Criminal Justice Degrees Attracting a New Type of Student

(ARA) - Historically, a post-secondary degree in criminal justice led to a career in law enforcement or security. While those careers remain popular, today's criminal justice graduates have a broader array of choices, particularly in social services.

"Criminal justice graduates are once again serving their communities in just about every facet of criminal justice and social work," says Catherine Mallozzi, director of career services for Florida Metropolitan University's Melbourne, Fla., campus. "They are becoming social workers whose job it is to protect children and families; helping storm victims put their lives back together; fighting identity theft from the front lines; and that's just the tip of the iceberg."

In Lisa DeAnda's case, a connection she made while doing volunteer work back in the late 1980s led her to a job in which a criminal justice degree came in handy. The 46-year-old Palm Bay, Fla., resident used to manage a doctor's office, but changed careers after discovering she got a lot more satisfaction from her job as a victim's advocate.

"While helping out at Brevard County's sexual assault victims' services, I met a supervisor for the witness management program at the State Attorney's Office. She asked if I'd be interested in coming to work for her department. I applied for the job and got it," says DeAnda.

While working as a witness manager, she went back to school for her associate's degree and eventually landed a job as a victim's advocate. When she decided to pursue a supervisory role in the department, she went back to school again, this time to earn her bachelor's degree in criminal justice from Florida Metropolitan University.

Among the areas she studied were catastrophic event response planning, criminal investigations, the juvenile justice system, domestic and international terrorism, ethics and liability. "The additional education really helped advance my career," says DeAnda. "It allowed me to develop an understanding of how everything worked within and beyond the system."

Today, DeAnda is a supervisor for Early Crisis Intervention at the State Attorney's Office. She supervises two advocates who work with domestic violence victims, and does advocacy work for victims of violent crime and homicides. "My goal is to eventually go back to school to earn a master's degree so I can teach," says DeAnda. "I love helping people."

And it seems that a lot of other people do too. The U.S. Department of Labor expects a dramatic increase in the number of service sector jobs in the coming years. Between 2004 and 2014, demand for social workers is expected to increase by 18 to 26 percent. During the same time period, the number of jobs for police and detectives is projected to increase by 9 to 17 percent.

"We've seen a significant increase in the number of students entering our criminal justice programs over the past few years, and given the career opportunities, that trend is likely to continue," says Steve Ripple, the criminal justice academic program director at Everest College in Phoenix, Ariz. "Many students come into our programs knowing exactly what they want, while others solidify their direction during the course of their studies. No matter which criminal justice career our students choose, they all have the chance to make a positive difference in society."

To learn more about the criminal justice programs offered at Florida Metropolitan University, log on to www.fmu.edu. Information about similar programs offered at Everest College can be found at www.everest.edu. The schools are part of Corinthian Colleges, Inc., one of the largest providers of post-secondary education and training in North America.

Courtesy of ARAcontent