What is Criminal Justice?
Criminal justice is a field of study and work that involves various aspects of law and criminality. Some people mistakenly identify criminal justice as including just the criminal justice system or the courts. But this is too narrow of a view.
Instead, criminal justice includes studies of laws, policies, and regulations that govern how citizens are expected to act. Criminal justice also involves the courts and the procedures that are taken to try a defendant for breaking a law.
Of course, criminal justice also includes things like appeals, police work, forensic psychology, and preparing jurors for trial.
In each case, these elements of criminal justice play a critical part in ensuring fair justice is served. And when fair justice isn’t served, it’s up to the various components in criminal justice to ensure that a wrong is righted.
The field of criminal justice is governed by two broad ideas. The first idea is that citizens who break the law should be punished. These punishments should be well-defined and pursued without prejudice.
The second principle that guides criminal justice is the accused are guaranteed certain rights. These rights have changed over the years and have greatly expanded to protect people accused of crimes of false accusations, self-incrimination, and the like.
The criminal justice system still isn’t perfect. But, it’s a living system that evolves with time and will continue to evolve to become a better system for carrying out justice.
What is a Criminal Justice Degree?
A criminal justice degree gives you the structure needed to explore the many facets of criminal justice and develop the knowledge and skills to begin a career in this field. Since there are so many possible career paths you can take with a criminal justice degree, some of these degrees are very broad. However, as you advance in your studies, there are more opportunities to specialize.
For example, an associate degree is a great introduction to this field. You’ll take very general, basic classes as a way to get your feet wet in criminal justice. A bachelor’s degree is more detailed and complex. You also have a chance to take more specific courses on advanced criminal justice topics. Many jobs in this field require a bachelor’s degree, so this is a good place to start.
From there, a master’s degree is the most detailed and complex. The classes you take in a master’s program get to the heart of very specific topics. You’ll also have the opportunity to conduct research, take part in practica, and do internships. Each type of degree is explained in more detail below.
Associate Degree in Criminal Justice
An associate degree is usually a two-year program (if you study full-time). These degrees typically require around 60 credits, most of which are general education and introductory level courses in criminal justice.
As a student in an associate degree program in this field, you might take courses related to:
- Introduction to Criminal Justice - This course offers a wide overview of the field of criminal justice, including the court systems, policing, and the law.
- Policing Practices - A course in policing practices examines how law enforcement agencies work to maintain public safety.
- Correctional Systems - This course takes a look at the correctional system and how it’s structured and functions.
- The Judicial System - As a student in this course, you’ll learn how the judicial system is structured in the United States and how the different levels of courts work with one another.
- Communication in Criminal Justice - A course in communication is necessary so you understand the different types of communication skills (written, verbal, and nonverbal) that are required for people working in this field.
Since an associate’s degree is the most basic college degree, the courses above are all introductory in nature. Likewise, these degree programs usually have easier admissions requirements. For example, most associate degree programs might require you to have:
- A high school diploma or GED
- A satisfactory high school GPA
- A satisfactory ACT or SAT score
Criminal Justice Bachelor’s Degrees
The next step in the educational process is getting a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. This is a four-year degree that requires about 120-semester credits to complete. If you start with an associate’s degree, you’ll be halfway to a bachelor’s degree when you complete that program!
The admissions requirements for bachelor’s degree programs are mostly similar to those for associate’s degrees. For example, if you’re a first-time student, you’ll need to provide your diploma or GED, GPA information, and ACT or SAT scores.
If you’re transferring to a bachelor’s degree program from an associate’s degree program, you’ll also need to provide official transcripts. You might also need letters of recommendation from high school teachers, or if you have some college courses under your belt already, from some of your professors.
Once you begin a bachelor’s degree, you’ll find that you have much greater opportunities to learn about criminal justice. This is especially true in the third and fourth years of the programs, where most of your courses will be in advanced criminal justice topics. Typical bachelor’s programs in this field include courses in:
- Criminal Law - This course explores criminal procedure, including the relevant laws governing specific crimes against people and property.
