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Internships |
A three credit internship is an important part of the criminal justice program. Faculty members encourage (and assist) students to develop their own placements – as if they are seeking real jobs. Internships can be arranged with local, regional, or federal agencies of justice; and a few programs provide stipends for interns.
Undergraduate interns serve at least 120 hours in a criminal justice agency. Students set their own learning objectives in consultation with their site and faculty internship supervisors. They keep a field log or diary of their observations and at the end of their internship write a paper analyzing their experience.
Graduate students who are not employed by a criminal justice agency complete a 240 hour internship. They also keep a log and write a paper analyzing the agency and their experiences with it. Master’s degree students who are working for a criminal justice agency complete a management project under the supervision of an agency official and a program faculty member.
Recent internship sites have included:
District Magistrate Office, Monroe County, PA
Friendship House, Scranton PA
Goshen, NY Police Department
Lackawanna County Department of Probation & Parole
Lackawanna County Public Defender’s Office
Northeast Office of U. S. Senator Arlen Specter Northeast Office of U. S. Senator Rick Santorum
Saint Michael’s School, Tunkhannock, PA
South Amboy Police Department
United State Senate Judiciary Committee, Washington D. C.
United States Marshals Service, Middle District of PA
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Intern Jessica Ryan at her desk in
Senator Santorum’s office. |
In their own words (Marywood CJ students write about their internships):
I noticed that almost all of these kids (at a group home) are academically lacking. Many struggle to read and write…This is true about most criminal offenders. I noticed the real lack of structure for these kids. They have problems with transitions and struggle to follow rules. Many do not handle constructive criticism well either. Most criminal offenders do not think what they do is wrong and these kids are no exception.
Working in a public office, especially that of a national figure, allows you to interact with many different people in the local community, state and nation. Public service requires strong communication skills. Many times you are dealing with people who are angry, not well informed about what they need assistance with, the elderly, immigrants, inmates, or people with problems who are frustrated by the way they are being treated. You need to be calm and organized and have a sense of how to interact with people to be able to help them.
Public Defenders have a hard job defending their clients because all too often their clients committed the crime of which they are accused. But many Public Defenders fight for them anyway. Most people don't understand the difficulty of the work they do; they work harder than most private lawyers I have seen in court. Their caseload is often huge. It is not easy to keep someone who is guilty out of jail, but it's the defenders job and they typically do it well.
One of the least glamorous parts of the job of probation officer is doing the drug screens: you are required to stand in the stall and observe everything to make sure the urine is not tampered with. It's very awkward, but it needs to be done. It is amazing what people will do to guarantee that their tests comes up negative, for example putting bleach on their fingertips and putting them in the stream of urine to dilute it.
I was surprised to find out that politicians do not read their mail. These were assigned to staff members… When the mail came in it was read to see what issue was addressed. The name of the writer and the issue were then logged into a computer database. The letter was then forwarded to a staff member to respond for the senator. I was assigned to respond to gun control, boy scouts, Waco, Elian Gonzalez, school violence, and prisoner letters. If my reply was approved (by a senior staff member), a machine would sign it and it would be mailed out.
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