When you start your career in criminal justice, you will be joining a group of professionals, who will expect you to use the same vocabulary and know the major researchers and the best practitioners in the field. You can acquire this knowledge not only by taking classes and reading books and articles but also by exploring professional associations.
Some students join professional associations while still in school in order to be able to attend the conferences at a reduced rate as well as to build some connections to get their first job in a chosen profession. On their websites the associations post information about their history, mission, membership, upcoming conferences; they provide links to the reports, statistics and other publications in full-text. Sometimes, when you join an association you will get a free subscription to their journal and will be able to keep abreast with the latest developments in the field. Often, you will find sections on the association’s website that announce internship opportunities and job openings.
Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, ACJS Consider joining its International Section.
American Anthropological Association Check the Sections and Interests Groups section of the website.
American Political Science Association has such sections as Human Rights, International Security and Arms Control and forty more.
American Society of Criminology, ASC has an International Division (www.internationalcriminology.com) that might be of interest to the students of international criminal justice.
American Society of International Law
American Sociological Association has many sections with international flavor.
Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology
British Society of Criminology
Canadian Criminal Justice Association
Criminological and Victimological Society of Southern Africa
European Society of Criminology
International Association for the Study of Organized Crime
International Sociological Association Check the section of Research Networks on the association’s website.
International Studies Association
Pakistan Society of Criminology