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[sylvester37]

I am a sophomore in college and thought i for sure wanted to go to school for criminal justice but I am now beginning to second guess myself. I was leaning towards a career in probation but I am starting to think that this might be a very boring career and the most important thing in a career to me is doing something that I enjoy. The thought of being a law enforcement officer is also becoming less and less appealing to me and I am worried that after college I wont be able to find anything else and will be stuck in law enforcement. I find psychology classes to be extremely interesting so I am strongly considering double majoring or minoring with psych. I have many questions about this because I am really confused like many college students. So my questions are:
Do probation officers typically enjoy their jobs?
What kind of career options will open up with a psychology degree?

[jordi]

Well first off, if you have a passion for criminal justice, then you may like being a probation officer. However, it does have its Up's and Down's just like another job. But you're dealing with misdemeanors/convicts/felons which many of these people are NOT easy to deal with. If you like working with people and getting them where they need to be as a productive citizen, then maybe becoming a probation officer is for you. But it's not entirely for everyone.

Sometimes, students who major in Criminal Justice may want to work on the force, or do something on the administrative side of it. However, they end up being in the parole department for experience reasons.

Anyways, it does seem like you like Psychology.

I have a sister who intervenes and solve emotional/mental problems in families who need support from the state due to mental illness or socioeconomic status. Since Psychology is a broad field, you can do many things with this degree, however not necessarily high paying.

She has two jobs with her Psych degree- her first involves a client.
One of her clients involves a Romanian immigrant family in a rundown home. Since they are hoarders, its not the most pleasant place to be at, the mother is an on and off "prostitute" she works in her "home". Anyways, her children are two young high schoolers, and are suffering in this broken down home. As a Clinical Family Psychologist, her job is to assist the family in daily activities, help them cope with adjustments, make them involved in "lessons" such as cooking, learning how to clean the house. Her job is basically helping them get by their life. Since she is not there to help them for a lifetime, it is only short term; about a month.
Not all her clients are like this, there are some that are not hoarders, however the parents are not able to cope and deal with their "schizophrenic" and sexually active kids.

If you like psychology, then maybe you should go for it. It is a BROAD FIELD!

Not too mention, her other job;(has 2 jobs) she works for the city of Temecula and she is a Community Relations Director; her job is to raise awareness to the community of autistic children and children with disabilities and starting initiatives for the city to assist and be educated about autistic children. She also holds festivals, and community activities such as school programs directed in order for autistic kids or all kids with disabilities to be able to learn in a ever-changing environment.

You may like the Psychology field, its a VERY rewarding career, if you like to help people. The pay may not be great considering she gets paid $15-$18 an hour for both jobs each, however its her passion and she likes what she does.