The Importance of Liberal Arts in Law Enforcement Careers
In discussions of law enforcement one controversial issue has been whether liberal arts courses are necessary or should be required. In “The New Liberal Arts” Sanford J. Ungar believes that liberal arts are crucial to any professional career. Mike Rose however disagrees, and suggests that a college education in general is not necessarily a must. Although both articles make a good argument, I concur with Ungar. The liberal arts are the foundation in almost any professional field, and teach students how to adapt, especially in law enforcement.
Most people will readily agree that higher education is crucial to success although tremendously expensive in some cases. When it comes to the liberal
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The influence of higher education on police officer habits would surprise many according to Matthew D. Bostrom, D.P.A of the Saint Paul Police Department in “Police Chief Magazine-The Professional Voice of Law Enforcement”. Although a degree is required for some agencies and considered ideal for any person looking to join the law enforcement field, surveys show otherwise says Bostrom. According to a study conducted in St. Paul, Minnesota there were more on-duty vehicle collisions by officers with formal education beyond high school than those who only obtained a high school diploma. The article also shows figures indicating more disciplinary actions towards officers with college degrees and a significant difference in those of officers with high school diplomas only. The measurements of work habits shown indicate that perhaps a college degree in general is not necessary to be an effective police officer. Traffic Officer James Dunn of the California Highway Patrol in an interview said, “a degree can be beneficial, but some people are very eloquent and knowledgeable even without attending college-a person can learn the specific duties of any job, but college does not teach you the responsibilities of being a police officer. You learn that by hands-on training”. Although a degree is helpful, Officer Dunn admits that he has been very successful in the law
I don’t believe that a police officer should only be craft or profession but both. Policing profession just allow officers to have a more developed way of thinking, they would be able to find the different ways of dealing with certain situation due to their express in college. Just as stated in Street Smart vs. Book Smart Perin goes on by saying, “The officer with effective skills in adaptation can demonstrate controlled responses during emotionally charged and possibly dangerous conditions to maintain order and calm. In college, the variety of classes required and the diversity of other students and staff allow students to learn how to adapt to a number of situations. The ability to "decide how to best respond" to situations occurs in written work, as well as,
Liberal educations benefit students in the long run, long after students have paid their loans. People are able to be informed on national topic, while also being able to be self dependent. Two qualities that are essential in the modern society. I believe it is important to have such a basic understanding of education and knowledge, just like what Nussbaum agreed too in her essay. However, I also believe the curriculum should be centered around making students a better person. Institutions should try to produce good people with the right intentions instead of just focusing on testing intelligence, similar to what Cronon focused on in his essay. If we can incorporate both of these important features into our liberal education system, then and only then, will we be thriving as a society. Graduates will have a good understanding of knowledge from an array of different fields, as well as having important traits that will carry on for the rest of their
Have you ever read something and thought “What a bunch of crap”? Well that’s the reaction I had to reading Fareed Zakaria’s book, In Defense Of a Liberal Education. Over the course of the book, Zakaria makes the argument that attending college with the specific intention to get trained for a job is “Short sighted and needlessly limiting”. Zakaria also breaks down the differences between the United State’s education system with other countries across the globe. By attending college with the intention of receiving critical thinking skills and being able to express our ideas, rather than just going to train for a job, Zakaria believes that the average student would be much better off in the world after they graduate.
Mark Edmundson’s essay really resonated with me. His essay “On the Uses of a Liberal Education,” explains that at Universities, college students and teachers who are at these universities, focus on how much the students like the classes, rather than the information found in the class. For example, he explains this when mentions giving his students the course evaluations. Some of the comments were, “the teacher was interesting”, or, “he was funny”. Not one student commented on the information they got in the class. He describes how students have become like customers. The teachers accommodate them and are willing to do anything that meet their needs. This is consumerism. Colleges are concerned with attracting the wealthiest
Are too many people pursuing a liberal studies degree when it is not necessary? When planning for the future, people need to be well educated about what they are about to be doing. People need to base their future stories on what will benefit them the most Charles Murray, the author of “Are Too Many People Going to College?”, seems to think to many people are going to college. In his article, he discusses many different points about why to many people are getting degrees. However, Murray’s text is ineffective because he is very vague, his points do not always correlate with each other, and he did not target a large enough audience.
