Degree Issues~ Undecided about Bachelor Degree

Awww, Asherman, I just don't have the desire to placed within a partol car. Very few women in my area consider this role within the law, and those few that do, aren't taken seriously enough.



Thanks Freeduck, my husband says that I would do well with a law degree, I'm hard headed and don't back down. He thinks I would make a wonderful lawyer........



Thank you Lash!

Depends if you like arguing and winning arguments. The Latin terms are only names for constructs of arguments. They are tools for arguing effectively. You use logic and past precedents to win and that is what you are learning. Laws are only codes for proper behavior. It is tedious but once you mastered them, the world is your oyster. A Bachelor Degree in a non-profession gets you nowhere. You need a Master's Degree i.e. two more years after a Bachelor's.

I don't know about the part about getting you nowhere, as education has other import than career opportunity, and even limiting the value to that, I bet in some fields a baccalaureate is considered more useful than an A.A. degree, more than a high school diploma or an equivalency certificate. Yes, there are limitations re what you can do with a B.A. now, but making it through the venture has some value.

Some bright people can go far with only that high school certificate, and some will still be on the stupid side with advanced degrees. The latter are better for door opening much of the time. (The degrees, not the people..)

Never imagined I would say this, but Slappy and Asherman both have given you great advice--it's the Slappy/Ash combination that startles me. Forget anthropology unless you're willing to work for a Ph.D., and an archaeology degree less than a doctorate will get you no more than a ditch digger's license. A BA in sociology is a good GENERAL background and/or foundation for something in the human/social disciplines, perhaps social welfare.

MMS--

Consider being a juvenile probation officer assigned to the middle school or junior high.

Or perhaps something safer like a "bull" in a maximum security prison.

JL--

In Middle School, even in Junior Hi, you can make a difference.

You will find that even sociology is no cakewalk. Advanced Sociology uses a lot of Statistics. I took Sociology. If you saw some episodes of CSI or even Law & Order,you hear word like profile and percentile. They use Stastistics to locate a criminal by his profile and demographics. They use the profile to figure out his mode of operation, life style, habits and try to pin point or map out an area the location of his hideout and usual haunts. What is the likelihood of another crime spree.

Talk


HEHEHEHEHEHE.... I'm the Queen of debate in my neck of the woods. I will argue till I'm blue in the face, if..1. I can prove my point, 2. I can back it up with facts. If I can't, I keep my mouth shut, or find out what I'm talking about first.


Noddy

I keep swinging in that direction. Even if I stop my pursuit of a Bachelors in Criminal Justice, I'd still have my AA in CJ, with a Bachelor's in Sociology, I think that would make a nice mix of degrees.

JL

LOL, not quite "Bull" material. I have a cousin though that works for the prison down the road, she loves it. She's a walking boss. Absolutely loves her job.

JL

LOL, yea...that combination got me too. I was actually flattered that Slappy put alot thought into that post.

But...your right, I was grasping at straws, while researching degrees. But my thoughts on Archeology come from the fact that I'm in love with all things Native American, were big into artifacts and so on. I just thought I would never get bored with what might be around the next bend.

But realistically, those jobs are far and few inbetween.

Sociology...as I said earlier, mixed with the CJ...would give me a good background with working with juveniles....

OSSO

Your right...the way I look at it, whether this degree gets me anywhere career wise or not, I have worked hard to gain a higher education...so that makes me proud...proud of myself for obtaining it....Well, almost..I have a few months left.

Talk

Ummm, I have watched CSI once, and Law & Order..I used to watch, but haven't watched it in over two years....(I don't have time for tv much anymore)

I think that part of it I would find interesting, the statistics and so on.





I keep swaying back and forth on making a decision, I just want to decide on whats the best route to take for myself. I don't want to get into something and decide after its too late that I'm going to be miserable trying to get through it.

Ever since Asherman left his post the other day, I have had a different attitude towards CJ, I've lost some of my boredom with it, and I know when I get into the next set of classes I will completely loose my boredom because we pick up on the profiling and piecing together crimes....so right now, I have 4 weeks left in these two classes. YEAHHHH

I don't know when you people are just going to accept I possess Confucious-like wisdom. I be wicked smaht and stuff.

