ACADEMIC CREDIT FOR LIFE EXPERIENCES IN CRIMINAL-JUSTICE - ISSUES AND CONCERNS

This article focuses on awarding credit for life experiences (work experience, training, or other forms of experiential learning) in criminal justice education. The efficacy and consequences of this practice are explored in an attempt to delimit the issues and raise relevant questions that need to be explored in developing policies for awarding such credit. The authors raise questions concerning the definition of viable and relevant experiential learning and the process of evaluating life experiences. The article also discusses the need to consider a number of factors in implementing a credit-for-experiential-learning program; for example, the implications for ''in-service'' versus ''preservice'' students, extra-university regulations, the transferability of credit to other institutions, and the importance of a careful assessment of the overall impact on the criminal justice system and on criminal justice as an academic discipline.