Who gets a degree in Criminal Justice or Criminology?

If you are interested in: public policies and programs related to crime or justice; criminal or deviant behavior; theories of crime; how and why our society and other societies set up their criminal justice systems as they do; how individuals are processed through the criminal justice system; social justice; the limitations of the criminal justice system and the effects of reform in that system; or in legal, ecological, social, or psychological questions related to deviance, delinquency or criminality; you may want to explore a graduate degree in Criminology or in Criminal Justice.

Although doctoral degrees in criminology have been offered for over five decades in the U.S., and doctoral degrees in criminal justice for about three decades, it is still not unusual to find departments of criminal justice or criminology where faculty hold degrees in a wide range of fields: sociology, psychology, law, political science, history, geography, social work, anthropology, operations research, and statistics. The diversity of credentials of faculty in these fields reflects the inherently multi-disciplinary nature of both criminology and criminal justice degree programs. If you think you are interested in multi-disciplinary graduate training, and you are concerned about the issues described above, you may find a graduate program in criminal justice or criminology most rewarding.

Graduate students in these two fields are usually one of five types: (1) They already may be working in the criminal justice system in some capacity, or in non-governmental organizations linked to the system, and are hoping to advance their careers in their current organization. For entry- and mid-level personnel, an MA program usually suffices. For advanced mid-level and upper-level personnel with significant supervisory and program planning responsibilities, a doctoral degree may be needed. These students are usually older, and at least a couple of years past completing their BA or BS. (2) They are interested in public policy analysis or advocacy at the local, state, or federal level. They want to shape current and future programs, and/or advocate for a particular class of clients. If working at the local or state level, an MA usually suffices. If working at the national level, a doctorate is usually needed. These students may have entered a graduate program right out of undergraduate, may have had an undergraduate, policy-relevant internship, or may have worked for a period of time in a government agency or NGO or treatment delivery organization. (3) They want to teach at the community college or university level. A doctorate is usually needed if this is your goal. Some of these students have just completed their undergraduate degrees, some are older and are thinking about a second career in teaching. (4) They think that an MA or Ph.D in criminology or criminal justice will improve their chances of getting into a good law school. Although many folks do combine these fields with law, it is not necessarily true that these degrees will give you a "leg up" on getting into a good law school. Many of these students have just completed undergraduate work. (5) They want to go on and work in a research scientist capacity, and turn to criminal justice or criminology to learn about an important social problem and, more importantly, to acquire research-related and statistical skills that could be applied in market research, educational testing, or program evaluation settings.

Internships and jobs in the field are useful for determining whether you want to work in the field. Most undergraduate criminal justice programs offer excellent opportunities for internships in a wide range of local, state, and sometimes federal agencies. The agencies may be in policing, courts, probation or parole, corrections, drug and alcohol treatment centers, or criminal justice commissions at the local or state levels, for example, as well as a wide variety of non-governmental organizations.

What kind of undergraduate major is expected for these programs and are there other requirements?

Majors in criminal justice, sociology, psychology, political science are common, but most graduate programs are open to all majors in the social sciences (e.g. history, anthropology, women's studies, African-American studies,) and even the non-social sciences (e.g. French). Some foundation in statistics and/or mathematics is usually helpful. Although it is possible to find programs that only require qualitative analysis skills, your marketability is dramatically improved if you complete a program that provides you with a wide range of statistical and methodological skills. But you should not necessarily be scared off if your undergraduate statistical training was minimal or you want to pursue solely ethnographic research or post-modernist approaches. Certain programs assume a strong quantitative background. Others do not, and will make provisions to help you get "up to speed." What is expected depends on the department's overall ranking and their quantitative versus qualitative orientation. It is the case that the currently highest ranked programs are statistically and methodologically demanding. There are, however, some programs that are strong in qualitative but not quantitative skills, and some that are strong in both.

Other requirements: Undergraduate G.P.A. of 2.9+ overall, GRE (cutoffs vary by school); 3 strong letters of recommendation; writing samples.

What is the difference between a department of criminal justice and a department of criminology?

Criminology deals with theories on the causes of crime and delinquency at the individual, group, community and societal levels. In such programs faculty credentialled in sociology are often -- but not necessarily -- heavily represented. Criminal Justice emphasizes understanding the intersection between society, the criminal justice system, and the origins of and solutions to criminality, delinquency and offending. It tends to take a more comprehensive view of the discipline and is better suited to those who plan to work in the system or with a group that interfaces with the system. The latter programs may -- but not necessarily -- be stronger in areas such as research methods, evaluation design, evaluability assessment, and program assessment. Both types of program, if they are good, will define "crime" broadly and address issues of white collar and organized crime, as well as the more traditional "street" crimes.

There are two types of criminal justice programs. The first focuses mostly on nuts and bolts management issues and often has heavy enrollments from law enforcement officers. These programs usually have less rigorous requirements and are the most numerous. The second variant of criminal justice program is usually structured as a true liberal arts course of study, with classes emphasizing criminal justice as an empirical social science and the connections between law and society. Course work will include classes in theory, statistics and research methods. For a recent discussion of the role of criminal justice curricula within the liberal arts, see Flanagan, T. J. (2000) "Liberal education and the criminal justice major." Journal of Criminal Justice Education 11:1-14.

