Criminology, Law, and Society

I know nothing about this field, but there may be some interest in the new online Master's degree in "Criminology, Law, and Society," offered by University of California Irvine for first time in 2002. For questions: [email protected] .

 

Interestingly enough, this seems to be a kissing cousin to sociology and many schools are deleting the sociology masters from their programs. Looks like some schools are working the criminology program in after the events of 9/11 as a cash cow. How sad!!!

And, really, what could you do with this degree that would make it financially worthwhile? Anyone know?

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Howard Rodgers

 

Perhaps if someone were already in the Corrections field it might buy them a promotion or a raise in pay.
Jack

 

Probably the same thing you would do with a regular Criminology/Criminal Justice degree, but the interdisciplinary nature might make it even more marketable.

If I was in the market for a Master's degree, I'd definitely consider this one. Studying Criminology and how it relates to Law & Society would be fascinating, IMO.


Bruce

 

More information: http://www.today.uci.edu/releases/104km01.html

 

Let me say from the outset that I apologize if this commentary offends anyone.

While getting an MBA or a doctorate may substantially increase one’s income, getting a degree in criminal justice is no guarantee of financial reward. So why bother pursuing criminal justice?



Initially, I avoided getting a bachelors degree in criminal justice out of contempt for the degree. I thought, ”If I leave police work, how am I going to enter the private sector with a degree in criminal justice? Who is going to respect that degree in the business world?” For this reason, I pursued a B.S. in business management and guess what that degree taught me? It made me realize that I want nothing to do with the business world!

Many of my cohorts have degrees in criminal justice and, when I ask them what they majored in, they roll their eyes into the back of their head and embarrassingly admit, ”criminal justice.” I was also told that the FBI doesn’t even want applicants who majored in criminal justice (unless that have a minimum of three years experience in police work). I was told that the FBI is looking for degrees in accounting (and the like) which would help to investigate white collar crimes. So why does criminal justice have such a bad rap?



A degree in criminal justice won’t necessarily open financial doors in the corporate world as a security director or whatever (unless you have prior experience in law enforcement). Additionally, I don’t think that any degree is going to guarantee advancement within a police agency because our advancement process is governed by so many other factors. So why bother pursuing a degree in criminal justice if it won’t make us rich?

I’ve decided to pursue a M.A. in criminology for the following reasons:
1. For personal enrichment
2. Because I work in that field and, as such, I think that it will be a little easier for me.
3. I want an M.A.

Yep, we’ll never get rich with degrees in criminal justice, but maybe we’ll be better equipped to serve the needs of our agency and the needs of our community. That’s my 2 cents worth.

 

If the value-worth measurement for college degrees was always based on fiscal gain for the student our colleges would look much different today! I believe the intent of graduate education is to expand horizons (develop specific knowledge) and develop academic "tool sets" in citical thinking and scholarly writing, to mention just a few.

In defense of the honor of UCI (which I have zero connection with) I distinctly recall seeing something on their proposed MA in Criminology, Law and Society long before the 9-11 tragedy... so this is NOT an instance of "cash cowing" from current events...

There is (I believe) a market for DL graduate programs in criminology/criminal justice. The first (and largest) prospective audience would be for professionals in the field. There are cash incentives for CJ professionals to possess a graduate degree in many police/sheriff's departments (although I have never seen limitations on the major).

I for one, although I am planning to retire soon, am interested in the UCI program simply out of allegiance to my chosen profession and the urge to enter into the research and public policy development world. One simple way of expressing why one might want a criminology degree is being a "good citizen." If more people knew more about criminology and criminal justice we would be able to clearly gain the attention of our legislators and influence the direction of our laws. Furthermore, if our legislators actually knew something about what they were writing laws on we might witness a different legislative response to crime.

OK... sorry about that... I'm off of my soap box now.

BruceP in Colorado Springs

 

The press release posted above is dated July 19.

 

The FBI has three tracks for Special Agent positions; Law, Accounting, and Diversified. Law requires a JD from an ABA school, Accounting requires a Bachelor's in accounting, or a Bachelor's in a related field plus CPA certification. Diversified requires a Bachelor's degree in any field, plus related work experience. The degree can be in Criminal Justice or in Ancient Babylonian Astrology, it doesn't matter. The FBI doesn't discriminate against CJ degrees.

As the other Bruce mentioned, if attaining a degree was decided on financial reward, there wouldn't be much of a market for degrees. I myself get a 25% increase for having a Master's degree in.....Criminal Justice.