Popular television shows featuring profiling, like "Miami CSI", are greatly distorted and DO NOT represent what the job is like for most non-sworn evidence technicians (and thats the most common title). Television makes it seem that the uniformed police officers and detectives just provide the "harmony" to the evidence technician's song. Its the other way around. The sworn personnel are ALWAYS in charge of investigations, and technicians do what they're told to do. Most crimes, and crime scenes, are not "who done its", but are tediously documented merely to satisfy current courtroom requirements. Evidence techs do the dirty work, the Attorneys and sworn personnel get the dough, the glory and the promotions.

Ever spent a couple of hours in a closed room where a person died weeks earlier ... with the heater left on? There just isn't much glamour to the job, especially if you don't have advanced technical skills. How about autopsies? What sort of reaction would you have when required to treat the tortured body of a three year old like just another crime scene to document? These are not pleasant experiences, and believe me the people you would be working with will watch closely to see how well you stand up to the experiences. Can you operate a mass spectrometer, or type DNA? Most of that sort of work is farmed out to State and Federal labs where the work is done by Phds in chemistry and other advanced sciences. Even collecting fingerprint evidence from difficult environments requires very special training and years of experience.

You had mentioned that working as a Juvenile Probation Officer might suit you. That probably would call for at least a BA degree in Sociology, and preferably a Masters level degree (MSW). Even so there is no guarantee what your assignment would be on the job. Most are assigned to adult cases, and their workload is unbelievable. Its a wonder that any probationary or paroled criminal (and they are all convicted of something, usually a felony), gets even minimal supervision. Juveniles aren't the same today as they were back in the 1960s. Todays juvenile criminal is often an experienced and savvy manipulator of authority figures. There are pre-teens out their who are already well on their way to becoming career criminals. These are not nice people under the best of circumstances, and just how cooperative do expect them to be with a new parol/probation officer? You have to really, really have a finely tuned BS meter, because lies are far more common that truth to criminals. I've known some who could have dodged arrest by telling the truth, but chose instead to lie and go to jail. =

Professions in the Criminal Justice System aren't for everybody, and if later you find that it isn't for you then your BA in Criminal Justice won't even buy you a cup of coffee. Take a good solid foundation degree that is desirable in many fields, and then if you want to pursue Criminal Justice you will be just as well off as having a Criminal Justice degree. There are three allied systems: Law Enforcement, Court, and Penal Systems. In Law Enforcement (excepting the FBI where degrees in Law and Accounting are very desirable) everything is geared toward the sworn officer who starts in Patrol and only after years of experience will opportunities open up. To rise in the ranks is highly competitive, and most patrol officers never rise even to become sargeants. Without a Law degree the Court System is likewise difficult to enter, and for most is a dead-end job as a Clerk for a judge. The Penal System pays reasonably well, but the guards and other employees are "doing time" just like the criminals they "supervise". This can be dangerous work not only physically, but workers in the Criminal Justice System often struggle with psychological stresses far greater than in many other lines of work.

Er...excuse my ignorance, but what employment does a criminal justice degree actually equip you for? Sounds overall fascinating, despite ther Latin.


I think I am way late on this one, but sociology would most certainly not equip you to be a social worker...I think in the States a master's degree IN social work is the minimum, (moving to that here, too) of which sociology would form a part...with further clinical study if you wanted to be a specialist therapist?

Over here, a number of people do both social work AND law degrees (I think you have to do both fully, but probably get bits of status in one from the other......that has taken a few friends of mine into interesting work.....but it is a bit of study. Often people do one while working in the other field...just a thought...

Er...excuse my ignorance, but what employment does a criminal justice degree actually equip you for? Sounds overall fascinating, despite ther Latin.


I think I am way late on this one, but sociology would most certainly not equip you to be a social worker...I think in the States a master's degree IN social work is the minimum, (moving to that here, too) of which sociology would form a part...with further clinical study if you wanted to be a specialist therapist?

