Empathy-Focused Learning: Teaching Criminal Justice Students to Care
Today’s students show very little appreciation for the importance of empathy in community-based correctional treatment. This descriptive mixed-method study reports on a pilot program designed to examine how and to what extent a criminal justice education program enhanced or fostered empathy. Over a...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2018
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| In: |
American journal of criminal justice
Year: 2018, Volume: 43, Issue: 2, Pages: 389-410 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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| Summary: | Today’s students show very little appreciation for the importance of empathy in community-based correctional treatment. This descriptive mixed-method study reports on a pilot program designed to examine how and to what extent a criminal justice education program enhanced or fostered empathy. Over a period of 7 years (2007–2014), 52 students participated in an intervention class, while 97 attended a controlled course. The study utilized a two-stage measurement technique involving a pencil and paper test of empathy and actual interviews with students. A phenomenological analysis was conducted to investigate how students understand and transform experiences into perceptions both individually and as shared meaning. A Paired Two Sample for Means t-test was computed on the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) pre- and posttest data to analyze change in the students’ perceived empathy. The intervention group scores from pretest to posttest indicated a statistically significant change in students’ empathy levels in all seven subscales. This program should serve as a model curriculum for criminal justice students. |
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| ISSN: | 1936-1351 |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s12103-017-9385-7 |
