Comparative criminal justice studies legal practices worldwide to gain insight into law enforcement practices and how they can be improved. The field is based on learning from past experiences and analyzing the legal systems of other countries. Experts are concerned with police forces, methods of punishment, and the type of political system. Graduates can pursue diverse careers, including international affairs.
Comparative criminal justice is a field where experts research legal practices around the world and make comparisons. Their goal is generally to gain a better understanding of law enforcement practices and how they can be changed for the better. Colleges offer specialized degrees in comparative criminal justice, and the careers available to graduates are usually quite diverse, including everything from teaching to analysis.
The entire field of comparative criminal justice is generally based on the idea that people should learn from past experience. If you analyze the legal systems of other countries in detail, you can see the results of various social experiments. Throughout history, people have tried many different legal approaches, and the effectiveness or lack of effectiveness of the different methods is often quite apparent. Being able to see real-life practical outcomes can often be much more enlightening than theorizing about the possible outcomes of different legal policies.
An example of how this might be used is the history of drug and alcohol prohibition laws around the world. If someone looked at the policies of many different countries, it would be possible to see the pros and cons of different approaches. This information could then be used to make better decisions about whether or not drug and alcohol restrictions are enforced in a particular country.
Experts working in comparative criminal justice are also concerned about other aspects of legal systems, such as police forces and methods of punishment. Much of what they learn is based on the idea that legal systems tend to evolve over time through a number of basic configurations. According to these ideas, societies generally start out with an informal set of laws and gradually become more restrictive or formalized.
The type of political system also plays an important role in determining how a legal system behaves. A society built around democracy and capitalism is likely to have a very different legal system from a theocracy with a monarchy or a socialist society with a dictator. Comparative criminal justice experts even have specific expectations for the most likely type of legal system in different government settings.
One of the major jobs available to people pursuing a comparative criminal justice degree is in international affairs. For example, they can help advise security personnel on the legal implications of operating in different cultures. Sometimes a subtle understanding of these issues is needed when making international security decisions.
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