Criminology is an interdisciplinary field that studies crimes and criminal behaviour. You study the reasons why a crime occurs, what events lead to the same, and what preventive measures people can take to mitigate those crimes. Every developed country relies on the expertise of criminologists to combat their rising crime rates. Even though it’s a relatively new field in India, it is among the most significant fields due to its applicability.  If you’re interested in a career where you study criminals, conduct research and analyses, and figure out how you can prevent their crimes, then you should pursue a career in criminology. Checkout upGrad’s Free Courses Online. This article will discuss the best criminology courses in India to help you identify the right choice for you! Top Online Criminology Courses in India At upGrad, we offer several criminology courses in partnership with the University of Essex. The University of Essex is a UK-based university and has a stark reputation for providing quality education.  All of the courses we have discussed below are online. This means you can study from anywhere at any time according to your leisure. With these online courses, you don’t have to go anywhere to study your subjects. Online learning also ensures that your professional life doesn’t face any interruptions. The courses allow you to study from leading industry experts through videos and lectures. You’ll study all the fundamental and advanced concepts of this vast subject. The teaching approach helps you learn in a structured manner. These courses provide you access to upGrad’s exclusive student success corner which helps you prepare for interviews and get placement support to bag lucrative roles in your chosen field.  Now that you know the advantages of our criminology courses, let’s discuss them in detail. Specialized Criminology Courses If you want to specialize in criminology and learn all the ins and outs of this field, then you should take the following courses. They cover all the fundamental and complex topics of this field, allowing you to become a skilled criminologist.  1. PG Certificate Criminology and Criminal Psychology This course lasts for eight months and lets you learn from the University of Essex’s Centre for Criminology. You’ll learn how to hypothesize and solve criminology problems.  You get to study the various challenges you might face during your studies and how to apply theoretical concepts to real-life situations and solve such problems. It is among the best criminology courses for studying the fundamentals of this subject.  2. PG Diploma Criminology and Criminal Psychology This 16-month course gives you a detailed look at criminology’s various concepts. The modules for this course are designed by a former Detective Chief Superintendent from the Homicide and Major Enquiries Team in one of the UK’s top police forces. It will help you understand the psychology of criminals and try to predict their behaviours to aid investigations. This course teaches you how to examine different perspectives on gender, class, race, and sex within the criminal justice system. You’d get to study the different kinds of offences so you can understand their unique characteristics and how to differentiate them.  This course gives you a more detailed studying experience and helps you understand plenty of criminology and criminal psychology concepts.  3. MSc Criminology and Criminal Psychology This 2-year course is specifically beneficial for students who want to pursue senior careers in criminology. You’d get to study the basic and advanced concepts of criminal psychology and criminology while understanding how to lead tough investigations, make rational decisions, and reasoned arguments.  The course will make you acquainted with the various criminal justice departments including justice, prison, and police. Apart from teaching you about the justice department, this course helps you understand the applications of psychology in criminology and how you can deal with the existing and arising challenges of this field.  Like the previous two courses, this one lets you study from the University of Essex’s Centre for Criminology through leading experts in criminology.  Also Read: Psychology vs Psychiatry  Criminology Courses in Law As we have discussed earlier, criminology has multiple branches. The following courses focus on the legal branch of criminology. The following are perfect courses for students who want to pursue a career in criminal law:  4. Certificate of Higher Education Law with Criminology This 16-month course teaches you the fundamental concepts of criminology and law. You’d study the psychological, criminological, sociological, and biological explanations of crime while developing a legal perspective on the same.  This is equivalent to the first level of undergraduate study and it’s certainly one of the best criminology courses for those interested in pursuing a legal career. After completing this course, you can pursue many careers in criminal law including paralegal, assistant, etc.  5. LLB (Hons) Law with Criminology This course helps you study law with criminology, giving you a combined perspective into the various aspects of criminal law. It’s a four-year program and it teaches you all the concepts of law and criminology.  By the end of this course, you’d be a lawyer specialized in criminology.  This specialization allows you to pursue senior roles in criminal law. You can become a public prosecutor or start pursuing a career in defence law after completing this course.  