Wicked_Problem

Maybe, for an individual, if you live in Queens and are willing to walk a lot or even bicycle commute. Won’t be pleasant.

I would like to chat with you about this. Please message me in Facebook: /hdavid.lester

The answer to this question is multifaceted. If you can fund the Masters, either through personal savings or loans that you are willing to shoulder, then elect that route and write an excellent thesis, using this experience to determine the landscape in your specialty and develop a network as well as even better letters of recommendation. In that case, make your decision on program based on minimizing costs and maximizing fit with a particular faculty member. Contact candidates directly and explain your objectives. If they are not on board, or can't lend prestige or contacts to your cause, then move on to the next candidate. If further graduate education requires that you receive support, you had better have very strong GRE scores and write an extremely focused personal interest statement keyed to a particular faculty member's specific interests, even his or her emergent interests. Address the impact of your first year, but show how that experience drove later research interests (so it is not just a sob story.) As far as competitiveness for these programs, I can't say. I am curious what others might offer to your question and this unanswered dimension.

I just realized this wasn't the appropriate forum to post the above. My apologies. Anyone entering SIT graduate programs, sound off...

Perhaps an informational interview with a seasoned practitioner like Jerome Miller http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerome_G._Miller whose training was as a psychiatric social worker, not a clinical psychiatrist. However, he would be able to provide extremely valuable perspective and advice on correctional mental health. He is associated with: NCIA Augustus Institute for Mental Health 7222 Ambassador Road Baltimore, MD 21244 443.780.1300 phone However, he may work out of Northern Virginia. NCIA also has a satellite office in Brooklyn: 67 West Street 4th Floor, Room 1A Brooklyn, New York 11222 347.657.9029 ext. 1050 Good luck!

Also, even if it isn't that informative, you could message the folks who posted to the thread and solicit their advice.

Ran across this, in case you hadn't seen it... Good luck.

Given ADLNYC's excellent suggestion, I wonder if there is an agreement between John Jay and the school I mentioned in my PM that allows cross-registration in graduate classes? If nothing else, the proximity might be facilitative.

That sometimes things you won't even allow yourself to dream can--against all odds--occasionally come true. [Please don't hate me if that didn't happen for you; I certainly didn't think it would for me.]

I intend to apply the degree listed below to the study and improvement of justice systems, but it's not in any way a criminology program. Close to several, though, so I might take some electives at Rutgers or John Jay.

There are also Law and Society programs in Criminology Departments.

Semester starts 8/26. Any suggestions on searching for housing for a family of five remotely from California, especially timing? Unlike many towns with universities, properties do not appear to be listed now for August. Is it even possible to do this without being on site? Also, any location suggestions welcome. Thinking Jersey Heights or Union City. Plus the kicker, one child entering 9th grade and private school not an option.

I cannot address Human Factors specific information or departmental placement statistics. I can however confirm that you, as it stands, have made the right decision. Cost of living in Northern Virginia is quite high (I lived in Fairfax County from 2004-2007) and dirt cheap in Moscow, ID (where my sister lived in the late 80s/early 90s.) Any program is what you make of it. With the internet, your opportunities are much less limited than before the internet. If you want an internship with a defense contractor in Northern Virginia, once you're ready, make it happen, but until then live dirt cheap and keep your need to take out loans minimized. I am telling you that you have made the right decision. Get some sleep!

Achievement motivation and achievement behavior David McClelland of Wesleyan developed a theory called "need achievement." This did not occur in a vacuum as Henry Murray had previously outlined a taxonomy of human needs, one of which was the need for achievement. McClelland was interested in outlining why some people demonstrate higher levels of both achievement motivation and achievement behaviors than others. He framed it, as Murray did, as a learned motive, but added that it could vary based on the experiences of childhood based on culture, class, and parental attitudes. His approach was the story writing technique, in which subjects would write about ambiguous scenes involving work or study. The resulting texts would be graded for achievement imagery, and then validated against independent measures of actual achievement. The next step was to generalize this theory validation. McClelland scored the stories in the readers used in primary grades in more than twenty countries in the same way that the story writing samples were graded. Readers from 1920-1950 were scored, and the achievement imagery in those books correlated (r=+.53) with increases in economic productivity during subsequent years. It is important to remember that correlation is not causation, and a third variable (or combination of such variables) could precede both. However, the reverse (increases in production produce achievement imagery in readers) was not supported, which in and of itself still does not establish causality. Atkinson's response to need achievement theory Instead of a third variable, Atkinson postulated two competing variables: the motive to achieve success (Ms) and the motive to avoid failure (Maf). Basically, a hypothetical Subject #1 with a strong Ms can be overcome by a stronger Maf such that his achievement behaviors are lower than Subject #2 with a relatively weak Maf and a Ms that is objectively weaker Ms than Subject #1's. Furthermore, Atkinson argued that the value one places on any success one might gain is an important determinant of achievement behavior. This emphasis on values in addition to motives was shared by Crandall, who pointed out that areas of achievement might not be those generally associated with success by society. For example, a gang member might place a very high value on peer identification and affiliation, and exhibit extremes in achievement behavior in that particular domain, to the exclusion of most socially acceptable forms of behavior. Raynor's experimental validation of Atkinson Raynor built off of both of these theorists experimentally when he evaluated introductory psychology students with respect to Ms, Maf, and level of relevance (value) the course had for their futures. His results supported Atkinson since GPA in the course varied in expected ways, with dominant Maf scored significantly lower when their value score was high, and actually score slightly higher than their dominant Ms counterparts when their value scores were low. In layman's terms, fear of failure was, especially in situations where the personal stakes are high, a severe inhibitor of success behaviors. Perhaps this might be the issue with the subpar GRE scores when all other indicators are positive? High Maf or Motive to avoid failure.

Wow, how exciting. Good things come to those...

UNC Charlotte?

Here's the answer: http://www.cgsnet.org/ckfinder/userfiles/files/CGS_Resolution.pdf I was clued into it by another poster in another thread but couldn't find it after an exhaustive search on GradCafe...

SECOND this!

Cross-posted...

PM'd ya!

I have to respectfully disagree with this response, based upon some unusual history specific to Criminal Justice and Criminology as a field. There are only around 37 doctoral level programs in CJ/Crim but there are hundreds of CJ Masters programs out there due to LLEA (1968-1982) funding, and many of them are practice-oriented and have little to no capabillity to train in research based on primary sources. I am finishing my master's degree in Criminal Justice this semester. Every one of my CJUS professors was a JD, not a PhD, and while their advice was excellent, and the courses outstanding, the closest we got to research was lengthy papers based solely on secondary sources. The resources are simply not there in most of these programs, including mine, through no fault of the administration or faculty of such programs. The faculty at the 37 or so doctoral level programs understand this, since many of them, or at least some of their colleagues, came through LLEA supported CJ programs on their way to their PhDs. Further reading: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/164509.pdf http://www.adpccj.com/documents/2012survey.pdf

I have a similar situation, where I have to turn down an offer, and I am really upset about it. Under almost any other circumstances, I would be very grateful to be able to work with the POI at this school, and I would like to collaborate with him down the line. I hope he understands. I guess the best thing to do is be short, sweet and straightforward (like iowa guy suggested.)