PhD in CJ/Criminology - Focusing on Public Policy

[aaustin]

Hi all! 

 

Long-time guest viewer of The GradCafe.

A little about me - I'm currently getting both a Master's in CJ and a J.D. (from a T1 school) and I'll graduate in Dec 2017. My Master's GPA is currently 4.0 with a law GPA right around the top 1/3rd of the class (3.4ish). My undergrad was a BA in Psychology and I graduated summa. I've figured out, like a few others classmates I know, that I don't actually want to use my law degree to practice law, but it's too late to drop out. 

 

Law school has pushed me into an area of study (through summer positions) that I thoroughly enjoy. I would love to pursue this field within a PhD program and continuing academia ,but I've found a road block. I'm interested in prison policy - specifically prison healthcare policy and potential impacts of bad prison healthcare on the community.

So far, I've found very few PhD programs that have faculty in this area. After speaking to a mentor, he's pointed me toward focusing on public policy programs at schools that also have criminal justice/criminology faculty that have prison connections since this is an under-studied area. 

I've stumbled across one program so far that has faculty in their CJ department doing research in my area (George Mason). 

 

I guess I'm reaching out to you all to see if you've seen any similar areas of study in your search for a program or if you have any general tips about finding a PhD program. I have a list of all programs (I believe) that offer PhDs in CJ/Criminology, but adding in a public policy consideration aspect is a bit harder. 

 

-- aa

[OmarComin']

To get a feel for a department's focus, my best advice to you would be to look at each faculty member's CV and document those that produce research similar to what you're interested in.  As far as I know, Cincinnati is one of the most prestigious programs in the country, and corrections is probably the number 1 focus there.  Additionally, I am pretty sure that American is a good choice for those interested in public policy.

Unfortunately, there isn't much out on the internet about doctoral programs in criminology/criminal justice, so, again, my best advice is to look at faculty research.

[Crimprof]

OP:

A student read your question and asked me the same -- I figured I'd reply to yours as well (though I'm generally not sure if it's cool for professors to post here so forgive me if not). Your post signals two things -- one, an interest in incarceration and health and two, an interest in policy. It sounds to me more like you care more about the former, not getting a policy degree per se, but I've listed a bunch of schools below to check out.

There are a number of sociology programs with interests in incarceration and health -- Penn Sociology (Schnittker), MN (Uggen), UW, Cornell, Harvard. In crim, UCI, Rutgers, John Jay, FSU. UCI also has an MA in policy that is headed by one of their crim faculty (Tita) so you could probably access that in CLS. Cinci is more CJ-corrections and yes has some people doing CJ policy. Maryland also has a number of faculty trained in policy programs and several faculty with incarceration interests. If you want a policy degree, look at Carnegie Mellon (Nagin) and Cornell PAM (Wildeman, does a lot of work on health) but these two programs are very different (George Mason also). Also check out Penn State. For all of these, it's a matter of taste (soc, crim, or policy), what job you want when you get done, and yes indeed you should check out faculty in each program, read some of their stuff, and figure out what excites you the most. Of course, you've missed all the deadlines for these places this year but this should get you going for next year. Hope this helps and good luck!

[OmarComin']

1 hour ago, Crimprof said:

(though I'm generally not sure if it's cool for professors to post here so forgive me if not)

I seriously doubt that any user on this forum takes issue with a professor posting on here.  Most of us are anxious applicants, and the vast majority of our information comes from other equally as anxious applicants.  The blind leading the blind, if you will.

[Crimprof]

1 hour ago, OmarComin' said:

I seriously doubt that any user on this forum takes issue with a professor posting on here.  Most of us are anxious applicants, and the vast majority of our information comes from other equally as anxious applicants.  The blind leading the blind, if you will.

Phew!

OP: Forgot to mention, McCourt at Georgetown was hiring this year with a focus on criminal justice and there are also other centers at Georgetown focused on justice issues (juvenile justice policy, community, etc). I haven't heard who they got (if anyone) but you might check it out in the spring if a policy degree is important to you (and/or staying in the DC area). 

[Square49]

Strictly based on the information you provided, you may be a top applicant in whatever year you decide to apply. My tentative advice is to apply to Maryland. I don't know if they have someone who studies prison healthcare policy specifically, but they have corrections scholars who could provide the necessary expertise to help you attain your goal. Though, more importantly, they have all sorts of political ties and relationships with agencies in both Baltimore and DC. These, of course, would be instrumental.