The Overview of a Forensic Psychologist

Nature of Work:  Forensic psychology is the mental study and human behavior by observing, interpreting and recording of how people relate to the environment through law.  Forensic Psychologists use psychological principles in the legal and criminal system to help judges, attorneys and other legal professionals understand the psychological findings of a particular case. They can specialize in one of three areas of study. One can be in family court where child custody evaluations are investigated and reports of child abuse. Another area of study could be in civil courts. They could investigate assess competency and provide psychotherapy to crime victims.  The last area is within the criminal court where they may work with child witnesses and provide assessment of juvenile or adult offenders.

Requirements:  A doctorate degree in psychology is recommended.  To have psychology bachelor’s degree is not a required major. The college studies should include experimental psychology, developmental psychology, abnormal psychology and forensic psychology. Classes in statistics, English, foreign language and history to complete a strong liberal arts education.  A minor in law is also needed. A doctorate degree takes between four to seven years to complete after a bachelor’s degree.  Psychologists do not need to attend medical or law school.

Earnings: There are conditions that affect salaries such as the person’s level of education, professional experience and location. Salary can range from as little as 37,900 to 64,140 to as high as 106,840 or more.

Work Environment and Skills needed: They have a structured schedule. Psychologist should be analytical, details oriented and have strong math and writing skills. They should also be a people’s person, have good communication skills, and listening skills.

Certification or Licensing: The American Board of Professional Psychology offers voluntary specialty certifications. For licensing, certain states require certain certifications and licensing. You will need to check with your state’s licensing board for specific information.

http://stats.bls.gov/oco/ocos056.htm

Offender Profiling

Forensic psychology takes many forms one of them being offender profiling. There are two different stlyes of offender profiling American and British. The British style was originally developed by David Canter who used it in order to aid the police in their investigation of the Railway Rapist who later became known as the Railway Killer and eventually apprehend the perpetrator John Duffy. Whereas, the American style was developed by the FBI and is used by their behavioural analysis unit to solve many cases. The British style is centred around the individual so is therefore only specific to a particular case hence, the profile developed cannot be generalised to other crimes of a similar nature. But, the American style is focused on assigning specific characteristics relevent to all of the individuals that commit a specific crime. This techniques was first devloped in 1972 by Howard Teten and Patrick Mullany who were the founders of the FBI's behavioural analysis unit. The basic principal of the technique was to analyse a crime scene by looking for any characterisitics that could have manifested through mental illness, and this in turn was aimed to help the detective's deductive reasoning.

This technique was put to the test in the summer of 1973 when a seven year old girl was taken from a Rocky Mountain camping site in Montana. The girl was taken from a tent where she was quickly overpowered so as not to alert her parents who were sleeping nearby, after an extensive search of the surrounding area failed to produce the girl the case was referred to the FBI. Who developed a profile claiming that the offender would most likely be a young, white male who could be classed as a homicidal peeping tom, a sexually motivated killer who mutilated the bodies of his victims after he killed them and most likely took body parts as souvenirs. This profile later led to the arrest and capture of David Meirhofer a local twenty three year old white man who was also a suspect in another homicide. A warrant was issued to search his house whereupon investigators found body parts belonging to both victims which he had taken as souvenirs. Meirhofer was the first serial killer to be arrested using this technique.

Although offender profiling has proven to be successful on many occasions it is regularly criticised by other psychologists. As they pose the question as to whether or not an accurate assupmtion of an individuals personality can be gathered from one isolated aspect of their behaviour. As surely it would take multiple instances for any characteristics to be successfully identified, which poses the question as to whether or not this technique is only relevent for the study of serial offenders.

