A criminalist is a person with a background in science, typically having at least a baccalaureate degree in an area such as chemistry, biology, forensic science, or criminalistics. They study the science behind a crime, and find evidence that can link a person to the crime committed. Criminalists are employed at sheriffs' departments, crime laboratories, government agencies, medical examiners' offices, colleges and universities, private companies, and law enforcement agencies.
Criminology is an area of sociology that focuses on the study of crimes and their causes, effects, and social impact. It is the job of a criminologist to figure out why a criminal committed a crime, as well as, finding ways to prevent them from committing the crime again. Criminologists typically work at colleges and universities organizing and conducting research and teaching classes on corrections, juvenile justice, law enforcement administration, criminal ethnography, drug abuse and addiction, theoretical criminology, and other related courses.
One analyzes the crime, while the other analyzes the criminal.
The job of a criminalist doesn’t appeal to me. I am not the kind of person that can spend hours analyzing information. It seems like a cold, non-feeling type of job unless, of course, you are Abby from NCIS. Whether working for a private company investigating inside the company, or for the government, investigating for high profile cases, I would not want to spend my life analyzing data. Criminalists can work in small laboratories for small companies investigating fraud, or for the government investing crimes. Not all their work is in the lab, some is in the field. However, being a criminologist is more appealing. While still a demanding job, criminologists work more with people, not computers. I enjoy