Criminology complements the legal topics and is a useful specialization for those interested in entering the field of criminal justice and crime. You can also pursue careers in journalism, politics, a criminal investigation, and business after this course.  Criminology Courses in Psychology Are you interested in understanding how a criminal’s mind works in detail? If so, then the following criminology courses in psychology would be suitable for you. These courses cover the psychological branch of criminology helping you understand why a criminal commits crimes.  6. Certificate of Higher Education Criminal Psychology If you want to get familiar with the fundamentals of criminal psychology and what goes on within a criminal’s mind, you should get our Certificate of Higher Education Criminal Psychology.  This course will cover the core principles of criminology and psychological theories while uncovering the relationship between the two. You’d get to study the history, progress, and limitations of criminal psychology.  You can modify your learning experience by choosing from multiple optional modules according to your interests and aspirations. This course lasts only for 16 months and is certainly one of the top online criminology courses in India.  7. BSc (Hons) Criminal Psychology This course will throw light on the psychological aspect of criminology. You’ll study what prompts a person to commit certain crimes and what goes on in a criminal’s mind. This course will teach you about various psychological and criminological topics including offender rehabilitation, risk management, and offender profiling.  You’d study the importance of evidence-based practise and how to integrate psychological theory with criminological subjects to understand and prevent offending behaviour. This program lasts for four years and makes you familiar with the advanced concepts of psychological criminology. After completing this course, you can pursue a career in forensic psychology, criminal psychology, and plenty of relevant fields.  Conclusion Picking the right course can be quite challenging. Before you select a course, we recommend going through a set of questions to get an idea of what you want from your career: What kind of job do I want? How much does money matter for my career? Where do I see myself 10 years in the future? By answering such questions, you can easily figure out your professional aspirations and interests. You should choose a career that matches your professional aspirations as progressing in that field would be much easier for you.  If you have any questions or thoughts about the top online criminology courses we discussed in this article, please share them in the comment section below.  The best pathway to establishing a solid foundation in Psychology is to take up courses or programs in this domain. While you can opt for traditional undergraduate courses, you can also opt for diploma or certification programs in Psychology. For instance, upGrad has partnered with the University of Essex Online to deliver a host of excellent choices in Psychology. Featured program for you:

Criminology is a relatively new field in India. The rising threat of terrorism and the increasing crime rates have exponentially increased the demand for criminology experts in India. Organizations look forward to their expertise and skills to combat potential threats and crimes.  If you’re interested in fighting crimes and make the society a better place, pursuing a career in criminology would be perfect for you. It’s also an excellent career choice for those who want to understand how a criminal’s mind works.  This article will tell you about the average criminology salary in India and how you can earn the top criminology salary in India. Now, without further ado, let’s get started:  Criminology Salary in India: What is Criminology and Why it’s Necessary Criminology refers to the study of crime and deviant behaviour. It is an interdisciplinary subject in social and behavioural sciences that focuses on examining criminals to understand why they commit crimes, the impact of their crimes, and what can be done to prevent them.  It is a branch of Sociology that primarily studies human behaviour, organization, and interaction. Being an interdisciplinary field, it combines many concepts of other fields including biology, philosophy, psychology, and anthropology.  Criminology aims to find the root causes of criminal behaviour and create solutions that prevent them. There are many sub-branches in this field such as the biological branch, classical branch, psychological branch, and the sociological branch. The crime rate in India is significantly high. In 2018, the crime rate for total cognizable IPC crimes per lakh was 236.7, which is certainly high. As criminologists specialize in mitigating crimes, their expertise would certainly be useful for a populous country like India.  Criminology Salary in India: Based on Job Roles The following are some of the most prominent careers you can pursue in criminology. They all require you to have a bachelor’s degree or certification in criminology. Let’s discuss the average criminology salary in India of various roles to understand how well-paying this field is: 1. Crime Analyst Salary in India Job Description Crime analysts analyze evidence, perform laboratory analyses and conduct research for crime investigations. They collect body fluids, fingerprints, and items that can be processed in a laboratory for evidence.   