What is a Criminologist?
In the criminal justice field, criminologists are the bookworms. They are the ones that try to figure out why crimes happen, the trends and frequency. They can use this trend to predict future crimes and events in criminal justice.
This is one of those criminal justice professions where a college degree is absolutely required. If you have extensive experience in policing or law enforcement, some the experience can help offset the education requirement.
The criminologists' main purpose is to master crime and the various things that lead to criminals committing crime. For this purpose, they must study and understand human behavior. They help shape public policy by advising the policy makers how their policy will impact society when it comes to law enforcement.
How to Become a Criminologist:
To become a criminologist, one needs to study Criminal Justice, or Sociology, or Psychology. At a minimum, you will need a bachelor’s degree in one of these majors. Those looking to do research or teach the profession, will need masters or doctorate degree in the above majors. You should prepare yourself to study such things as:
1. Criminal Behavior
2. Sociology of Law
4. Crime Prevention
5. Causes of Crime
The criminologist must be analytical and detail oriented. This will require knowledge of statistics. Statistics can help predict criminal behavior from incomplete information. Criminologists must also be able to write good reports. They need to be able to take what they found out and write a coherent report people can understand.
Those that qualify for this profession can expect to work for police departments or law enforcement agencies. These agencies can be local, state, or federal. In most cases, these agencies will require them to be licensed. It may be a good idea to check the licensing requirements of your state.
Because of the degree requirement, criminologists make good money. The ones with bachelors degree can make as much as $30,000.00 per year to start. The ones with masters degree can make as much as $55,000.00 per year as a starting salary. Those with PhD even make more.
If you are interested in the criminology profession, we recommend checking out the following schools. These schools offer degrees in Criminology and Criminal Justice, Psychology, and Sociology. You can request their free information by following the links. We encourage you to request all their free information to help you decide which one is best suited to your needs.
Request free Portland State University Online information
Request free AIU Online information
Request free Walden University information
Criminal Justice Careers