Instead, Sanford J. Ungar presents the arguments that all higher education is expensive and needs to be reevaluated for Americans. He attempts to divert the argument of a liberal arts education tuition by stating “ The cost of American higher education is spiraling out id control, and liberal-arts colleges are becoming irrelevant because they are unable to register gains i productivity or to find innovative ways of doing things” (Ungar 661). The author completely ignores the aspects of paying for a liberal arts degree or even the cost comparison to a public university. Rather, Ungar leads the reader down a “slippery slope” of how public universities attain more funding and grants from the government, while liberal arts colleges are seemingly left behind. The author increasingly becomes tangent to the initial arguments he presented by explaining that students have a more interactive and personal relationship with their professors and other students. Sanford J. Ungar did not address one aspect of the cost to attend a liberal arts college or how it could be affordable for students who are not in the upper class.
We live the truth every day, working to keep the ideal of democratic education alive. The best reason to care for college, who goes,and what happens to them when they get there, is not what it does for society, but what it can do for individuals.like the elder guy said, you thought me how to enjoy life. What he meant is college helped him read, help him crave for works of art, heightened his alertness to color from melody. He was grateful for such an education given to him. As a person regardless of what kind of origin we have, we have the right to pursue happiness. In america today at every kind of institution education is at risk. Student are persuade and program, trained to live from task to task. To many colleges do to little to save them debilitating frenzy that makes liberal education marginal if it is offered at
...ly trying to convey that all kinds of education is expensive, and one should not shy away from a liberal arts degree because it seems too much.
"Studies, Case Law, Quotes, Standards and Trends in Support of a College Education for Police Officers." Police Association for College Education (PACE). Web. 02 Mar. 2011..
The article Police and Higher Education: Where are We Now by Roy Roberg and Scott Bonn discuss and review past articles and ideas about whether or not police officers should be required to have earned a college degree in order to qualify a position in law enforcement within the United States. The first person who believed in the idea that police officers should be required to hold a college degree in order to be qualified for a position was August Vollmer. August Vollmer was “the father of American police professionalism” (Walker & Katz, 2011). Vollmer is best known for being a supporter of higher education within law enforcement. However, many officers and high ranking officials did not believe in the concept of needing to obtain a college degree in order to protect their community. A majority of police officers in law enforcement did not have a college degree nor did police departments require it to be considered a position. Moreover, many police departments did not necessitate a high school diploma but rather a general equivalency diploma. The first time that this idea was utilized was during the time of the 1960’s, when, in the early 1960’s, crime was increasing drastically and by the late 1960’s the ghetto riots took place, opening the eyes of those in charge that something needed to change, and change quickly in order to prevent criminal activity and chaos.
The impact of my career goals has not changed about law enforcement, just my thoughts. So, to be efficient and effective this education really needs to be added back into being a requirement in all states. At least, minimum of an Associates in Criminal Justice. Thereafter, education should continue to be ongoing, to keep better policing as a constant pursuit. Reaching this goal will span the career of the officer. Reasons for this is that the magnitude of crime issues has changed and will probably change again.
The majority of departments only require a high school diploma. Although a college education is not a requirement, it can greatly increase one’s chances of getting hired. A degree in criminal justice or criminology would be very beneficial, but an associate or bachelor's degree in any department gives a person the best chance of advancement within his or her specific department. In fact, most higher positions such as chief of police require a bachelor’s degree or higher. Besides this, an individual who is going into law enforcement will need to attend a police
Growing up in a country where girls are constantly advised to be doctors, nurses, educators, and any other profession except law enforcement motivated me even further in accomplishing just that. Even as a little girl I simply could not ignore the violence, corruption, and inequality that affected my country; I wanted to fight the violence that brought misery to many, and bring justice to those who desperately deserved it. My goals of pursuing a career in criminal justice were constantly struck down and criticized throughout the years. However, once an impossible dream became a reality when I immigrated to the United States, the land of opportunity. Though my hope was restored, living and adapting to an unfamiliar environment with no family or support proved to be yet another obstacle. Witnessing my parents struggle to adapt, feeling helpless, and confused to provide us a better life has been an immense source of inspiration that drives me to seize every opportunity as it were my last.
Today our world is filled with crime. The people committing these crimes must have a consequence for their illegal actions. The system in place to keeping everything fair and safe is called the criminal justice system. This was put in place to ensure there is fairness and justice served to people who break the laws set up by the government.
Our society so values education that sociologists have recognized the problem of "over-education" (Hadjicostandi). Many people are spending years pursuing degrees which they simply do not need for the jobs they perform. It is therefore prudent for students to question whether pursuing a liberal education is really as important as our society believes. What is the point of a college education? Does it have any purpose beyond its material benefits. Are these benefits worth their cost? These are important questions that need answering. In the end, we may see that there is far more to this debate than simple accounting. Perhaps what makes education worth pursuing is that it gives us the freedom to makes these kinds of decisions about what is best for us.