Abstract

The choice to pursue a career is an important and complicated task in one’s life.  The number of careers available may be considered endless.  Anxiety may start to plague college students as they approach these crucial decisions.  Many colleges, such as Le Moyne College, offer students with a great deal of opportunities to learn and understand more about careers that interest them.  Not only does the Careers Service Office offer aid to students, but Le Moyne offers an entire semester’s worth of knowledge in the form of a 3 credit course.  Soc/CJS200 equips students with many tools necessary in choosing the right career.  Required readings and activities accumulate into the knowledge to choose an appropriate profession.  This course has assisted in my decision to further research and become a juvenile corrections counselor.

            As I began my college career 5 years ago at the University of Buffalo I was sure that I wanted to pursue a career in child custody law.  As I took other courses my freshman year, I was introduced to a number of other career opportunities which led me to think twice about my decision.  I knew that I wanted to study either sociology or psychology because I find the study of people to be intriguing as stated in my autobiography written the first week of this course.  I also knew that I wanted to work with children.  By the time my sophomore year came around, I began to stress as I was aware of the many career opportunities yet not sure how to pick just one to focus on.  Much to my dismay, the University of Buffalo did little in assisting me with these decisions.   After arriving at Le Moyne College, however, I was quickly relieved to hear of the wonderful resources offered by the college such as the Office of Career Services.   I was introduced to a number of concentrations and majors that differed from my previous university as well. 

Through self reflection and activities completed in Barbara Peat’s Guide for Criminal Justice Majors, I have decided, quite surely, that I want to work as a counselor at a juvenile detention center.  After completing the activities in chapter 1 of Peat’s book, I realized a number of things in regards to the career I aspire to that I had never thought of before.  These aspects include whether my career choice aligns with my desires and values, as well as what my strengths and weaknesses are.  The completion of the chapter 1 Peat activities helped to clarify that juvenile corrections counseling is a perfect fit for me as I love children and really enjoy helping and motivating others.  This book, along with other assignments in the Careers 200 course, has offered me great insight into the career involving juvenile justice.   It has helped me realize that satisfaction to me is not a lot of money, but rather knowing that I was able to assist someone who really needed my help through knowledge obtained in my degree program. Concluding this course, my career goals seem to be similar to before yet a bit more specific than what I had expressed in my autobiography when I said, “I really enjoy working with children and am able to make strong connections with them. I am hoping at this point to become a child psychologist or a child advocate in some form. …In short I would like to apply my knowledge of people and society in a way that will assist children. However, despite my interest in children I really do not show any interest in becoming a teacher of any sorts.”  My decision simply evolved into to the specific field of juvenile corrections counseling.

RESPONSIBILITIES

There are many responsibilities involved with counseling in a Detention Center.  The main objective of a Juvenile Justice Counselor is assist in the rehabilitation of the juvenile through counseling.  There are different programs necessary to rehabilitate different children due to their offense.  Some forms of counseling may include, but are not limited to; behavioral and substance abuse counseling, and family counseling.  Due to the serious, criminal situation of these offenders they are often detained in detention centers (http://www.nyc.gov/html/doc/html/home/home.shtml Retrieved March 1, 2007).  As a result of this, counselors are responsible for the supervision of individuals or even groups of offenders at a time.  Juvenile Justice Counselors must be organized as well, as there is a great deal of paperwork that accompanies the occupation (http://www.nyc.gov/html/doc/html/home/home.shtml Retrieved March 1, 2007).  Among other things, counselors must be mature, empathetic and objective all at the same time in order to assist the offenders.  Counselors must be trustworthy and reliable.  It is often required that counselors work independently in settings such as Detention Centers however, counselors must also be able to work as part of a team (http://www.nyc.gov/html/doc/html/home/home.shtml Retrieved March 1, 2007).

In short counselors must be organized, caring, sympathetic yet objective, mature and reliable.  Counselors are responsible for handling sensitive subjects in the lives of the youth that they counsel, thus they must have the ability to gain the trust of the children.  At the same time a counselor must also be able to be firm when necessary.  The responsibilities of a juvenile corrections counselor are many, however they seem well worth it at the end of the day.

WORK SETTING

There are a number of places that a Juvenile Corrections counselor may work.  First, they may work in a detention center for troubled youth.  The detention center may be maximum or minimum security, depending on the severity of the crimes committed.  In a maximum security detention center the juveniles do not leave and are heavily restricted.  A counselor would perform their job at the detention center.   These types of detention centers are considered institutional.  A juvenile corrections officer may be employed at the county, city, state or federal level, as illustrated in Peat chart 4. 

A juvenile corrections officer is supervised by an administrator for the corrections facility that they are employed.  There are opportunities for counselors to advance in their career and become administrators, similar to similar to Helen Ramsey discussed in Stephen’s chapter 24 (Stephens 2002:109).  She holds the title of Youth Center Administrator for a pre-trial detention center. 

Another setting may be in Catholic organizations.  Many non-profit organizations exist that attempt to help troubled children.  The location of these facilities varies.  The work that is done here is for charitable reasons not for a salary.  Some organizations, such as the Boys and Girls Club offer positions that are paid as well as volunteer.  Despite where one is employed as a juvenile corrections counselor they are still earning gratification through their actions. 

EDUCATION

In order to become a certified counselor one must complete a few steps first.  These steps differ depending upon the actual job.  The absolute minimum requirement to become a counselor is 60 credits hours of college credits.  Personally I plan to further my education as much as possible, leaving me as prepared for my career as possible.  In order to obtain further qualifications first one must attend 4 years of undergraduate schooling.  Next one must, with the grades received in undergraduate work, enroll in and complete a Master’s program (Bittner 2007).  Master’s programs require that one is supervised in a clinical setting before they have received this accreditation.  Next one must obtain NYS Certification.  The process of obtaining certification and educational requirements for counselors takes about 6 years if all done consecutively (Bittner 2007). 

