Perspectives in Criminology and Criminal Justice: The Implications for Higher Education Programs

This paper discusses the recent emergence of "Criminal Justice" as a multidisciplinary field of study which draws much of its intellectual sustenance from such established disciplines as sociology-criminology, economics, political science, and history. Criminal Justice is characterized as an applied field which stresses administrative skills, policy and planning analysis, program evaluation, and kindred topics. Emphasis is placed in the paper on major competing perspectives on criminality now existing in criminology, namely, conservative, liberal-cynical, and radical or Marxist viewpoints. The essay also draws attention to theoretical variations within radical or critical criminology. Although a relatively harsh critique of existing radical thoughtways is offered, the paper concludes by arguing that criminological analysis must begin to respond to some of the political-economic trends that are hinted at in radical theorizing.