Date
4-29-2026
Department
Helms School of Government
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy in Criminal Justice (PhD)
Chair
Marc Weiss
Keywords
career and technical education, criminal justice programs, high school and secondary-level curriculum
Disciplines
Education | Law
Recommended Citation
Brewer, Richard, "Early Educational Benefits in Criminal Justice Learning and Practice: Efficacy of High School-Level Criminal Justice Programs" (2026). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 8211.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/8211
Abstract
The value of educational progress and placing optimally educated agents into the criminal justice career field has been carefully examined throughout the history of justice, and the procurement of skills and knowledge applicable to field operations is aligned with several core Peelian tenets. The safe assumption is that every police action is observed or documented, and efforts must be made to build bridges to amend the law enforcement misconducts of yesteryear. One methodology to reduce the number of undesired incidents, expand occupational growth, and obtain optimal confidence levels among personnel in the volatile policing arena is implementing earlier learning development to improve considerations of the criminal justice system and inspire career preparation toward easing societal discourse. Although American colleges have offered criminal justice programs for several decades, these skills can be initiated during a high school curriculum, which would offer students opportunities to receive differentiated instruction from multiple sources and commence learning outcomes when earlier scholarship is entrenched in more efficient stages. This study aimed to examine the efficacy of high school-level criminal justice programs using a quantitative method of analyzing student and occupational outputs. A review of existing programs at the high school level was completed, noting correlative features with learners who did not participate in programs as a control, and examining causal relationships stemming from questionnaires and other survey research features submitted from previously enrolled students. Through practical learning, real-world settings, and collaboration with law enforcement entities, findings suggest that early education programs foster increased legal knowledge, ethical standards, and communal critical thinking abilities.