Forensic Psychology in the Judicial System

Forensic psychology is an extremely important part of the justice system in America. If someone is on trial for a vicious crime, they could plead "not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect," and must undergo an exam to see if they are competent to stand trial. Competency to stand trial is necessary to ensure due process, provide equal treatment under the law, and maintain the dignity of legal proceedings. States have their own rules for determining a defendants competency to stand trial. In most cases, defendants must be able to understand the charges against them, understand the facts of his or her case, to tolerate stress while awaiting the trial and at the trial itself, and to refrain from irrational behavior in court. If found to not be able to stand trial, the defendant can be treated with psychiatric medication for up to a year. The charges are not dismissed, but the case gets suspended. If treatment has failed, a defendant can be committed to a treatment program at a psychiatric center until they are deemed appropriate to stand trial.

An example of this very situation is seen in season two of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. The witness is suffering from schizophrenia and is given an injection of psychiatric medication that will last for a month so that he can testify at a trial.

This episode can be watched on this link -

http://www.watchsvuonline.net/season2/s02e06.php

A brief review on The Human Predator

My idea of a “good book” is probably unconventional to some people. How many people can sit down with a book called The Human Predator and become immersed in the mind frame of a classified murderer. I picked this particular title up in a book store a few months ago. Since then, whenever I get some free time, I pick a section and start reading. Nothing has ever interested me as much as this field of psychology. Katherine Ramsland, Ph.D., and author of the book, The Human Predator, discusses the mechanics of Forensic psychology and criminology. It was interesting to learn that the concept of forensics was established, several decades after the death of Christ. Ramsland wrote with a great deal of intellect and detail. The book flows well whether one reads the chapters in numerical order or simply skims through different sections. The sections I found most interesting had to do with historical, landmark cases or murders. Criminals such as Jack the Ripper, H.H Holmes, Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer have created the need for such a thing as forensic psychology; the interaction between psychology and the criminal justice system. Ramsland draws the reader in by giving the (to me) curious details of famous crimes such as these. When one hears how, “The soft-spoken Dahmer was killing men, then cutting off body pieces and preserving them or dissolving them in acid” how can one not wonder what was going through every thought Dahmer was having. Why would someone do something like this? Call me crazy, but it is the most fascinating field of psychology and I think Ramsland’s mixture of academic facts and respectable writing skills could provoke even the least interested person to read a sentence of this book.

http://www.amazon.com/Human-Predator-Historical-Chronicle-Investigation/dp/0425213781/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1304517050&sr=8-1

Getting a Degree and Career in Forensic Psychology

Forensic Psychology can be described as the use of psychology to aid in the criminal justice system. Typically utilized in court rooms, Forensic psychologists often find work evaluating those who are facing the judicial system. However, only a select group of colleges offer degrees strictly in the field of Forensic psychology. These universities include:

University of Arizona

University of Virginia

University of Denver

University of Nebraska

University of Illinois

Nova Southeastern University

Florida Institute of Technology

The Chicago School of Professional Psychology

CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice

Michigan State University

Farleigh Dickinson University

These are just a few of the more well know schools that offer Master’s Degree programs that will put you on the right track to becoming a Forensic Psychologist. In particular, most of these colleges offer a “Master of Arts” Degree. This means that the holder has already received a bachelor’s degree and is now a postgraduate. Once completing graduate school and demonstrating an advanced understanding of the skills and concepts taught, this degree may be earned. The difference between this and a Master of Science degree is that the Master of Arts is far less science oriented. Instead it focuses more on humanities. However both degrees put an emphasis on liberal arts and an overall well-rounded education. Because Forensic Psychologists study the human mind and work towards evaluating individuals, it is understandable that such a thorough education is required of them. Getting a degree is only the first step in actually acquiring a job in this exciting field. Once you gained the license and appropriate skills you’ll need to do some job hunting. One of the best places to begin your search is:

Psychology Jobs

This website contains an extensive list of positions that need to be filled. Information about contacting, applying, and scheduling interviews has been made available by the employer, as well as job descriptions.

Simply Hired

Simply Hired is another website with similar information concerning job offers. However this website also allows visitors to create a username and ‘save’ and prospective jobs that the user finds interesting for quick and easy access at a later time.