Criminology Careers & Degrees: Become a Criminologist
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Criminologists are academics who study crime and the law. They provide theoretical explanations of delinquent and criminal behavior, analyze criminal law and criminal behavior system patterns.
Criminologists are primarily involved in teaching and research. Criminologists contribute to the study of drug addiction, juvenile justice and delinquency, policing and police administration and policy, corrections, correctional administration and policy, macro-level models of criminal behavior, theoretical criminology, criminal ethnography, victimology, and radical criminology.
They also look at psychological, sociological, biological factors related to criminology. Some criminologists are involved in community initiatives, evaluation and policy projects with federal, state and local criminal justice agencies.
Criminologist Workplaces
Criminologists may work in universities teaching criminology, legal studies, law and sociology while conducting their own research. Federal and state justice agencies employ criminologists as research officers and policy advisers. Others are in private practice providing consulting services for such issues as law reform, juvenile justice, crime statistics and adult corrections.
Criminology Education & Training
At minimum you'll need to complete a 2-year master's degree program in criminology. Most criminologists working in universities have a PhD. Programs generally cover crime and deviant behavior, as found in sociology, psychology, design and systems analysis, and apply it to crime and criminal justice.
Criminologist Salary
Criminologists teaching at universities earned between $32,270 and $66,460. By rank, the average for professors was $76,200; associate professors, $55,300; assistant professors, $45,600; instructors, $34,700; and lecturers, $38,100. Faculty in 4-year institutions earn higher salaries, on average, than do those in 2-year schools.
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