Choosing the best path for your education and career is a big decision. Pursuing a degree in criminal justice offers plenty of professional and personal opportunities. While it can be a financially stable career, criminal justice can also be deeply rewarding and the start of an impactful journey. From safeguarding communities to upholding justice, there are a few key benefits of choosing to pursue a criminal justice degree.
What Is Criminal Justice?
Criminal justice is the study of institutions and systems designed to maintain social order, enforce laws, and administer justice. Those who work in criminal justice are tasked with preventing and responding to criminal behavior while protecting an individual’s rights through fairness and due process.
Why Major In Criminal Justice?
Unfortunately, crime is a part of our society. Therefore, it’s important to have members of the workforce with the skills to be able to deal with crime fairly. Those who choose to work in criminal justice strive to make society safer for all by deterring criminal behavior, holding offenders accountable, protecting the rights of the accused, and providing rehabilitation and reintegration options.
Fulfilling, Stable Careers
The criminal justice system is quite vast, encompassing many different career options. Graduates with a criminal justice degree can work in areas including:
- Law enforcement
- Corrections
- Courts
- Security
- Community policing
- Victim services
- Advocacy
- Intelligence analysis
- Homeland security
- Emergency management
Criminal justice also offers job stability because it is so essential to our society. There is a continuous need for professionals to work in these areas, even in times of economic downturn. Both government and private sector roles tend to come with competitive pay and benefits packages. These factors mean that criminal justice professionals often have more job opportunities available to them at a higher pay than other majors, especially right out of college.
Challenging, Rewarding Work
Criminal justice professionals have an exceptionally difficult job on their hands. However, there’s hardly ever a dull day in the industry. Every job in criminal justice demands workers to be on their toes and ready to put their best foot forward for the safety and betterment of society. The work may carry a lot of pressure, but it’s also often exciting, keeping professionals engaged and motivated. Graduates in the field acquire a very diverse skill set including psychology, effective communication, and research and data analysis. Those abilities are used continuously to decipher criminal behavior patterns, conduct investigations, and advocate for justice.
Opportunity to Inspire Change
Bringing forth meaningful change is anything but easy. It often requires someone to be in a position of power or influence. Those who work in the criminal justice system can initiate a profound, positive impact, whether it be in a singular community or on a broader scale. Criminal justice professionals play a vital role in influencing policies on local, state, and even federal levels to address some of society’s biggest issues.
Study Criminal Justice at Villa
Want to learn why criminal justice is a good major? Villa Maria College would love to give you more information about our newest program. To learn more about the program, including instructors, courses, and opportunities, visit www.villa.edu/academics/criminal-justice.