As a crime analyst, you’d have to follow strict guidelines while collecting and processing evidence. This job requires you to work with a computer most of the time to manage all the important information so a little technical proficiency is imperative for this role. You’d be responsible for analyzing criminal activity in a specific region and search for information in the statistics and maps to generate helpful insights. This role requires strong analytical and problem-solving skills. Apart from those skills, you’d also need effective communication skills as you’d have to share valuable insights with fellow professionals including analysts, scientists, criminologists, and law enforcers.  As a crime analyst, you’d be working with statistics to identify crime patterns that can help prevent future crimes.  Average Salary The average pay of a crime analyst in India is INR 5.2 lakh per annum. As you’ll gain experience and enhance your skills, your pay in this field would increase accordingly.  2. Criminologist Salary in India Job Description A criminologist is a specialized scientist who analyses and learns about criminal behaviour and activities. They work with law enforcement agencies, universities, and social psychology labs and help them conduct research.  As a criminologist, you’d be investigating crimes but not individually. You’d be focused on figuring out why or how criminals behave the way they do to help police and investigative agencies find the assailants and prevent such crime patterns.  Criminologists assist the government in reducing crime rates by suggesting solutions to prevent lawless activities. You’d have to gather data, analyze it and gather insights from the same.  You might also interact with criminals directly through interviews to create the psychological profile of those people. This role would require you to interact with law enforcement agencies regularly to get the necessary data.  Average Salary A criminologist earns INR 3 lakh per annum on average in India. With experience, your pay in this field can go up to INR 10 lakh per annum. 3. Criminology Professor Salary in India Job Description If you have a knack for teaching and academics, then you can pursue a career as a criminology professor. As a criminology professor, you’d be responsible for conducting research on the subject and teaching students about the field.  You’d need strong communication skills as you’d have to explain advanced concepts in a simple language for the ease of understanding of students. This role requires you to provide a proper learning experience to the students and encourage them to develop an inquisitive mindset. Apart from teaching students, you’d also have to conduct research and publish papers. That’s why this field requires strong writing skills. You should know how to convey your thoughts and ideas in the academic language easily.  Average Salary The average pay of a professor in India is INR 2.58 lakh per year. However, as you gain experience, you can expect to earn up to 18 lakh per year. This is certainly an excellent field if you want to earn the top criminology salary in India.  4. Forensic Psychologist Salary in India Job Description Forensic psychologists are responsible for evaluating the mental competence of criminals during trials and diagnose mental disorders or illnesses. As a forensic psychologist, you’d be responsible for studying various crimes for profiling a criminal and helping the law enforcement agencies in catching the same.  You’d also be responsible for making recommendations for sentence length for guilty culprits and determine whether the culprit requires mental treatment or not. You’d be interviewing patients, gathering and analyzing information, and conducting background checks to understand the motivations behind their actions. Forensic psychologists collect and analyze data to help law enforcement agencies take the necessary preventive measures and mitigate the crimes. Apart from a detailed knowledge of criminal psychology, this field also requires strong interpersonal skills as you’d be working with lawyers, psychiatrists, consultants, etc.  Average Salary The average pay of a forensic psychologist in India is INR 4 lakh per annum. Freshers in this field can earn around INR 1.25 lakh per annum however, experienced forensic psychologists can make up to INR 30 lakh per annum. How to Enter this Field and Earn Top Criminology Salary in India Even though criminology is a relatively new field, it offers a ton of unique career opportunities. From the forensic sciences to teaching, there are various job profiles present in this niche sector.  To pursue a career in criminology, you’ll need to complete a criminology course. Taking a course will help you learn all the basic and advanced concepts of criminology and criminal psychology while providing you with the necessary certification to apply for job roles in this industry.  Conclusion If you have a knack for understanding the human mind and the passion to create a safer space for people, then pursuing a career in criminology would be perfect for you. Since this field is quite new, there aren’t many qualified and skilled criminologists around. This is precisely why you can easily bag high-paying roles in this industry. If you know someone who might find this article useful, please share it with them. It would help them in making an informed decision regarding their career and get rid of doubts.