<p>My D wants to become a Homicide Detective someday and she wants to go to school out-of-state, mainly to get out of the Phoenix heat. What are the thoughts of double majoring in CJ and Psy? Doable or too difficult of a cross-over?</p>
<p>I'm not a big fan of CJ but she loves the subject. My main concern: What if she can't get into a police academy somewhere? CJ doesn't do much for her.</p>
<p>Thanks for the feedback.</p>
<p>Just my two cents, FWIW…
A CJ + psychology major is do-able, and there may be some overlap. It’s probably more common to see schools that offer a sociology major with a criminology track. I think it’s important that she have a realistic idea of psychology, though. I see posts on this forum from students who seem to think that they will learn to analyze the “criminal mind” or some such notions they get from watching too many police dramas on TV. Much of what one studies in psychology is not directly applicable to that area, or it involves clinical training that is not done at the undergraduate level. There are other areas, however, that are relevant: social psychology, abnormal psychology, psychology & law (e.g., eyewitness testimony, lying, etc). Some coursework on “criminal psychology” is more likely to be found in CJ departments, but it’s not a huge part of the overall major.</p>
<p>I think that’s probably true that a CJ major doesn’t offer too many options if she doesn’t get into law enforcement. If she doesn’t get into law enforcement, the best options might lie in a graduate or professional degree, e.g., a master’s in public policy, an MSW, grad school in psychology, law school, etc. There also are some relatively new tools that are being applied in police work with some success, such as GIS (geographic information systems).</p>
<p>Is there a list of schools that offer a Undergraduate/Masters combo? I’ve seen some schools offer them but didn’t know if a list existed. Thanks for the feedback.</p>
<p>^ Not that I’m aware of.</p>