Reasoning behind the study
This study sought to overcome a dearth in understanding regarding knowledge required to be taught by institutions of higher learning, and mastered by professionals for security to move along the professionalisation path. The research evolved from a series of questions I had considered after commencing a teaching role within an Australian university. I had worked in both the military and civilian security environments for many years, and I had completed a Masters by Research degree in the area of security science. When I commenced teaching I asked myself what do I need to teach, what is essential and what is desirable, and what is the best way to teach security to undergraduate students? The reality is that there was no easy answer, as clouding the issue was the depth and breadth of security education.
Topics include criminology, terrorism, intell igence, management along with technology based units in intrusion dete ction, access control and closed circuit television (CCTV). Such depth and breadth in many security courses stems from significant diversity in the security domain’s employment options for graduates. In addition, much of the security domain within the law and order paradigm (non-traditional) sits at the operational end of security’s occupational stratum, with diminutive recognition for the professional category membership. Central to security’s emergence and acceptance by both the public and legal arenas at the higher end of the stratum as a profession is its evidence of a valid body of knowledge that requires formal education through institutions of higher learning. Such knowledge must demonstrate how it brings about consistent and predictable changes in the environment to provide a state of being secure.
Consequently, I recognised the need to explore how the professional stratum of the security domain is jurisdictionally divided, each with its relevant knowledge requisites. Very quickly this exploration uncovered a project of significant scope. This led me to focus on physical security only, to map graduates’ jurisdictional domain knowledge requisites, setting a framework for further sub-domain investigations. Accordingly, the study is not about technical details of locks or specific barriers, nor is it about alarm specifications and response personnel. The focus of this study was about the role physical security professionals play in the protection of assets and their requisite core and supporting knowledge in terms of a desirable curriculum model… Read full thesis
