Aspirations of Hispanic Criminal Justice Students to Join Law Enforcement: An Empirical Investigation

Authors

Yudu Li, The University of Texas Rio Grande ValleyFollow
Lucas Espinoza, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Charlotte Hu, University of Arizona
Fei Luo, Texas A&M International University

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

12-15-2023

Abstract

This study investigates the job preferences of criminal justice (CJ) students and potential factors that may impact their application for law enforcement positions. Existing research has shown that factors like gender, race, and class standing influence career choices among CJ majors. To contribute to this body of knowledge, this study focuses on CJ students’ attitudes toward the police and willingness to engage in community policing programs. The research examined 231 CJ students in a Hispanic serving university situated along the US-Mexican border. Research findings indicate that CJ students are less likely to pursue law enforcement careers if they hold less favorable attitudes toward the police or are unwilling to participate in ride-along programs. The study concludes with policy implications.

Comments

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice on December 15, 2023, available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/15377938.2023.2263880

Recommended Citation

Yudu Li, Lucas Espinoza, Charlotte Hu & Fei Luo (2023) Aspirations of Hispanic criminal justice students to join law enforcement: an empirical investigation, Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice, 21:4, 318-339. https://doi.org/10.1080/15377938.2023.2263880

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

Publication Title

Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice

DOI

10.1080/15377938.2023.2263880