Criminology or Law?

Parents Forum
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<p>Hello everyone! Someone suggested I post my questions here in this forum due to lack of responses in the Internship/Careers section. Thank you for your consideration!</p>

<p>Hello CC. I am having a hard time figuring out what I want to do post-undergrad. Currently I am a Junior at Beloit College and am a Sociology major. After taking a course on deviance, my interest in corporations--organizational deviance--has expanded dramatically. I'm thinking of going the route of white-collar crime, but I do not know which avenue to turn to. Criminology or law? Sure I have some time to think about it, but I'm in the process of looking for summer internships. I want to have something that gives me some in-depth experience into white-collar crime issues. I will be taking a Sociology of Law class next semester to get a feel for it, but at the moment I have no real knowledge of the mechanics of law, the criminal justice system or otherwise. My primary interest is focused on 'studying' white-collar crime, not prosecuting it.</p>

<p>For one, I am in love with research. I am by far no quantoid at heart (I loathe math, yet I have to take it next Fall and apply it in my career), but I want to see how all the pieces come together in the vein of organizational actions taken (e.g. what are the conditions that allow for the manifestation of organizational deviance). Secondly, I am not sure if law is my thing. Law school is, from what I have heard, extremely difficult (you literally have to have the passion for it). Being an attorney would not be something I would hope to be (I currently lack the public speaking skills and open argumentative logic for this, though I have heard that most attorney's rarely go to trial). At the same time, I do not want to be a professor, nor do I want to be a police officer. I want to work for a government agency though. Which option would be best? Go to grad school later on and go for Criminology or Sociology, or prepare for the LSAT and go for law?</p>

<p>As for internships...even though I am a sociology major, I am guessing it is possible to intern at a law office? I would try for the FBI, but it is extremely competitive, and their application process is closed as of last month. A government agency would be awesome to work with (yes, I want to avoid private corporations in general; this will probably limit my options however). Any suggestions?</p>

<p>Thanks so much! =]</p>

<p>-Ulrich </p>

<p>EDIT: </p>

<p>Considering all the fear and drawbacks to law school...it does not seem like a viable option for me (but who knows?). Again, I ultimately want to be a researcher. Write articles, reports, etc. Fraud investigation? Interesting...but I need an accounting degree for it, or develop my mathematical skills rather (my math is horrible, I mean horrible!).</p>

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<p>My advice, as always - do not go to law school if you do not want to practice law. The expense including loss of income are not worth it with the idea that you will be better prepared to do anything else. Law school doesn’t prepare you to practice law. It certainly doesn’t prepare you for anything else.</p>

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<p>I second not going for law unless you have the passion. For criminology, the math you need is statistics. With a master’s in criminology, you can get many types of jobs, including being an investigator for white collar crimes in the federal government. Don’t count out other departments than DOJ. White collar crime affects many different areas and so there are investigative units in a number of departments focusing on their particular type of white collar crime. For example, EPA would have investigators looking at environmental crimes while Securities and Exchange Commission regulates and investigates crimes in the stock exchanges and other financial exchanges. These are just a few examples.</p>

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<p>I am a lawyer who teaches criminal justice and your passion seems to lie in criminology, not law. You can do more with an advanced degree in criminology than you can in sociology.</p>

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<p>I see, I see. Thank you all for your responses! Just one question though for Cliffylove:</p>

<p>I thought that would be the best option, but I wondered quite a bit considering how much information one could learn in taking law classes. There are many laws which have been revised, cast aside, or instituted that allow corporations to implement certain actions and transactions (e.g. political contributions). It would be difficult to know of these specific acts without some pre-led knowledge. </p>

<p>In addition, another reason that I considered law was partly due to this article:</p>

<p>[Bill</a> Black?s Top Ten Ways to Crack Down on Corporate Financial Crime | CommonDreams.org](<a href=“http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/03/05-5]Bill”>http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/03/05-5)</p>

<p>To quote: "Ninety-five percent of criminologists study blue collar crime.</p>

<p>Five percent study white collar crime.</p>

<p>Of the tiny minority who study white collar crime, ninety five percent focus on the individuals who rip off the corporation.</p>

<p>We are left with a small handful of criminologists – think Edwin Sutherland, John Braithwaite, Gil Geis – who have studied or are studying – corporate crime."</p>

