That's a criminal justice administration program. That's like comparing political science to public administration.

 

It most certainly is a criminal justice program. The only reason "administration" was added is because colleagues asked for it to be inserted during the developmental stage. "Administration" was added for vanity and marketing, to be frank. Otherwise, it would only be listed as criminal justice.

 

It requires administration and finance courses. Those aren't common requirements in CJ programs. This looks like a public administration program marketed to criminal justice professionals, so the name is appropriate.