Alternative to CJ degree

[rosin789]

Hello everyone I thought it would be interesting to open up a thread on what degree is the best alternative route for someone who wants to work in the criminal justice system instead of a CJ degree. I personally think a CJ degree is a great way to go, but know that a lot of employers are always looking for applicants with a wide variety of expertise such as computer science, foreign language etc. So what do you think would be a great degree to get into the CJ department?

[sanantone]

For local and most state police departments, the major doesn't matter at all. I saw one state police department in Texas that prefers a criminal justice or related degree, but it's an investigator position for a correctional department. Corrections tends to have a preference for certain degrees. Now, you don't need a degree at all to become a correctional officer, but if you want to move up to something like assistant warden/warden or some other high rank, then a criminal justice degree will be the best option. Other good options will be psychology and sociology. You could probably get away with having a degree in social work, human services, behavioral science, social science, counseling, and the like.

For federal law enforcement agencies, most of the largest and well-known agencies don't care about your major. U.S. Marshals does prefer a degree in law, criminal justice, sociology, or something closely related; the IRS will accept any major supplemented by accounting and general business courses; the FBI prefers degrees in accounting, law (JD), computer science/IT, science, engineering, a healthcare field (like nursing), and finance/economics. The National Park Service does list preferences, but there are many to choose from i.e. criminal justice, public or business administration, anthropology/archaeology, history, behavioral science, parks and recreation, wildlife management, and a whole lot more. A couple of the popular federal law enforcement agencies will bump you up to the GS-7 pay grade based on education only if you have one year of graduate education in criminal justice, psychology, sociology, or a related field.

If you want to work in probation/parole or casework in a CJ agency, then you should get a degree in criminal justice/criminology (some agencies will specifically say that a degree in law enforcement or police science is not acceptable), psychology, counseling, human services, social work, sociology, behavioral science, or social science (with an emphasis on the behavioral sciences as opposed to history, economics, and political science). Some agencies will say that they accept public administration, law, and political science degrees, but you're much safer earning the other degrees I listed.

When I say criminal justice, you can always include criminology. They're supposed to be two different kinds of degrees, but those terms are often used interchangeably since there is little difference between them now. Emergency management and homeland security are becoming increasingly popular. Emergency management is fine if you want to do emergency management. It's not going to prepare you for the more social service-oriented CJ jobs, and it won't make you competitive for most CJ jobs either in comparison to other majors. Homeland security also won't prepare you for for social service-oriented CJ work, and I really don't recommend it at all for anything. If one wants to get into intelligence, then I recommend a degree in political science (internationally-focused), international relations, or national security studies/security studies (these are different from homeland security degrees). To a lesser extent, I would recommend cultural anthropology, foreign area studies, history, or a foreign language degree. Some intelligence jobs are technical or focus on white collar crime and require a degree in engineering, computer science, a natural science, or a business field.

To the annoyance of some, I often call CJ "sociology-lite." Its roots are in sociology, sociological theories dominate the field, and almost half of the CJ professors have PhDs in sociology rather than CJ or criminology. Whether or not a sociology program has a criminology concentration, there is a good chance it has many courses that are similar to what one would find in a CJ program. For example, CSU Pueblo offers sociology courses called The Criminal Justice System, Crime and Deviance, Crime and Women, Delinquency and Juvenile Justice, Penology, Family Violence, Victimology, Structural and Elite Crime, Police and Society, Serial Murder, Forensic Criminology, Crime and the Mind, Explaining Crime, Terrorism and Mass Murder, and Correctional Administration. These courses are cheap and self-paced. They are something to consider if you decide to go for a criminal justice, sociology, or social science degree at one of the Big 3. COSC does consortium agreements that allow you to use financial aid with them and another school at the same time. Rebel100 did this with COSC and CSU Pueblo and will have more information on that. Another option would be to just get your degree in sociology from CSU Pueblo, but they only accept up to 30 credits in CBEs (credit by exam e.g. CLEP, DSST, AP, and IB).

What is my opinion on what will help in a law enforcement career even if the agency doesn't require or prefer a certain major? I think a degree in philosophy, economics, engineering, mathematics, physics, or chemistry can help you develop analytical skills that will, in turn, help you better understand the laws you're enforcing. I think a degree in criminology, sociology, psychology, and other related fields can give you a better understanding of human behavior and make your job a whole lot easier. Many people in the CJ field make their jobs more difficult by having low emotional intelligence, knowing little about how to interact with people, and knowing little about various cultures. As you move up to management positions, an MPA, MBA, or master's in criminal justice administration should help.