<p>I wholeheartedly agree with what this articles says; white-collar criminology is what Morkhiber and Weissman (1999) call an ‘academic Siberia.’ There is literally little to no analysis of white-collar crimes…but I am getting ahead of myself (and am looking too far ahead, probably). The point that I am trying to make is that, in terms of criminology, this field is very limited. What is the likelihood of getting a job in this area other than a police officer or professor? I respect these occupations wholeheartedly, but it is not the type of commitment I want (e.g. being away from my family, if I come to have one). Taking into account Military Mom’s post, I am strictly speaking of research (in an academic sense), though I have thought of the possibility of investigative work (you just have to know how to ‘follow the money’). </p>

<p>Plus, from what I have read from other people on this site (in other sections), criminology is ‘not very marketable’ (because everyone else has a degree in it too) apparently, compared to let’s say, an accounting degree. I want the breadth of knowledge that will allow me to pursue a fulfilling career, but I also need the credentials (the technicality of our modern bureaucratic system) to look good for future employers (especially since I want to work with the government). Anything dealing with finance, economics, etc. seems to be the more relevant of degrees for this field, considering it is ‘economic crime.’</p>

<p>Oh…and does anyone know much about think tanks? Are they good to work with (in lieu of political affiliations, of course)?</p>

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<p>If you are interested in learning some law, but aren’t sure about becoming a lawyer, perhaps you could train to be a paralegal? There are post-bachelor’s degree programs that take about 5 months to complete, at considerably lower expense than getting a law degree.</p>

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<p>If you are very serious about this career path, I think you should get a dual major in accounting. It could open up the internal audit track to you and be the most useful background for white collar crime.</p>

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<p>Ulrich - threre are three different tracks you can take. To investigate white collar crime -money laundering, Enron-type vodoo economics - you can go to law school and then work for the IRS, the Treasury Department, or the Department of Justice’s Asset Forfeiture Money Laundering Section - which are devoted to investigating and prosecuting the bad guys. Check out their websites.</p>

<p>Going into criminology for research, on the other hand, is studying a data set of informaion about how and why big corporate scams work and then publishing an article or two to help inform practitoners and scholars in the field. You may want to check out the Journal “Criminology” or go to the website of the American Society of Criminolgy, and tool around there to see what they do.</p>

<p>The third track is studiying criminal justice, which is the police officer track, but as you said, that’s not one you’re interested in.</p>

<p>I have to join others in the caution about law school. If you do not have passion for the law, a mere scholarly interest in it may not sustain you through the grueling, often competitive, and always expensive three years of law school. I always wanted to be a trial lawyer, so I had the juice to get me through. Just something to think about. </p>

<p>Check out the sites above and let me know what you think.</p>

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<p>@sacchi</p>

<p>I don’t think…that career path would work for me (sorry, just not my taste/interest).</p>

<p>@Neonzeus</p>

<p>Unfortunately, it is far too late for me to double major (besides…handling one major is difficult enough). If I had had everything laid out at the very start of my college career, I probably would have double majored in Sociology and Economics (if I knew I could do it), since there is no minor for either one offered at my school. We do not have an Accounting major either. </p>

<p>@Cliffylove</p>

<p>That may be a possibility…my step-aunt actually works for the Social Security Administration. I noticed on a google search that identity theft is one of the ‘fastest growing’ forms of white collar crime; it is particularly connected to the SSA in terms of identity creation as well. I was thinking of asking her about a possible internship for the summer as well.</p>

<p>As for criminology, yes, this is where my interests lie. Conducting research is my focal interest. I was actually thinking of joining the ASC…until I joined the ASA (associations are expensive, even for college students). My professor and second adviser at school is a criminologist. He would be able to direct me a great deal in this area.</p>

<p>Yeah…not much of one to ‘crack down’ on criminals…studying is more interesting (not to mention that police work can be extremely dangerous, especially if you work for the FBI or some other specialize agency).</p>

<p>Yes, I would have to agree. I have decided that it probably is not for me. I will just go for criminology, and branch off from there (I can always take classes in law at other times, probably). </p>

<p>As for the websites…yes, interesting stuff. I think the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) would be pretty awesome too. At the moment I have two goals ahead of me however…gain knowledge in economics (it helps that my girlfriend’s dad is an economist) and improve my math skills (which suffer terribly right now). Then I should be able to have a better grasp on things. </p>

<p>Thank you everyone for your comments though! They were all helpful! ^^</p>