Criminologist

What is a Criminologist and is it For You?

A criminologist studies normal social behavior and how certain factors influence deviation from that norm. They analyze crime and criminal behavior and attempt to explain it. By focusing on the study of crime and criminal law crime experts are able to increase the chance of a criminal being apprehended and to predict patterns and motives for criminal behaviors.

To be effective in interpreting and analyzing criminal behavior, this field relies on psychology, sociology as well as biological and educational factors. Practitioners in this field have to crate profiles and present statistical information in an organized and easy to interpret manner. As a result, they must have an understanding of many disciplines, especially those dealing with human behavior.

If you:

• have a genuine interest in human nature,
• like helping others
• want to improve society
• enjoy working with numbers/data
• have great communication/listening skills
• have excellent research/analysis skills

then consider a degree in criminology. This type of training will lead you to a career with many opportunities, specializations and varied settings.

With this degree, you could become a law enforcement agent, police officer or FBI agent as well as medical examiner. You could also go into the education field and teach students and those wanting a career in the field. In the academic world, aside from teaching, you could conduct research and present and publish your work in the field. Finally, you could be employed by private security companies, state and federal correction systems, drug enforcement agencies as well as US customs. This area of criminal justice supplies a great deal of knowledge to the study of drug addiction, juvenile justice, policing, police administration and policy, radical criminology and victimology. Graduates with this degree have duties that vary from reviewing a pattern of behavior and writing a profile of that demographic group, to going to crime scenes, attending autopsies, and questioning suspects.

Degree programs cover a wide range of topics; insuring graduates are well prepared for the challenges of a crime driven career. If you decide to pursue this area of study, you will learn about the government, sociology, psychology, juvenile delinquency, criminal law, constitutional law and criminal theory. Most degree programs will focus on the development of your statistical skill, writing, computer science and logic. Additional courses include forensics, abnormal psychology, corrections and research methods.

With an entry-level degree, you would spend your time doing data collections, report profiling, compiling crime statistics and develop proposals for crime prevention strategies. Those with a higher degree have more opportunities for advancement and higher pay. Additional education also allows one to specialize in a certain area of the study of crime. You could specialize and focus on a particular age group, certain types of crimes, crime prevention, criminal investigation, profiling or research. You c may specialize in organizational research, victimology, corporate crime or juvenile justice.

With this degree you can expect to be employed by government agencies and universities. Your main role in these organizations would be to advance teaching and research as well as policy assessment and institution. At universities you could teach criminology, legal studies, law and sociology while conducting research at the same time.

This degree will allow you to find a job in many different settings. Some common areas of employment are: airport security, corrections system, probation or parole officers, FBI, US customs and drug or other law enforcement agencies. Finally, private practices providing services for issues in law reform, crime statistics or adult corrections are frequent areas of employment.

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