Qualitative Criminology (QC)
Abstract
"Internships play a crucial role in the educational and professional training of students. This article presents a qualitative evaluation of the benefits and challenges of an undergraduate internship through an examination of self-reflective journals completed by 20 seniors majoring in criminal justice. Findings were organized into five major themes: knowledge acquisition, professional development, personal development, affective development, and awareness of the realities of the criminal justice system. The most frequently cited benefits included increased learning, the ability to apply coursework to the internship experience, and improved career readiness. Challenges included exposure to field experiences that led to feeling sad and nervous during the internship. The findings offer valuable insights for designing effective internship programs for criminal justice education."
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Blank, Nancy; Goldberg-Glen, Robin S.; Simons, Lori; Scharfetter, Nicole; and Grande, Denna
(2024)
"Lessons Learned from An Undergraduate Criminal Justice Internship: The Student Experience,"
Qualitative Criminology (QC): Vol. 13:
No.
3, Article 2.
Available at:
https://dc.swosu.edu/qc/vol13/iss3/2
Included in
Criminal Law Commons, Criminology Commons, Criminology and Criminal Justice Commons, Legal Theory Commons, Other Law Commons, Other Legal Studies Commons