Interview with a Criminologist
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Interviewee
Paul Leighton, PhD
Job Title: Associate Professor of Criminology (Criminologist), Eastern Michigan University
Years in Field: 10 years
How did you become interested in criminology?
Originally I thought I wanted to go to law school; I took the LSAT and applied, but I had a nagging feeling that it wasn't really what I wanted. I thought that law school had to do with justice; I thought they talked about right and wrong. It was a rude awakening to find that it really didn't, and law school wasn't as interesting as I thought. At the same time I discovered that there was a Department of Justice, Law, and Society at the American University in Washington, DC. When I got there I found that was what I wanted to do, and the master’s degree turned into a PhD.
What did you study in your criminology degree program?
It wasn't just a narrow focus on criminal justice. There were people there interested in human rights, war crimes, broader topics. I worked as a research assistant on a study of execution teams and execution processes, and that's given me a continuing interest in capital punishment. And I collaborated on work that's given me a larger interest in criminal justice policy, how the government fights crime, and an interest in white collar crime. White collar criminals are the people on the higher end who commit spectacular robberies, but they don't get the punishment that street criminals do.
What was your first job out of college?
I went to University of San Francisco for a 1-year contract position. I was back on the market the next year, but it was a great life experience. Most people with the PhD go into the academic world as teachers and researchers, and some go into policy organizations or think tanks. My dad was a professor, and I was drawn by the academic lifestyle, especially the attraction to having a lot of control over your schedule. There's a lot of work, but not that many places you have to be during the week. If you like working 10 PM to 3 AM, you can do that.
What do you most enjoy about being a criminologist?
My career has taken a slightly unusual turn, because I got interested in Web sites. I taught a seminar on violence, and got my students involved in researching violence prevention Web sites, doing critical analysis of hate crimes and domestic violence. I created Stopviolence.com, and I teach a domestic violence class, so the site has grown and expanded with contributions from my students.
I'm drawn to the medium, even though there's not a lot of academic reward for it. My institution is more flexible than most, but most universities haven't recognized this as part of what as a professor does. They see the Web as a quaint hobby, but not part of what you should be doing as a professor. Even other teachers, who use my site and send their classes there, don't see that it should be recognized professionally.
What is most challenging about criminology?
Managing all of the various commitments. As a professor, you're expected to teach, and that requires preparation and grading. There's a lot of committee work, and I've gotten myself involved the union as well. Students who've worked with me in the past come back and want to work on an independent project or a thesis with me.
At the same time I'm writing articles, collaborating with people, and we try to get together and investigate new ideas. I'm lucky that the people I work with like to keep fresh and not rehash things over and over again. Of course, it's a lot more work than taking something you've published before and editing it into a new article, but it's more rewarding to think about new topics and new ideas.
What is the most common misconception about criminologists?
There's a frequent misunderstanding is that all we do is train people to be FBI officers and police officers. There's confusion between what a police academy would do and what an academic criminologist would do. An academic criminologist is not just training people to be part of the criminal justice system, but researching fundamental issues about why people commit crime. Criminologists look at the workings of the criminal justice system, including getting more insight into why people are violent, and ask questions about the justice part of criminal justice.
What skills are most important to the criminology field?
Criminology professorship is similar to professorship in other fields. You need a lot of self-discipline to manage your time and the competing things that people want you to do. People think it takes someone who's incredibly smart, but that might be overstated. Professorship requires persistence and the ability to work without the external structure that most people have. You need to be able to get up and work even if you don't physically go to the office and punch in.
What kind of training is most useful for people interested in criminology?
Most colleges offer an internship program, which is a good place to start. Internship programs usually have a fair range of positions. You can do things in the policing ends, court, corrections, probation, or parole. You can observe all sorts of people and hear them talk about their jobs. Obviously the experience is great if you get hired there, or if you prefer the academic side then you can be grounded in the reality of how the system works.
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