 

EARNINGS/CAREER ADVANCEMENT

Salaries are quite different for Juvenile Counselors depending on which area of the country they are working in.  There also tends to be salary discrepancies based upon qualifications and education.   There are also opportunities for career advancement in the Juvenile Counseling field.  Counselors have the opportunity for job growth in many facets.  One example of this is the option of becoming a supervisor of a detention facility (Stephens 2002:109).   

Through the Peat Job Announcement activity (3.3), I found that salaries tended to fall in a range of about $22,000-$35,000 per year.  For example, a job announcement for a Youth Re-Entry counselor at Eckerd Youth Alternatives in Florida pays a salary of $26,000-$32,000 per year depending on experience and education level.   As I searched for positions in administration at Juvenile Detention Centers I found pay increased to about $30,000-$50,000.  An example of this is located in Peat activity 3.3.  I recorded a job announcement for a Clinical Director at a Justice Resource Institute in Massachusetts that pays $46,500-$48,600 a year. 

On another note, there is the option to work pro-bono with charitable organizations or privately.  This decision means that the counselor will provide counseling services for a child, free of charge.  Many Catholic organizations provide these types of services all over the country.  At risk youth are taken in and offered assistance with no expectation of monetary retribution from them.  Despite where one is employed as a juvenile counselor, whether they are making $40,000 a year or offering services for next to nothing, they will always receive the benefit of satisfaction.

 

 

DIFFICULTIES/SATISFACTION

Counseling as a career in general, whether dealing with children, adults or families is accompanied by great feelings of satisfaction.  The idea of helping others is quite motivating and quite rewarding.  According to John Bittner, an elementary school counselor, “It leaves one feeling proud after helping a child in need.” (Bittner 2007).   Counseling at a Juvenile Corrections Center in the opinion of some is even more rewarding as they feel they are assisting to save these troubled children’s lives and assure they are successful adults.  The intervention of Juvenile Corrections Counselors, often through the court systems, into the lives of these children is often critical in the rehabilitation of the juvenile.

Although counselors may encounter great feelings of achievement and satisfaction, they are often left feeling frustrated and upset.  Though it would be nice, counseling is not always successful.  According to John Bittner, one of the difficulties he faces in his career is that of stubborn or ignorant parents.  John explains there are instances that it is clear that a child needs help; however legally there is little he can do in order to assist the child and their family (Bittner 2007).  The idea of helplessness to me is going to be a feeling I must get used to.  I cannot imagine a job that I cannot complete.  In certain situations I will have a duty to help a child, however the law will be hindering my ability to assist in the matter.  This seems as if it will cause me a great deal of frustration.

CRIMINOLOGICAL ASPECTS

Criminology is the scientific study of criminal behavior.  This includes the causes, nature, extent and control of crime (Siegel 2005:412). Juvenile Corrections Counselors are an aspect of control when it comes to crime.  Counselors attempt to assist the in the rehabilitation process of juvenile offenders.  In doing this they are working to control the crime that is committed by that offender.

 Corrections Counselors in my opinion also assist with studying the causes of crime.  Through counseling a counselor may be able to figure out just why a juvenile committed the act they chose, thus helping to prevent further offenses.  In understanding the reasoning behind juvenile criminal acts, the policies that must be in place to prevent such acts become clear.

The study of the nature of crime is included in the definition of criminology.  Thus I feel corrections counselors in a way study the nature of crime as well.  This is because a corrections counselor may encounter a variety of offenders.  The crimes committed by these juveniles can be evaluated to learn more about the current nature of juvenile crimes, for example, do they tend to be violent or theft oriented?

Corrections Counselors are also involved with the study the extent of crime.  A juvenile counselor may begin to encounter many offenders who have committed similar crimes.  Juvenile corrections officers may through this information be able to conclude that there is a tendency towards a specific type of crime.  This information may then be employed in order to evaluate the proper policies or crime control strategies that must be put into place.

In short, juvenile corrections counselors encounter crime and criminals on a daily basis.  They assist in rehabilitating juvenile offenders thus they are involved with the control of crime.  Juvenile Corrections counselors work face to face with juvenile offenders while they are at the facility.

 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

A career in juvenile corrections counseling is quite appealing to me.  A combination of activities in Barbara Peat, From College to Career, A Guide for Criminal Justice Majors, readings in Richard Stephens’ Careers in Criminal Justice, and further research have assured me that this is the career I would like to pursue.  The passages in Stephens’ book answered many of my questions about administration in the juvenile corrections field. 

Another resource that I utilized in making my career decision was the Peat book.  The activities that I completed in this book helped me to realize what to expect when searching for a job as well as certain paths one may take to meet requirements in their career of choice.  In chapter 1 of Barbara Peat’s book I discovered some of my strengths and weaknesses.  I realized I must work on certain weaknesses such as memory and organization.  The completion of chapter 1 also helped me to realize what exactly I am looking for in a career and what I feel will satisfy including salary and job location (Peat 2004: 22).  Chapter 3 of the Peat activity book was crucial to my decision making.  This chapter helped me understand a great deal about careers that I neglected to comprehend prior to completion of the activities.  Some of the information I learned from Peat activity 3.9 are illustrated as I stated, “I see myself in a steady, salaried job located at a juvenile detention center.  I hope to be in a large city or even Syracuse if I stay close to home.  Ideally, I would like to make $40,000+ a year.  I also would like to counsel young criminals.  I would like the opportunity for advancement in my career to some sort of administration position.  I am willing to re-locate for a career if required.”  The salary I desire, the location, and the opportunity of advancement are all aspects of juvenile corrections counseling that I had failed to consider before these activities.