If you're a fan of the true crime and legal genres, you probably know some of what forensic psychologists do. They analyse crime scenes to establish criminal behaviour patterns and build a criminal profile. If such shows leave you cold, maybe Mindhunter is more your style?
Or have you ever seen the film The Silence of the Lambs? Clarice Starling, a forensic psychologist, established a relationship with serial killer Hannibal Lecter. She tried to establish the full psychology behind his gruesome acts to catch a different killer.
These entertainment offerings made criminal profiling popular but that's not all forensic psychologists do. Their work encompasses all legal doings, including civil matters. The 1954 US Supreme Court decision, Brown v. the Board of Education Topeka was the first civil case decided with the help of expert psychological testimony. The justices found that segregating a student based on race had a negative psychological impact.
That was a groundbreaking legal decision, both for civil rights and forensic psychology. From then on, psychologists' testimony was a welcome addition to any trial, for prosecution and defence. Today, should there be any question about whether a defendant is competent to stand trial, forensic psychologists conduct an assessment. Read on to find out how their findings impact the courts' decisions.
What Is Forensic Psychology?
Now that we've totally dashed your hopes of a high-profile practice as a behaviour analyst, let's go over what forensic psychology is. And then, we'll examine what those professionals do and the skills they need. Let's start by understanding the word 'forensic'. It comes from the Latin word forensis, meaning 'forum' or 'a place of assembly'. That clues us to the idea that forensic anything happens in a public place where people gather.
Now, let's examine psychology's origins. It's a relatively new discipline. It emerged around 1879, when physiologist and professor Wilhelm Wundt coined the term 'psychologist'. He aimed to make a science of psychology by observing human behaviour and what led people to behave the way they did. Usually, in relation to the greater society. Today, he is revered as the father of experimental psychology.
Now, we meld 'forum' with this comparatively young discipline, defined as the study of the mind and of human behaviour. We don't exactly end up with someone who publicly studies human behaviour. We end up with someone who studies behaviour and discloses their findings in a public place. Some forum imbued with gravitas, where people typically assemble to decide serious matters. Like a courtroom, for instance.
Their services include evaluating defendants' mental state to help the court decide whether the trial should proceed. But this profession isn't limited strictly to pretrial mental fitness assessment. Forensic psychologists may conduct such an assessment to evaluate a subject's psychological state for any legal purpose. Often, courts rely on forensic psychologists' services to help decide child custody issues. Or to assess a prisoner's risk of engaging in criminal activity should they be eligible for an early-release program.
Sometimes, forensic psychologists lend their skills when juries are empanelled, especially in high-profile cases. Both parties, defence and prosecution, prefer jurors who are likely to see the facts as they present them. The court allows both sides to work with forensic psychologists. These professionals determine how a potential juror might decide a case based on how they respond to vetting questions.
Lately, there's been a lot of terrible news about police departments. The UK and US have had their share of officers who were clearly not fit for duty. Yet they wore their badges and (ostensibly) served their communities while committing crimes. Clearly, had a forensic psychologist properly evaluated them, they would have spotted behavioural abnormalities. They would have concluded that those individuals should not have been in a position of authority. But maybe organisational psychology outweighed the need for forensic psychology.
Forensic Psychology Jobs
To reiterate, forensic psychologists don't just study criminals and make conclusions about their behaviour. Nor do they work exclusively in courtrooms, giving expert testimony and helping to empanel juries. As a career field, forensic psychology offers varied opportunities to hone both clinical and assessment skills.
You might, for instance, become an investigative reporter. Studying forensic psychology trains you to get to the bottom of things, as it were, and then report your findings. You'll be able to spot trends and behaviours that journalists without your full level of training could easily miss. And with your ability to put the pieces together, you would deliver thought-provoking articles on any subject from politics to crime.
Or maybe you're interested in advocacy. Domestic violence and sexual assault services help explain victim rights. You could put your skills to work supporting survivors through court proceedings and provide counselling to deal with their trauma. In cases of child abuse, forensic psychologists work with the child and their families to understand what happened. And then, they report their findings to the investigating officers. They may also give testimony in court.
Victim advocacy is one of the most psychologically stressful fields to aspire to. If you haven't got nerves of steel, you might consider focusing on clinical work and research. Currently, mental health law and false memory are two of the most prominent areas of research. False memory in eyewitness testimony is particularly fascinating. Until recently, eyewitness testimony was considered a reliable source of information about criminal activity. But forensic psychology research proves that such memories can be biased, manipulated or made up of whole cloth.
Take the case of Henry Lee Lucas, for instance. He confessed to over 600 murders but his stories soon came unravelled. Working through the case, forensic psychologists found that law enforcement officers from across the US were rushing to Texas to ask this killer whether he had had a hand in their states' unsolved crimes. Lucas readily agreed that he had, in fact, committed them. Only later did forensic psychologists determine he was trying to ingratiate himself with all of his visitors. Cognitive psychologists had a field day combing through his case files for their research.
Forensic Psychology Salary
Those are just a few of the jobs you might do as a forensic psychologist. We haven't even mentioned clinical psychology, which is an integral part of both research and giving expert testimony in court. You might even pursue a career counselling addicts in a clinical setting. Or you would work with social psychologists to research how people's mental states affect their behaviour in various settings.
The skills you'll learn as you study forensic psychology will apply to many professional arenas. But they don't all pay the same. How much might you earn in any capacity as a forensic psychologist, then?
That depends on your level of education. You may earn your graduate degree and go into research or do clinical work. If you'd rather continue to study, earning your doctorate degree opens many more professional doors. Such a degree gives you access to higher-profile, higher-income positions.
In Australia, a newly-graduated forensic psychologist serving in any capacity earns an average of $62,000 per annum, according to Payscale. Naturally, the more experience you gain, the more you stand to earn. And the more in demand you'll likely be. Unfortunately, of all the types of psychology work you could do, forensic psychology comes in at the lower end of the pay scale. Still, a top-out range of $125,000 isn't too shabby.
Studying Forensic Psychology
Your first step to earning a spot in any university psychology study program is finishing high school with a qualifying score on your Australian Tertiary Assessment Rating. You'll study psychology at the undergraduate level, which may take up to five years. And then, you should pursue your graduate degree. You might stop your formal education there and apply for endorsement to work in a specific area of forensic psychology.
The student who goes for a doctorate degree will add another five years to their study time. This higher credential opens far more professional doors. Beware that even if you spend that additional time on your studies, you must nevertheless seek endorsement. You will also undergo supervised training. Your mentor will also be endorsed in their practice. How long you will work under supervision depends on the degree you earned. Masters will submit to two years of supervised work; those with doctorate degrees require only one.
Like many other career fields, forensic psychology demands continuous education. You will always have new research to consider, new theories to explore and new techniques to try. If you go into research - as opposed to public-facing work in the criminal justice system, you will learn new aspects of your field all the time. You may even collaborate with developmental psychologists to explore social and emotional development in at-risk populations.
You may be fascinated with the criminal justice system. Or perhaps you want to advocate for less bias in our country's criminal mental health assessment processes. Whether victim advocacy or understanding the criminal mind drives you, studying forensic psychology will help you into the job you want.
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