Possible Career Path for a Masters in Criminal Justice Holder

Getting your master’s in criminal justice will open the door to several employment opportunities and career growth when it comes to the field of criminal justice.

With several types of crimes being committed daily, it isn’t surprising to see that there are several opportunities available to you in this field. Visit https://www.statista.com/ to see a chart of different types of crime and their rates.

While the job opportunities are several, having a master’s degree will further widen your opportunities. Leadership positions in police departments are only one of the few doors open to you with this degree. Other exciting positions in several areas like emergency management, security, forensics, and criminal investigation are equally available.

Because of how wide the scope of roles available is finding the right role that fits your skills, salary goals, and interest shouldn’t be an issue. Below are some roles you can fit into with your MCJ.

1. Supervisor of Correctional Officers

Just as the name implies, this role involves supervising correctional officers. Hence, if you choose to hold this position, you would work in a parole department where parole or probation of past offenders is being supervised by correctional officers. You may similarly work in a correctional facility where incarcerated offenders are being supervised by correctional officers.

When serving in this role, you would be in charge of assigning caseloads and tasks to your subordinates. This is to ensure that the welfare and safety of the officers, the general public, and even offenders are maintained.

If you are working in a smaller department, then your functions may be more than that of a person working in a bigger department or institution.

2. Forensic Psychologist

This role is not to be confused with criminal profiler as a forensic psychologist typically doesn’t do profiling. Instead, if you choose to work in this position, you would be working in a legal unit. Your duty would involve assessing convicted or suspected criminals as well as promoting and understanding their mental health with treatments.

A forensic psychologist will determine if the accused can face trial. They also evaluate insanity and make recommendations post-incarceration depending on the risk assessed.

According to the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics, they can earn an average of 82,180 dollars annually. You may check here to find out more about this. This figure often varies based on certain factors like what industry you are working in. Typically, psychologists that are working in government earn the highest, which could be about 94,910 dollars annually.

3. Criminal Profiler

This role falls under the forensic science field. Here, you would need to evaluate the on-hand evidence and then give a profile of the offender.

This is because a theory states that insights into people’s personalities can be gotten by evaluating behavior.

When evidence gotten from the crime scene is analyzed via reasoning, logic, and scientific methods, information about the criminal could be hypothesized. The information which could be determined includes appearance, age, and even education.

With the information, the investigators on the case would be able to focus on suspects most likely to have committed the crime. They would also be able to decide on which method(s) would be best to apprehend the offender.

If you hold this position, you could also help to figure out if the crime scene was tampered with or staged. You can also help reconstruct crimes if needed afterward. Additionally, criminal profilers can discover possible crime motives even before the offender is identified.

4. Criminologist

A criminologist is not to be confused with criminal investigators. A criminologist typically studies crime as well as its causes so they can give law enforcement recommendations needed for public policies.

These recommendations often center on crime response or causes and the nature of crimes. Therefore, criminology is fast developing into its particular field under social sciences. However, they also make use of theories and insights gotten from other fields like environmental science, sociology, and psychology.

This way, they can focus on not just crime sectors or individual criminals but also crimes as it concerns a whole society. If you choose this career path, then you can choose either field works, or work in research settings.

In research settings, your job will include compiling interviews, getting information, and making statistical reports so a particular part of crime can be better understood. Also, effective methods to address it can be developed.

If you choose to use your masters in criminal justice to get this role, then you can work in several types of agencies and organizations. This includes law enforcement and even academia.

Conclusion

Getting your master’s in criminal justice is a sure-proof way to widen your job opportunities in the criminal justice field. With this degree, you can work in almost any section from emergency management to forensics, security, and criminal investigation. You can also fit into several roles (some of which have been discussed in this article) in these sectors.