Types of jobs for a Criminal Justice degree
According to an article published on Indeed, criminal justice includes many types of majors and minors at many universities. Following are some of the vital jobs available in the criminal justice field.
- Behavioral specialist
- Corrections officer
- Law enforcement officer
- Paralegal
- Social worker
- Intelligence analyst
- Forensic scientist
- Criminal defense attorney
- Criminal psychologist
- Judge
1. Behavioral specialist
National average salary: $17.07 per hour
Primary duties: A behavioral specialist within criminal justice may work with youth at risk of criminal activity or other negative behavior. The specialist works with schools, community leaders, families and social workers to monitor and implement behavior strategies to help at-risk youth.
2. Corrections officer
National average salary: $33,415 per year
Primary duties: Correctional officers primarily serve in prison security roles. Duties within these roles include oversight of inmate activities and privileges, maintaining order and enforcing rules within jails and prisons and reporting on inmate conduct.
3. Law enforcement officer
National average salary: $48,008 per year
Primary duties: The primary duty of a law enforcement officer is to protect communities and property. Other duties required of law enforcement officers include patrolling neighborhoods, controlling traffic, responding to emergency calls, writing citations, arresting offenders and submitting incident reports.
4. Paralegal
National average salary: $50,179 per year
Primary duties: A paralegal’s duties typically encompass drafting and filing paperwork, researching caseloads, interviewing witnesses and defendants and building cases for defendants or against other individuals or groups.
5. Social worker
National average salary: $57,469 per year
Primary duties: A social worker might work together with local law enforcement agencies, behavior specialists and rehabilitation specialists to prevent criminal activity. However, not all social workers work in criminal justice, but those who do will frequently be required to perform these duties as well as others such as assisting families and victims of abuse, diagnosing behavioral and mental disorders and offer counseling for substance abuse.
6. Intelligence analyst
National average salary: $58,087 per year
Primary duties: An intelligence analyst duties include the collection and analysis of data to evaluate and identify patterns in criminal activity to aid law enforcement agencies in the prevention and reduction of crime
7. Forensic scientist
National average salary: $65,619 per year
Primary duties: Forensic scientists are responsible for collecting and analyzing the physical evidence of committed crimes. Oftentimes, forensic scientists operate with mobile tools and equipment and work with law enforcement agencies in solving crimes.
8. Criminal defense attorney
National average salary: $72,439 – $89,022 per year
Primary duties: Defense attorney responsibilities typically include defendant case management, arraignment, pretrial hearings and settlement conferences and attending court trials and hearings. Defense attorneys can work for a variety of organizations at the local, state or federal level.
9. Judge
National average salary: $87,849 per year
Primary duties: The primary function of a judge is to ensure the law is abided and carried out within the courtroom, as well as presiding over court cases. Judges are also responsible for making motion decisions, making rulings and instructing juries.
10. Criminal psychologist
National average salary: $85,383 – $96,529 per year
Primary duties: One of the most prominent responsibilities of criminal psychologists is criminal profiling. Other duties include aiding law enforcement in analyzing solving crimes, analyzing criminal behavior and oftentimes providing expert testimony in court cases.