Bruce

 

In Florida (my state), here is what you get:

Associates Degree: An extra $30 a month.
Bachelors Degree:An extra $80 a month.
Masters Degree: $0
Doctorate: $0

Personally, I believe that an Associates degree should be an entry-level requirement. It is on my department and it seems to have raised the caliber of officers that we’re getting.

 

Not only was this program announced long before 9-11, Degreeinfo has already had a thread on it.

To a Californian like me, the most interesting aspect of this is that it is apparently the first complete DL degree program offered by the University of California. The California State University system has been in DL for decades, but UC has held itself aloof. Hopefully this is indicative of a new attitude and will be followed by a great many more on-line degree programs from UC.

Since UC will soon have ten campuses, if each one only put 10% of its programs online, and if they avoided duplication, you would have the equivalent of a complete online university.

(The CSU system, with 23 campuses, could do it if each school only put 4% of its programs online.)

 

A friend of mine decided to go back to school to finish her undergrad in criminal justice because she was working as a legal secretary and it made a nice complement to her career. Of course, she went on to spend 16 years in the Air Force, but I believe the degree allowed her to be commissioned as an officer.

I could see the master's in criminal justice being useful to someone interested in obtaining a position as a paralegal, perhaps advancing from one as a legal secretary. From the press release previously mentioned, it also looks like the degree would be of value to anyone in a position to influence legislation relating to crime and/or the justice system. Come to think of it, providing the program can figure out a way to work around the one week campus orientation session, I'd predict this degree would be of high interest to incarcerated students who've already earned an undergraduate degree, providing of course they have access to the internet. (Some apparently do.)

But the notion that a master's-level program could be brought into existance in a mere three months shows a certain level of quaint naivete. I would estimate this has been in the approval process for at least 18 months, and possibly longer depending on a variety of factors. Will they benefit from the events of September 11th? Undoubtedly. Did the events of September 11th have any influence on the approval of the degree? Just a coincidence.

 

I guess that none of us entered the criminal justice profession to get rich... but we're not the only one's... Here's a prime example... the usual requirement to be a social worker is to have the M.S.W. ... and their pay is awful in comparision to the educational requirements and the job itself...

BruceP in Colorado Springs

 

What's with the strange degrees that universities are dreaming up... UCI is offering the M.A.S. (Master of Advanced Study) in Criminology (et al)?

This appears to be a technique to defferentiate between the in-resident degree and the DL degree... Very disappointing!

BruceP in Colorado Springs

 

Master of Advanced Study? Is there such a thing as a Master of Unadvanced Study?
Nosborne

 

Here's the URL of an article which explains the Master of Advanced Studies degree in general and lists the proposed programs by campus:
http://www.ucop.edu/acadinit/mas.html

And here's the URL of the U.C. Irvine M.A.S. program:
http://unex.uci.edu/distance/mas-cls/index.asp

Though the M.A.S in Criminology, Law and Society degree program (http://unex.uci.edu/distance/mas-cls/index.asp) offered by U.C. Irvine is a DL program, other M.A.S. program offerings are entirely residential. For example, the M.A.S. in Leadership in Healthcare Organizations program (http://www.extension.ucsd.edu/mas/index.html) offered by U.C. San Diego is entirely residential.

By way of disclosure, I am employed by U.C. San Diego in a computing support position.

Lowell Kinzer
[email protected]

 

From what Lowell Kinzer posted, it looks like UC Extension is moving into offering complete degree programs (good news), but also that it is using this weird new degree title to make sure that these extension degrees are distinguishable from regular UC degrees (bad news).

 

IMHO, the MAS(as opposed to the MA) would not significantly change the fact(affect perception by employers, etc) that the MAS in CLS is still a University of California (Irvine) degree.


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Sam C
www.uci.edu
UCI 2002
[email protected]
Confusion is just the path to insight and knowledge

 

The degree is offered by the UCSD School of Medicine Department of Family and Preventative Medicine in a partnership with UCSD Extension. UCSD confers the degree, not UCSD Extension.

The MAS is a new category of "regular" UC degree, it is not a University Extension degree. From the article UC to offer 'master of advanced study' degree:

Master of Advanced Study programs could be offered independently by UC academic departments or in partnership with University Extension. Regular UC faculty members will supervise the curriculum and conduct a significant portion of the instruction.

The MAS appears to offer working adults programs that have more practical application to their profession, and are more flexible, than traditional UC Masters programs.

Lowell Kinzer
[email protected]