Criminology Careers and Degrees
Read all about criminology education, job description and salary.
Find Your Niche
Criminologists are academics who study crime and the law. They provide theoretical explanations for delinquent and criminal behavior, and analyze criminal law and criminal behavior patterns. If this sounds intriguing, you'll be glad to know that with a criminology degree in hand, there are many places you can find a great job.
What You'll Study
Criminologists usually have criminal justice careers in research and teaching. They study any number of the following societal issues:
- Drug addiction
- Juvenile justice and delinquency
- Policing, police administration and policy
- Corrections, correctional administration and policy
- Models of criminal behavior
- Theoretical criminology
- Criminal ethnography
- Victimology
- Radical criminology
Criminology also studies the psychological, sociological, biological factors related to crime, law enforcement and criminology.
Criminologist Workplaces
Criminology careers are varied, but 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 and Training
To begin a criminology career, you'll need to complete a 2-year master's degree at a criminology school. Most criminologists who work in universities have a PhD. Criminology programs generally cover these topics, which are applied to the crime prevention and criminal justice fields:
- Crime and deviant behavior
- Sociology
- Psychology
- Design and systems analysis
Criminology and Criminal Justice
More Law Enforcement Careers
- Police Training and Careers
- Federal Law Enforcement
- Investigation and Security
- More Career Snapshots