Over here, a number of people do both social work AND law degrees (I think you have to do both fully, but probably get bits of status in one from the other......that has taken a few friends of mine into interesting work.....but it is a bit of study. Often people do one while working in the other field...just a thought...

Dlowan, I'm not sure, but I think that in the U.S. a social work degree is ONLY given as a graduate--an M.A. or "professional"--degree. I assume that a B.A. in sociology would provide the "best" theoretical and factual background for that program of study. Unless, of course, one intends to earn a masters degree as a clinical-psychological social worker. In THAT case, a B.A., in psychology might provide the best fit.

Dlowan, I'm not sure, but I think that in the U.S. a social work degree is ONLY given as a graduate--an M.A. or "professional"--degree. I assume that a B.A. in sociology would provide the "best" theoretical and factual background for that program of study. Unless, of course, one intends to earn a masters degree as a clinical-psychological social worker. In THAT case, a B.A., in psychology might provide the best fit.

Unfortunately there is a "Social Work" major for undergraduates.

Once upon a time Education majors scored lowest on the SAT's. Now Social Work Majors do.

I've dealt with only two probation officers--and that was fifteen years ago--but my impression from those encounters and newspaper stories on hiring problems and turnover in the field suggest that perhaps the "paper" requirements for hiring are frequently waived.

Criminal Justice Degree

ATF Inspector
Bailiff Border
Patrol Agent
Chief Deputy
Child Welfare
Caseworker
Correction Counselor
Correction Officer
Court Administrator
Court Clerk
Court Reporter
Criminologist
Customs
Patrol Officer
Deputy Sheriff Deputy
U.S. Marshall Evidence Technician
Federal Protection Officer
Fingerprint Technician
Immigration Guard
Import Specialist
I.R.S. Agent
Law Clerk
Law Librarian
Lawyer
Legal Transcriber
Paralegal
Penologist
Police Detective
Police Dispatcher
Police Lieutenant
Police Officer
Polygraph Examiner
Postal Inspector
Probation Officer
Psychologist
Secret Service Officer
Serology Technician
Social Worker
Special Agent
Customs Special Agent
FBI
Teacher
Warden
Youth Counselor

Sociology Degree:

Employers:
Waste management firms
Health agencies
Local planning agencies
Environmental advocacy groups
National advocacy groups
Environmental periodicals
Federal government
Regional, state, and local agencies
Consulting firms
Correctional institutions
Court systems


Criminal Justice jobs w/Sociology Degree:
Corrections
Rehabilitation
Law Enforcement
Judiciary

HUMAN SERVICES:
Counseling
Advocacy
Mental Health Services
Social Services, including:
Administration
Programming
Recreation

BUSINESS:
Demography/Planning
Human Resources
Management
Sales
Advertising
Marketing
Consumer Research
Insurance
Real Estate
Personnel/Training
Administration

EDUCATION:
Teaching
Administration
Alumni Relations
Placement Offices
Research

SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH:
Market Research Analysis
Evaluation Research

Decades ago, my cousin worked as a social worker in Los Angeles, got the job with a BA in art. She didn't last very long, tough work. She married, raised a family, was for a while a teacher's aide, then got some certification in financial analysis, which was really a matter of getting her feet wet going back to school. In the nineties, she got a masters in Marriage and Family Counselling, an MFCC. She's very happy with her choice, has a busy practice. Besides her, a number of my friends and associates studied for the MFCC degree and license; some stayed with it, some didn't.

Depending on who you get as a teacher is important. The sociology prof had us mostly on a political debates. He gives us a scenario and asks for opinions. If that is not a perfect bait for politics I don't know what is. Not being socially conscious and ignorant of the problems of the state and hardly said anything. It ended up with a boot-strap versus state help argument for most of the course. I hated it as I did not sign up for a political debate but to learn about sociology. Of course that was in the texts but we were expected to read them but hardly discussed or shown documentaries or videos.

Wow! Interesting, thank you!

Never heard of such a degree over here.


I assume you would have to do further study for most of those jobs, or not?