Life Imitating Art: CSI Ushers in a Rising Demand For Criminal Justice Degrees

Sometimes it seems like television is a reflection upon society. Script writers absorb our everyday doldrums and our wildest aspirations, glam them up, and project them on the screen in convenient by-the-hour segments. Sometimes, however, it works the other way around and society reflects television right back. That seems to be happening right now, as evidenced by an interesting trend in education.

According to OfficialSpin, students right now are flocking to schools like ITT Technical Institute for their formidable online criminal justice degrees. "This could be largely based upon the television shows such as Law and Order and the various CSI shows," says the article, and not without reason. NCIS, Cold Case, three different CSI editions and four different Law and Orders: it seems like every night there's another legal battle or forensics investigation underway on the smaller screen. It's no wonder that these shows have piqued the interest of many students unsure where they want to go in the future.

ITT Tech isn't the only school seeing more students interested in what they've seen on the screen. According to the Holland Sentinel, the University of Delaware has also seen "an influx of majors" to their criminal justice program in the wake of the crime programs. "It's wonderful advertising for the profession," says U of D associate professor Dr. Tammy Anderson, "but it also gives some false expectations."

This is something that professionals in the field know all too well. Vivienne Mee, profiled in Ireland's The Argus, graduated with a computer forensics degree and is now a leading expert in her field. While she admits that the shows are exciting and enjoyable, she has less to say about the realism: "'LIFE as a real life CSI isn't as glamorous as it looks on TV! ...I do watch those shows, and I have to laugh sometimes at how quickly they get results, it's certainly not like that in reality."

That said, criminal justice and forensics degrees and careers are quite exciting indeed... just not in the flashy, expertly framed way that shows like CSI might suggest. As long as students go in with the right expectations, there should be no disappointments.