Criminology vs Sociology

[Jewel]

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?

Edited January 11, 2011 by Jewel

[littlegirlvik]

I only applied to criminal justice / criminology programs, and I do consider myself a "criminologist," so take all of this with a grain of salt: I'm sure it's biased. The program I ended up in has a pretty strong emphasis on methodology/research etc., and a lot of our grads end up working in the government. I will say that criminologists have a harder time, from what I understand, getting into sociology programs than sociologists do in getting into crim programs (especially interdisciplinary ones). There's a sort of on going debate that sociologists "look down on" criminologists, and criminologists think sociologists view them as a sub field. I haven't had too much of an issue with this, personally (I'm at a very interdisciplinary program), but it is an issue to consider (and it is probably really overstated in the times I've heard of others talking about it). I've heard other people who study crime and went into sociology departments complain that they're "all alone," and much of the work they do is de-valued (we had a crim. sociologist apply to our program this year, and this was her main reason for wanting to make the transition to criminology).

May I ask what you majored in in undergrad? Have you taken a criminology course as well as a sociology crime and deviance course? As I"m sure you're seeing, there really is a lot of overlap between the two areas. For me, as a criminal justice researcher who has limited experience in sociology, one of the biggest advantages to the crim program is the amount of attention paid to SYSTEMS. I'm more interested in gender and the way the CJ system (police, courts, etc) respond to gendered violence. For me, a systems view was really important, and I really wanted to integrate social psychology, sociology, political science, organizational theories, and criminal justice, and for me, criminal justice was a good fit.

Anyway, this is getting long. The overall answer is that in my program, at least, a good number of students do end up the government, and do very well. We have alumni running the sociology department at Harvard, teaching at other top rate criminal justice program, and in top positions in the NIJ and CDC. There are two people on the market right now who are looking to go into the FBI and DEA. Our program has a strong focus on stats, and is considered a very quantitative program. We have multiple classes we take on research design and statistics, and students are very involved, very early, in research with professors.

I hope this helps, and if you have any other questions, just let me know. Good luck!

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?

[CriminologyStudent]

If you are sure Criminology is what you want to do then go into a Criminology-based program. I went to a Sociology program with the intentions of studying Criminology as an emphasis and I was sadly mistaken. The department only had one or two Criminologists and the Sociology faculty were absolute arrogant and completely unhelpful. After further research, I found that Criminology is breaking away from Sociology into its separate field. I would guess this transition will probably fully complete in the next 10-15 years or so. I would go ahead and join a Criminology-based program now and be on the leading edge. I ended up transferring within the University to a true Criminology program and couldn't be more happy. If you are wanting a government job, then the contacts you will make in a Criminology or Criminal Justice program will outweigh that in a Soc. Program 1000000:1. Also, government jobs do not look too highly on Sociology Departments because of how highly critical they are of law enforcement officers and policies (I know this from experience). Do your research on the faculty and the department and make your choice, that's the best advice I can offer.

[Jewel]

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?