- Constitutional Principles - This course guides you in understanding how the criminal justice system is structured, how it’s intended to work, and identify the relevant Constitutional principles that apply to specific criminal situations.
- Forensic Science - Courses in forensic science explore topics related to collecting evidence, processing crime scenes, and maintaining the chain of custody when collecting, documenting, and storing evidence.
- Juvenile Criminal Justice - This course includes a study of how juvenile court cases are handled and explores the unique circumstances of providing protection and needed services (e.g., education) to incarcerated children.
- Crime Prevention - A course in crime prevention focuses on the methods that can be used to protect people and property from criminal activity.
Criminal Justice Master’s Degrees
A master’s degree in criminal justice takes your education yet another step further. This is an advanced degree that builds on what you learned in your bachelor’s degree program.
As an advanced degree, the admissions requirements are the most stringent. Many schools require you to take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) and achieve a satisfactory score. Likewise, you’ll probably need to meet minimum GPA requirements (e.g., a 2.5 on a 4.0 scale). Other common graduate school requirements include, but are not limited to:
- A personal statement or essay
- Letters of recommendation
- An undergraduate degree from an accredited institution
- A personal interview with the admissions committee
One of the primary differences between bachelor’s and master’s studies is that master’s studies are much more specific. For example, in your undergraduate program, you might have taken a criminal law course that intoduced you to broad topics. But your studies were likely not all that detailed in favor of covering much more material.
However, in graduate school, this trend reverses. You’ll take many more highly specific courses in criminal justice, like:
- Criminal Justice Research and Statistics - Courses in research and statistics empower you to ask questions about criminal justice topics, form and test hypotheses, develop methods of research, and collect and analyze data.
- Delinquency - Courses in this field examine the etiology of delinquent behavior, and seek to understand how factors like age, race, and social status impact a person’s likelihood of committing a crime.
- Civil Rights - This course focuses on the essential rights we’re all afforded (e.g., freedom of speech) and how those rights can and should be protected for all citizens.
- Violent Crimes - Courses in violent crimes look at the theoretical approaches that seek to explain why people commit acts of violence.
- Critical Issues in Corrections - This course looks at the central issues of corrections in the U.S. and explores the problems faced by the correctional system and the potential solutions to those problems.
Many graduate programs require students to perform original research, too. You can expect to complete a thesis or a capstone project in addition to your regular classroom studies.
What is an Online Criminal Justice Degree?
An online criminal justice degree allows you to get the needed education and experience to chart a path for a criminal justice career - all from the comfort of your home.
As noted earlier, an associate’s degree is about two years, a bachelor’s degree is about four years, and a master’s degree might be one to two additional years of study. This is true whether you study on campus or online.
In fact, most colleges today offer the same courses and degrees taught by the same faculty to online students and on-campus students alike. Likewise, most schools make no distinction on your transcripts or diploma whether you learned remotely or in person.
The great thing about an online criminal justice degree is that you have more flexibility to complete your degree. Many programs offer self-paced or asynchronous learning, so you don’t have to “meet” for class at specific times. Instead, you can learn on your schedule when it’s convenient for you. You might even find that an online criminal justice degree is less expensive. Many schools don’t charge out-of-state tuition for online learning.
When looking for an online criminal justice degree (or an on-campus one, for that matter), be sure it’s from a regionally-accredited college or university. Accreditation ensures that the school adheres to certain standards of academic excellence. Credits earned at a regionally-accredited university are more likely to be accepted by another university as well.
What Does It Take To Get a Degree in Criminal Justice?
