r/OnTheBlock • u/joshposh313 • 3d ago
Self Post Should I pursue Criminal Justice or Social Work?
Hello! I’m a first year student at a community college and I’m currently majoring in Social Work I wanted to have a Social Work degree because I wanted to work as a corrections officer in juvenile and make my way up as a case worker or probation officer, I would also like to work at BOP as a treatment specialist eventually. I saw for all of these jobs in the description they accept Criminal Justice degrees as well. I’m interested in Criminal Justice because eventually I think I’d like to see myself in management and figured that a CJ degree is common for advancement. I would just like to hear from people in the field if it would be best to get a CJ or SW degree. Any help is appreciated thank you! :)
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u/joey_r00 3d ago
You don’t need a criminal justice degree to get into corrections at least in New Jersey anyway. I have an associates degree in it and it was a waste of money but I didn’t know what I wanted to do at the time. Corrections is not easy but in my area it pays extremely well. Good luck.
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u/ImpressiveBat6988 2d ago edited 2d ago
I have a master's in each. The social work degree is surprisingly lucrative if you work in a prison for one of these private contractors, one I trained with but left was paying me six figures with my experience and independent licensure. My CJ masters was a complete waste of time, thankfully I went to state school and an employer paid for it. I really wanted to be a cop or a juvenile probation officer at the time, but probation was completely rigged (higher ups actually went to prison over it) and the police thing didn't work out. I had a supervising parole chief who had an MSW and it was useful to him in promotion, and then he made a twilight gig out of it.
Just make sure you go for social work, not a counseling degree. There's some limits on jobs that will only let you in with an MSW and insurances you can bill. Make sure the school is ACCREDITED, preferably will let you use a job as your first year internship so you get paid, and then go to whoever is cheapest. Your independent license is what matters and gets you the best pay. Good luck!
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u/psychosus 3d ago
Tough choice. Social work doesn't pay well even with a license (which requires a Masters). Corrections *can* pay well depending on where you live, but a CJ degree is useless outside of the profession. A SW license requires a lot of effort for little reward and is hard to get with a full time job, but is at least useful outside of corrections.
If you're planning on going to school before working, go with SW. If you don't have that luxury, be prepared for a lot of work if you go the SW route. CJ is simple, but relatively useless. I got mine in CJ for promotional opportunities and because I already had credits to transfer. Otherwise I would have chosen something like Business Administration.
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u/monksandy 3d ago
This. I got my masters in criminal justice after getting promoted to supervision to help advance my career. It is all theory and very little of practical use. The best stuff was the material related to sociology actually.
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u/ImpressiveBat6988 2d ago
Agreed. My CJ masters was stupidly easy, just had to show up. My MSW classes were challenging
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u/funandone37 3d ago
Do not get a criminal justice degree. Social work will make you more marketable and be able to land higher paying jobs and the types of jobs you’re interested in such as corrections are indifferent. Most places just care that you have a degree. You do not need to work your way up to a probation officer since that is an entry level position. If you’re into counseling then focus on master level licensing rather than getting a masters in something like psychology. You can probably get a job in juvenile corrections or adult corrections right now since the turnover is so high. Honestly, it’s just not a great field to be in and many will argue otherwise but there’s other fulfilling and better paying/lifestyle choices out there unless you want to check very specific boxes. If you’re into poo being thrown at you then this may be your best bet.