Jewel

Same story here. I got an undergrad in Soc and wanted to see if getting a terminal MA would help me in terms of my career in public policy. (And as you know, finding a working sociologist with only an MA is near impossible.) My best friend knew just the person I should talk to. After trying to coordinate schedules through my friend for weeks, I finally met this person ...only to find out she had a degree in Social Work. Thanks a lot, best friend.

Thanks for the advice. Sounds like the trick is to find a well respected Sociology program with a Criminology track.

Thanks for the great advice. I am paying a lot of attention to the faculty interests in the sociology programs I'm applying to. What I am looking for is a good mix of criminology, deviance, applied policy work, social psychology, and sexuality. That's kind of a tough order to fill. I'm essentially interested in studying crime that is sexual in nature (statutory rape, prostitution, sex offenses) in the context of a community's views on sexuality. I'm particularly interested in how the social construct of sexuality may contribute to ineffective crime policy (i.e. sex offender registration). What I've found is that Criminology programs tend to be very heavy on justice policy and systems analysis (like you mentioned), but very light on the more philosophical areas of sociology that I'm interested in. Oppositely, most Sociology programs focus more on deviance than real world crime and policy. That's just what I've found, I may be wrong. LittleGirlVik, I graduated with a BA in Soc from UC Berkeley a few years ago and have since been working for a social science research company in DC. All my contracts are for the DOJ, so this is where my expertise is. (If you can even call 3 years of experience "expertise".) I am ready to increase my skill level in this field, but I also don't want to live in DC for the rest of my life. In fact I would like to move back to CA after graduating. This is where my whole fear of not being able to find work as a criminologist comes in. But as you two point out, it would be a mistake to go to a sociology program hoping to study crime and have no one support you. CriminologyStudent, can I ask where you went for your fist program and where you are now?

Hi there, I am applying to several Sociology and Criminology programs this year (both MA and Ph.D). I'm pretty sure I'll at least get accepted into some of these. I am starting to freak out about the marketability of a Sociology degree (with an emphasis in crime and deviance) vs a Criminology degree. Criminology is a relatively new field, and I'm worried that I am limiting my options by choosing it. With sociology, if the academia thing doesn't work out, at least I can get a job as a research analyst in the gov. or private sector. As far as I can tell, criminology has a much lower emphasis on methodology/research/surveying. Anyone have any experience/advice on this topic? Did anyone else have a backup plan if academia didn't work out?

Hi there, I am applying to several Sociology and Criminology programs this year (both MA and Ph.D). I'm pretty sure I'll at least get accepted into some of these. I am starting to freak out about the marketability of a Sociology degree (with an emphasis in crime and deviance) vs a Criminology degree. Criminology is a relatively new field, and I'm worried that I am limiting my options by choosing it. With sociology, if the academia thing doesn't work out, at least I can get a job as a research analyst in the gov. or private sector. As far as I can tell, criminology has a much lower emphasis on methodology/research/surveying. Anyone have any experience/advice on this topic? Did anyone else have a backup plan if academia didn't work out?