Department of Criminal Justice
   University of Illinois at Chicago

Dwayne Alexander, Academic Advisor
Director, CJ Internship Program

     There is consensus among all parties in the criminal justice system that a well-planned and carefully supervised internship is a critical component in the successful academic preparation of students as potential criminal justice personnel.  In spite of general agreement about the importance of the criminal justice internship, the average internship is not carefully planned. Agency/department staff may resent being held responsible for interns, and there is often a cavalier attitude concerning oversight of intern placement and follow-up by individual faculty members.  Concurrently, there is a significant lack of information on internships in the professional literature.
 
     The overall purpose of an internship is to provide the necessary experimental background so that students, after graduation, can proceed into the criminal justice field with a sufficient background to minimize job orientation activities required of hiring agencies. The full range and complexity of a professional internship program, including field placement controls, are not usually apparent. These include: purpose, benefits, placement agencies, agency insurance, waivers, pre-screening, final selection, orientation, student activities, meetings, student-university contacts, agency-university contacts, finances, grades, and termination (Schrink and Grosskopf, 1978).
 
     A full-menu of academic vetting procedures includes, experimental (interdisciplinary) considerations, pre-internship, and professional considerations. In relation to the role of the criminal justice agencies, the academic vetting procedures support effective action-learning strategies and, most importantly, an integrated model for meaningful pre-employment field placements.
 
     Internship programs between criminal justice agencies and academic institutions constitute local partnerships, where each provide resources attainable by the other. The purpose of the internship experience is to place students in organizational environments where they develop personal comprehension of criminal justice processes. Host organizations provide atmosphere, practical operations, and activities which academic institutions cannot duplicate. Academic institutions provide the conceptual foundations and basic knowledge for students to adequately function within the organizational environment.

     Internship programs should be continued as legitimate additions to criminal justice academic endeavors and preparation for future criminal justice professionals.  Insight gained during exposure to criminal justice organizations has permitted interns to test concepts and techniques learned in the classroom.  Host organizations have benefitted from the skills and different viewpoints contributed by internship participants. Consequently, a student centered approach to the criminal justice course, (CJ 395), embodies the following four benefits of participation:

1) students have an opportunity to determine the survival value of their ideas in a practical setting and to see if they really want a career in criminal justice;

2) agencies have an opportunity to utilize assistance and to receive input from outside their scope of operation;

3) universities have an opportunity to see how well students can apply their academically learned concepts; and,

4) overall, ties are strengthened between academic institutions and law enforcement agencies.

     The ability to initiate and manage social change is also required, since many of the cooperative relationships and services desired are new and challenge old patterns of operation, power, and attitudes.  The objectives of a curriculum internship placement in the justice system should include:  (1) imparting of acknowledge base for direct practice with clients and for the planning, administration, and management of public safety services and social services to clients; (2) the development of skills for working in the criminal justice system through the use of internships; (3) the provision of interdisciplinary study and opportunities for working with a range of criminal justice professional and agencies; and, an orientation toward public policy, program development, and evaluation needs of the justice system (Treager, 1983).
 
     Credits for internships offered as part of a criminal justice curriculum should be based on what is learned during the internship (academic relevance), not merely the number of clock hours spent in the work situation.  For example, the criminal justice studies internship policy at St. Cloud State College, Minnesota stipulates that the participating intern-student receive academic credit only for learning that has a direct relationship to the criminal justice discipline. Subject student(s) have the responsibility of demonstrating that criminal justice-related learning from the internship has taken place; the academic unit must verify that the number of credits (one-to-11), merit respective academic rating.

daa - 12/20/01