The study of criminal justice is the study of crime, criminal behavior forms, crime’s causes, social responses to criminal activities, and the definition of criminality. Among the concerned fields of inquiry are theories of prevention, juvenile delinquency, policing and corrections, and victimology, the study of crime victims.
Degree Requirements
A large number of universities offer degrees in criminal justice. Most of the degree programs combine law, principles of sociology and psychology to prepare the students for dealing with the criminals, and understanding of the local and international justice system for preventing crime at its core level. Criminal Justice is offered as a major in universities at undergraduate, graduate, and the post-graduate level. Criminal research centers in many credible universities are also playing a vibrant role in the field of criminology as these criminal justice institutions follow recent research and trends to come up with new crime prevention methods. Students are normally required to study the local as well as foreign criminal justice systems. They are also required to study particular crime issues that are faced. Some research areas for students consist of incidence rates and specific types of crimes as well as crime’s causes and consequences.
Within the general criminal justice degree, students can specialize their course of study by concentrating in:
- Law Enforcement
- Courts/Judiciary
- Corrections
- Forensic Science
- Criminology
Required Skills
Criminologists inquire into a myriad of other subjects concerning crime and law. Specific subjects could focus upon the relationship between criminals and their part as possible causal agents in crimes; juvenile delinquency; media and its relation to the crime; and the impact of pornography on the criminal activities. Therefore, students who have strong analytic skills and can see patterns across interrelated fields typically do well in this academic discipline. Criminologists also consider scientific objectivity a serious issue; therefore, students’ study would pay much attention to the literature of scientific studies. The criminal justice foundations are helpful for students to provide the theoretical explanations of felonious and unlawful behavior, thus the general degree is more abstract in nature than some of the more hands-on specializations.
Possible Jobs
Graduates in criminology have many career prospects after completing their degrees, including some directly and indirectly associated with the criminology degree. A criminologist, upon completing a degree, can work as activists, law enforcement officers, airport security officers, authors, behavior profilers, border patrol officers, media correspondents, crime reporters, fraud investigators, human rights officers, juvenile court officers, journalists, social workers, or military officers; however, there are other career options also available for the prospective criminologists to explore and work.
