Date of Conferral

2022

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Public Policy and Administration

Advisor

Ernesto Escobedo

Abstract

AbstractIn a world of ever-changing demographics, it is imperative that criminal justice practitioners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to effectively interact with the communities they serve. The purpose of this nonexperimental study was to ascertain the relationship between perceptions of diversity of undergraduate criminal justice majors at a Northeastern college who had taken a diversity course to those who had not. Bandura’s social cognitive theory guided this study. Data were collected using McMorris’ Perceptions of Criminality survey with a purposive nonprobability sample of 72 criminal justice majors at a Northeastern college who were 18 years of age or older. Data were analyzed using chi-square test. Results indicated there was a significant difference (p < .05) in the diversity perspectives of criminal justice students who took a diversity course and those of students who had not for four offenses: larceny/theft least likely to commit, fraud least likely to commit, weapons violations most likely to commit, and kidnapping least likely to commit. For the two groups of criminal justice students, those who had taken a diversity course and those who had not, there was no significant difference (p > .05) between male and female criminal justice students’ perceptions of diversity. A diversity course had an effect on the perceptions of diversity of the criminal justice students, which should be investigated further. The implications for positive social change are directed toward criminal justice educators, policymakers, and leaders to look for ways to include diversity courses into the core criminal justice curriculum, potentially improving the relationships between criminal justice practitioners and the communities they serve.

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