Crime Pays: Benefits from Earning a Criminal Justice Degree

Criminal Justice , Criminology or Criminilistics. Which discipline is right for you? These three crime-related fields are often woven together in the professional world and in the classroom. Each is a vital branch of the system, but requires different aptitudes as a professional. An academic sampling from each program is needed to be well rounded, but, to single out one discipline for a degree, lets take a look at what each branch entails.

1. The Criminal Justice degree deals primarily with police procedure, courts and corrections. This is an ideal
course of study for those who wish to pursue law enforcement, probation officer, prison guard and more. The CJ curriculum will cover the procedures from arrest to final appeal and is also an excellent launchpad for criminal and prosecutorial law. In this exciting field, some of what the student is prepared for is collecting and handling evidence, forensic evidence, and case studies on constitutional and criminal law. This line of work is reserved for clear and fast thinkers and those prepared to interact with the public under the worst of conditions.

2. Criminology encompasses some of the criminal justice field, but lends emphasis on the psychological dysfunction of the offender. The criminologist is one to counsel those in jail or prison and reports are made ready to the State. His or her conclusions weigh heavily upon evaluation from boards such as parole and probation, making the criminologist a key player to inmate release. The criminologist will have excellent listening, verbal and written communication skills and possess the ability to commit to long term cases. This discipline may be started at the Bachelor's level, or an M.A added on to a psychology undergraduate degree.

3. Criminilistics is a laboratory position that is responsible to test and interpret forensic evidence collected at the crime scene. He or she may be called to court as an expert witness when dealing with such specialties as DNA or ballistics, and they will work within a police crime lab, government testing facilities, or perhaps with the
Coroner's office. The criminilist will have a solid background in math and science and be very detailed orientated. Biology and chemistry are required fields as their practical applications are used on a daily basis. Post graduate work in related fields include forensic archaeology, forensic pathology , and research related firms, all of which may be pursued to doctoral levels.

Whichever criminal law division you pursue, the coursework is fascinating and the industry recession-proof. For those who pursue post graduate work, the doors are open to authoring text books, crime novels, media
commentary and professorships, making this industry one where crime does pay.