CRIMINAL-JUSTICE EDUCATION AND TRAINING - A SURVEY OF CANADIAN GRADUATE SCHOOLS OF PSYCHOLOGY

Criminal justice psychology (CJP) has grown tremendously during the pa st twenty years. With this expansion comes the need for specific train ing. Although information on CJP training at U.S. based universities h as appeared in the literature (e.g., Brodsky, 1978; Roesch, Grisso, & Poythress, 1986), no such information exists regarding Canadian univer sities. All Canadian universities that offer graduate work in psycholo gy (N = 34) were surveyed. Responses from 28 programs indicated that 1 5 of these offered criminal justice training. Three programs (British Columbia, Queen's, Simon Fraser) used a structured format, while the o thers were self-directed. Descriptive analyses are presented for compa risons between structured and self-directed programs as well as on the basis of magnitude and comprehensiveness. The findings are discussed in terms of Canadian opportunities for graduate training in clp and th e proposed criteria for specialty designation in applied psychology.