Within this second type of liberal arts oriented programs, you can find a further split. Some emphasize secondary data analysis while others emphasize primary data collection and analysis. See more below.

What type of degree can one get in the field and how is the degree used?

Professional or Executive MA: for those currently working in the system, usually at mid-level, and who anticipate advancing to higher leadership positions. See Type (1) above in "Who gets a degree...?" Applicants to these programs are often older students. The emphasis of the course of study is on linking course work and program projects to current organizational settings. Areas of concentration could be, for example, in policing, courts or corrections.

"Regular" MA or MS: for anyone - whether right out of college or working in the system. Individuals may or may not want to go for a doctorate. Time ranges from 1-3 years to acquire the degree. Some people go on to a Ph.D., others get jobs working in the system. Recent MA graduates from a local criminal justice program got positions as a psychometrician with the MCAT Board, and as a data analyst with a large marketing research firm.

Some MPA (Masters of Public Administration), DPA (Doctorate of Public Administration), MPP (Master of Public Policy) or DPP (Doctorate of Public Policy) offer specialties in criminal justice (e.g. The Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.) The most prestigious of these programs tend to have excellent cachet and are worth pursuing if you want to work in a political context or in high level, public policy organization or the federal government. On the other hand, public policy programs tend to provide less rigorous grounding in theories of crime, deviance and criminal justice; and also in research methods, evaluation techniques and statistical training. DPAs tend to be far less common than MPAs, and DPPs less common than MPPs.

Doctorate: for those planning an academic career of teaching and research and/or intending to work at a regional or national level research or evaluation or advocacy organization. People with doctorates also work at high-level positions in state government agencies (e.g. analysts for a state criminal justice commission). See types (2), (3), and (5) described above in "Who gets a degree…?"

Time ranges from 4-7 years to complete the degree, depending on a host of program and individual factors that are too numerous to list here. You want to be sure to inquire of the graduate program directors with whom you speak what time to completion is. Time to completion is a concern generally in the field, in part because advanced students are often heavily involved in teaching and or research projects, leaving them insufficient time for dissertation-related activities. At the same time beware of programs that move people through extremely fast, but fail to ground them sufficiently. There are doctoral programs out there moving through a lot of people in a short time. Time to completion also relates to primary vs. secondary data collection orientations. Although it may take you longer to complete a degree in a program that emphasizes primary data collection, you will probably have a stronger skill set when you complete the program.

You also can find doctorates in sociology with a specialty in criminology. There are a range of issues specific to such programs. The most important point is that your graduate experience will be very different than it would be if you completed a degree in a free-standing department devoted solely to criminology or criminal justice or both. Attend your local information session for more details.

How is the job market for individuals with training in the field?

The academic job market for individuals with degrees in the field is extremely good. Many doctoral students in respected programs take a long time to finish their degrees in part because they get hired before they complete their doctoral work. A local criminal justice program recently lost advanced graduate students to faculty positions at American University, University of South Carolina, and George Mason University (part-time); and to research positions at Abt Associates and the Bureau of Justice Statistics. An MA or a Ph.D. is a very useful employable credential at this time due to large undergraduate enrollments in the field.

In the system, policing, the courts and corrections (both institutional and community-based) are the most common areas of employment particularly for MA graduates. Careers are also possible in government, planning, public administration, research, teaching or community activism. In these areas it is usually hard to get into the system.

How do you research and evaluate criminology or criminal justice programs?

Some highly ranked programs include SUNY Albany (Criminal Justice); Rutgers Newark (Criminal Justice); the University of Maryland, Michigan State, Florida State (Criminology and Criminal Justice); University of California Irvine (Social Ecology). Programs which have not yet produced large numbers of doctoral degrees but are currently acknowledged to have extremely strong faculty include University of Missouri-St. Louis (Criminology and Criminal Justice), Temple University (Criminal Justice), and University of Cincinnati (Criminal Justice). Sometimes criminology programs are located in sociology departments (e.g., Penn State).

You can peruse recent issues of Journal of Criminal Justice Education for occasional articles on program productivity and rankings. Some scholars think such rankings are inherently problematic for a range of reasons, but it appears they will not go away. Rather than focusing exclusively on rankings, however, it is perhaps more useful to consider curriculum and training, the individual faculty whom you would be working with and their areas of specialization, and the structure of the program (schedule of comprehensive and area examinations, dissertation research and presentations, etc.). You also want to ask how well the program ties into local, state and national criminal justice systems. In addition, peruse recent issues of the leading journals in the field to see what research faculty are doing in what topic areas. Leading journals include Criminology, Journal of Quantitative Criminology, Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, and Justice Quarterly.

Some useful websites:

Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS)

American Society of Criminology (ASC)

AdviseNet: the Online Criminal Justice Advisor

PREPARED BY: Michele Elise Taillon-Taylor, Associate Director, Career Services, University of Pennsylvania & R. B. Taylor, Department of Criminal Justice, Temple University

DIRECT COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS TO: mett@pobox.upenn.edu