Evaluation of the Forensic Services Graduate Certificate Program at UMass-Boston

Transcription

1 Evaluation of the Forensic Services Graduate Certificate Program at UMass-Boston Kathleen Clark (Masters Paper for Professors Hartwell and Schutt, adapted for website) ABSTRACT Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the 16 credit, six course Forensic Services Graduate Certificate Program at UMass from the consumer perspective. Method: Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 10 of the 18 program alumni, as of March 4, Using a semi-structured interview guide, graduates were asked open-ended questions pertaining to their personal goals, their individual expectations, their experiences in the program, and their current professional/academic status. Findings: The 10 students interviewed for this study reported that they had expanded their knowledge of the intersection between the mental health system and the criminal justice system in the United States. Some of the participants also credited the Program with salary increases, promotions, and acceptance into Masters programs. Conclusion: Based on analysis of the participant s interviews, the program was successful in producing the desired outcomes.

2 The purpose of the Forensic Services Graduate Certificate program is to train students in the complex social issues at the intersection of the mental health and criminal justice systems in the United States. The program is offered through the College of Liberal Arts in cooperation with the Division of Corporate, Continuing, and Distance Education (CCDE). Students can complete the program either as stand-alone graduate certificate students or while they are enrolled in the Masters programs in Applied Sociology or Counseling. Certificate students are often professionals seeking to upgrade their skills, while MA students use the certificate courses to satisfy concentration requirements. The evaluation research for this report included only certificate students who were not simultaneously enrolled in another graduate program. Five three-credit courses are required: Alcohol, Drugs, and Crime, Forensic Psychology, Sociology of Law, Foundations of Mental Health Counseling, and Psychiatric Epidemiology. A mandatory Field Observation course (for stand-alone certificate students) earns one credit. The program is both interdisciplinary (with courses from psychology, counseling, and sociology) and intercollegiate (with cooperation by the College of Liberal Arts, the Graduate College of Education, and UMass Medical School). This research sought answers to several specific questions: What function do students see for this certificate program? What do students expect from the program? How do graduates from the Forensic Services Certificate Program at UMASS Boston assess the program s effectiveness? How has the certificate affected them professionally? What changes would the alumni/ae recommend? Would former students recommend the Program to others interested in the field?

3 METHODOLOGY Data Source, Sample, and Recruitment The target population was the 18 people who had successfully completed the Forensic Services Certificate Program as stand-alones, rather than to fulfill the concentration requirement for an MEd in Mental Health Counseling or an MA in Applied Sociology, as of March 3, I attempted to contact all of the alumni/ae via telephone, but some of the phone numbers were out of service. Some of the former students had moved out of state and others failed to respond to a phone message. Ten graduates were available for a face-to-face interview. Participants completed the informed consent forms at our meetings at various locations, including UMass Boston and several state agencies. Prior to the face-to-face interview, we read the consent form together and signed and dated the document. Each interview took approximately one hour. Follow-up with participants included a letter of appreciation and an invitation to obtain a copy of the completed research report. Instrumentation The semi-structured interview guide used for this study was an adaptation of one created for a similar study of Applied Sociology alumni by Professor Schutt s Foundations of Applied Sociology class (Newman, 2002). The instrument included 24 questions organized in four sections: Background (4 questions); Experience in the Program (9 questions); Career experience (9 questions); Demographics (2 questions). Examples of the questions were: What led you to apply to the Graduate Program in Forensic Services? (Background); What were the main events during the program that shaped you professionally? (Program Experience) ; What have you done in terms of

4 education and work since leaving the Graduate Program in Forensic Services? What goals has the program helped you to achieve? (Career Experience). Limitations The results of this study may not generalize to all program participants because only 56% of the graduates were interviewed. Additionally, answers may have been biased positively or negatively because I was a student in the Forensic Services Graduate Certificate Program and paid as a graduate assistant to coordinate the program at the time the data were collected. FINDINGS The ten respondents ranged in age from 30 to 50, with equal numbers of men and women and both African Americans (4) and whites (6). Undergraduate majors represented among the respondents included psychology, criminal justice (3), sociology (2), other social sciences (3), and nursing and exercise (2). Three of the interviewees had completed graduate degree programs prior to completing the Forensic Services Graduate Certificate Program. The alums were queried about their jobs, motives, and goals prior to entering the Forensic Services Certificate Program. There were several different reasons for wanting to enter this interdisciplinary program: learn about psychiatric disabilities, intellectual enhancement, job opportunities, credentials, looking for Masters program, and gain mastery of the field. A graduate who worked as a Corrections Officer described a lofty goal: I expected to be updated on current criminal justice issues. I wanted to have an academic view; not jaded. My eyes were opened.

5 A former correctional officer had a more prosaic concern: Two co-workers brought the information into work and three of us were supposed to go. They left. I was traumatized. School is not my forte. I had been out of school for 10 years. My main goal was to get through it. Turned out okay. Experience in the Program Interviewees were asked about their particular areas of interest in the Forensic Services Certificate Program. Overall, students were enthusiastic about their experiences in the program, and professed to have learned a lot about the sociological underpinnings of mental illness and criminal behavior. For example, a recent immigrant stressed the impact of the program on his understanding of life in the United States: In forensic services there is more study of the environment--it s not science, like nursing- why people think the way they do, why there is racism. The program made me look at the positive and the negative side of the law in the United States. The law works against certain populations. A student who worked in a correctional facility found that the program was helpful in her field and stated: Terrific. We went to the Taunton State Hospital. Stephanie was fantastic. She dragged us to the homeless shelters. It was an eye opener. You deal with the same people in criminal justice and mental health. Men are more penal; women have a more medical/psychological spin. Most found the Alcohol, Drugs, and Crime course taught by Prof. Stephanie Hartwell to be exciting. Many suggested that they learned a lot in the Field Observation course with

6 Prof. Hartwell and felt that this hands on approach to learning should be implemented in other classes. Some respondents expressed frustration that the courses needed were not always offered at their convenience and that more discussion and less lecture would be good in some classes. One of the respondents suggested that less reading and more speakers would be a good idea to improve the enjoyment of the program. Another declared that he/she would have liked more availability and consistency of expectations among the instructors Career Outcomes Interviewees shared news of promotions and pay raises and attributed their success to the Forensic Services Program. A female alum, who aspires to a career change, reported that she now felt competent to work for the government as an FBI agent. Several have enrolled in other academic programs, including nursing, criminal justice, and mental health counseling. (Table I) Enhanced confidence in the ability to do graduate work and clarity of academic and career directions were common themes. Table I Career Outcomes * Academic goals BA 1 MA 3 Salary increase 3 Promotion 4 Job enhancement through greater expertise 10 * Multiple responses allowed.

7 CONCLUSIONS Overall, the former students interviewed for this evaluation were satisfied with the Forensic Services Graduate Certificate Program and had achieved their goals for participating in it. All had hoped to learn about the intersection between the mental health system and the criminal justice system and they did. Some sought to improve their individual job performance and they did. Others were pursuing future academic and career advancement goals; they, too, reported that the program helped them to achieve these goals. Criticism was minimal and suggestions were thoughtful. All ten of the alums said that they would recommend the program to others and some had already done so.