Getting a criminal justice degree at any level requires you to have a certain set of hard and soft skills to ensure success. While you don’t have to be the world’s best student or the foremost authority on criminal justice topics, you do need to possess the ability to question, investigate, and absorb information. Like any other area of study, criminal justice is a huge field and it’s impossible to learn everything about it. But, your studies will be richer and more meaningful if you have the following skills:
Being a college student requires that you have highly effective written and verbal communication skills. These are also critical skills to have for any criminal justice career (e.g., writing police reports, reading court briefs, actively listening to witnesses).
All criminal justice degrees require that you explore the law. You must be proficient in these studies to get your degree and to be effective in any criminal justice career. For example, if you want to be a police officer, you’ll need to be intimately familiar with local, state, and federal laws and how they apply to specific situations.
Whether you’re a probation agent, a lawyer, a law enforcement official, or something in between, you must be honest and have integrity to do your job well. The same goes for your years as a student!
You’ll learn how to be more observant in your criminal justice coursework, which allows you to analyze situations, look for small details, and gauge other people’s behavior - all of which are important for any criminal justice career.
Many courses in criminal justice programs require you to conduct research. The ability to collect and analyze information from multiple sources will be a daily need in your criminal justice career.
You’ll be presented with many complex problems and issues in your criminal justice studies. You’ll need to develop the ability to gauge those problems and generate practical solutions. Being a good problem solver is critical to many criminal justice careers, like working for law enforcement or in the legal field.
A great deal of your studies will be in digital form, so you’ll need computer literacy to be successful in your degree program. After graduation, you’ll likely need to learn new programs and procedures for using computers in your criminal justice workplace.
Working in criminal justice requires that you can put yourself in other people’s shoes and empathize with their situation. Your coursework in criminal justice will help you do just that.
How Much Can You Make With a Criminal Justice Degree?
How much you earn in criminal justice depends on many factors, including:
- Your level of education
- Your level of experience
- Your specific job
- Where you work
For example, the median yearly salary for law enforcement workers in 2021 was $61,190, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). However, if you’re just out of school with a bachelor's degree, you might make closer to $45,000. If you have a graduate degree and ten years of experience, you might make $80,000.
The type of job influences your income potential as well. For example, detectives and criminal investigators make $83,640 per year. Fish and game wardens make $60,730 per year. If you work as a probation officer, you can expect to earn about $60,250 per year. A correctional officer, on the other hand, makes around $47,920 per year.
What is the Job Outlook for Criminal Justice Careers?
The rate of growth for criminal justice careers is expected to be average or below average for the rest of the 2020s. Many of the careers noted above have an expected growth rate between 4-7 percent. However, some careers, like correctional officers and bailiffs, are expected to contract by about 7 percent in the coming years.
Generally speaking, criminal justice careers are expected to grow slowly because of a continued need of criminal justice professionals. Some criminal justice workers are leaving the field for other work while others are retiring from the field. This will keep some measure of job openings available.
Some fields are shrinking because of less demand. In the case of correctional officers, fewer are projected to be needed because of lower incarceration rates and higher rates of alternative interventions for offenders.
What Degrees are Similar to Criminal Justice?
If a criminal justice degree sounds interesting, but you aren’t sure it’s right for you, consider one of these closely related alternatives:
Focus your studies on the scientific application of forensics in criminal procedure. You’ll learn about criminal procedure, how to collect and store evidence, and how to conduct medical investigations. You’ll also learn how to analyze evidence like fingerprints and bullet striations.
Going to law school means you’ll focus on learning the ins and outs of criminal law, civil law, corporate law, torts, and other legal areas. You’ll learn how to develop sound arguments, how to communicate effectively, and how to draft legal documents as well.
A degree in sociology will help you understand why people behave the way they do, and what influence society has on individuals’ behavior. You’ll learn about concepts like groupthink, social pressure, and prejudice, and how each plays a part in impacting how people behave.
Like sociology, psychology degrees focuses on human behavior. The difference is that it’s the study of the individual’s behavior outside the context of society. You’ll explore topics related to nature vs nurture, behaviorism, the psychology of learning, and human development, among others.