Professional Association in Criminal Justice

Like most professions, the field of criminal justice has a number of professional associations. These are collections of practitioners, organizations and agencies gathered by profession (dentist, accountant, lawyer, correctional specialist, etc.) to accomplish several goals. Among the most important are the development of a Code of Ethics of the profession, designing and supporting legislation relevant to their work, and facilitating communication among its members, reporting research findings, and more. Here are some examples of professional associations in law, law enforcement, and corrections.

Academic Associations

Academics in the field of criminal justice may join the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS) or the American Society of Criminology (ASC). Both of these associations provide opportunities to meet people doing the same thing we are doing (other academics teaching criminal justice). They provide learning experiences through their publications and annual meetings. In addition, like most professional associations, they set certain ethical guidelines for their field.

Law Enforcement, Correctional, and Law Associations

Police typically consider joining the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), among others. People interested in the field of corrections join the American Correctional Association (ACA), the American Association of Probation and Parole Officers (NAPPO), or some similar organization. Of course, lawyers join the American Bar Association (ABA) or some similar body.

After you graduate, I encourage you to consider joining one or more of these organizations. Most of them will send you their official publications when you become a member and they usually make for some good professional reading (improving your work skills and vocabulary, revealing the findings of studies in which you may be interested, etc.).

Some of the associations' publications include employment bulletins and are, therefore, an excellent source of finding employment. We have several of the criminal justice associations’ publications in Meyer Library (Police Chief, the Journal of Criminal Justice Education, Criminal Justice Review and others). Take a look at some of them to see if they have something in which you are interested.

In addition, you may enjoy attending the annual meetings of the associations. You make new friends - contacts for your future, and, if you attend the presentations being made, you may learn some new and useful information.

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