5 Critical Skills Required To Build A Career In Criminology

Humans are social animals and they get affected by their surroundings. There is a positive and negative impacts of society on individuals. If they get negatively impacted, they start developing a criminal mentality. To understand the reason behind start inculcating this negativity in their behavior, criminology is important. Now, you must be wondering what criminology is.  Looking from a social perspective, the study of crime is known as criminology. Criminology meaning the study of criminal behavior. It is a branch of sociology that deals with the scientific study of crime. 

What is Criminology?

There is a reason behind everything and that reason needs to be understood in a better way to understand the root cause. In the same way, it is important to understand the reason why anyone commits a crime. Analyzing the root cause for the mishappening is necessary for finding out a way to solve the problem. For understanding this root cause, the study of crime and criminal behavior needs to be practiced. Criminology's meaning is understood in multiple ways. It can be seen as part of a scientific study, human behavior study, social study, etc. If you know what is criminology then you will be able to understand the factors that instigate criminal behavior.

It not only studies the cause of criminal mentality but also finds treatment strategies that can be applied to deal with criminals as well as victims and bring improvement in their behavior. It is related to criminal justice but the two are not similar. Criminal justice is more about the implementation of systems that deal with crime. It includes the judicial system, improvement in prison and corrections systems, and law enforcement. On the other hand, criminology is more about the research and analysis of crime. It develops theories related to it.

5 Skills Required to Build a Career in Criminology

Criminology's meaning can be understood as the study of human behavior associated with criminal mentality, its causes, and prevention. For building a career in this field, you will need certain skills that will help you throughout your journey in the field.

Communication Skills

Communication is a key factor in any occupation. If you are not able to communicate with others, make them understand your opinion and able to understand theirs, then you will find it difficult to work properly. In this field too, your communication skill must be exceptional. Communication includes both writing and speaking skills. You must be good at both skills because you will have to deal with people from different backgrounds. Your message must get communicated effectively and efficiently. You will also need to work on research papers and analyze them. You may have to work on materials related to crime and its prevention, and conduct interviews to get information and educational programs for spreading awareness. So, your communication skill must be good or else your message will get misinterpreted.

Problem-Solving

If you want to build a career in this field then you must be a problem solver. You will be required to work on different cases and deal with different situations. For dealing with this your critical thinking skill is important. You will have to go through several pieces of data, and information and for analyzing the subject, you need to be analytical. The different cases and their findings will help you in forming theories and related solutions. This solution and theories will be applied by people of the criminal justice field. Hence, you need to be a problem solver to analyze the issue deeply and bring out the methods to solve it.

Knowledge

Knowledge is the key to success. Every field requires you to have a deep understanding of it. Your knowledge and experience in the field will help you in getting success. For building a career in the field of crime studies, you must have extensive knowledge of the law and the legal field. Understanding the legal and federal system is important because that will help you in developing theories, preventive measures, and legal implications of criminal activity. Along with the knowledge of the legal system, an understanding of ethics, and integrity will be important. If you want to build your career in this field, you must know what is wrong and right. Your instinct must be good.

Technological Knowledge

Technology has become a way of living and part of the day to day life. If you want to build your career in this field, you must be tech-savvy because you will be required to work on technical systems as a computer. For writing your research paper, conducting data analysis, and making reports, you will make use of computers, laptops, and other technical devices. If you don’t know about technology, you will not be able to complete your work properly. Being proficient in using technology is crucial for getting success in the field.

Get a Degree

For building a career in any field, a degree in a course related to that field is important. In this field too, you will be required to get a degree and complete your bachelor’s in this discipline. This will provide you with detailed knowledge of the field. For advanced studies, you can pursue your masters in the field. You can also go for studying law and make a career in forensic science and law. A bachelor’s and master’s degree will help you in reaching great heights in your career because of your deep knowledge of the field.

Conclusion 

Criminology includes several theories from classical, biological, sociological, and psychological backgrounds. These theories explain the meaning of criminal behavior, the factors causing this behavior, biological characteristics, and social factors associated with it. It also studies the frequency, type, causes, location, and consequences of crime. Criminal studies analyze the reaction of society, individuals, and government to crimes. If you feel you are good at communication, problem-solving, analysis, etc, you can surely build your career in this field. You must be able to understand crime and its causes. Also, if you feel you can form, develop, and implement criminal justice policies in action, you are the best fit for this field.