What is called forensic psychology?
Forensic psychology is one of the applied professional discipline of the vast subject of psychology. Forensic psychology is the knowledge area which intersects the study of psychology and legal knowledge. Application of psychological knowledge and legal argument in regard to forensic data is very important in the professional purpose of judicial investigation and this is precisely what is considered to be the responsibility of a professional forensic psychologist.

Some of the best forensic psychology schools for 2012

The Chicago School of Professional Psychology
This is one of the best applied psychology schools in the country. The graduate program in forensic psychology offered by this institution is well known for its interdisciplinary course curriculum covering many disciplines like law, criminal psychology, forensic science etc.

University of Denver in Colorado
This university offers 2 year full time master degree program in forensic psychology and trains the student practicing principles, theories and professional applications related to the discipline of forensic psychology.

CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City
This college offers one of the best forensic psychology programs in the country. The college has a impressive range of faculties who have sufficient professional exposure in the fields of forensic science, judicial system, criminal psychology and behavioural psychology.

Michigan State University in Lansing
This university offers a master degree program in forensic psychology which is unique in covering many aspects of this applied discipline which are relevant for the professional practice in relation to this profession.

American International College
This is one of the few universities in the country which has so grand infrastructure and facilities for the training and education in the discipline of forensic psychology.

There is a wide array of forensic psychology degree and diploma programs which are considered to be career enhancing and growth rewarding, but only a few institutions which have a unmatched popularity of their degree programs and posses a proven track record of boosting career exposure in the field, are only mentioned here.

Forensic psychologists need to cover areas such as:

• Eye witness testimony,
• Ways to improve interrogation method,
• Anger management,
• Parenting skill training,
• Family counselling,
• Mediation of parental conflicts,
• Evaluation of adoption readiness,
• Child abuse and evaluation,
• Child custody evaluation,
• Divorce adjustment counselling for kids and adults,
• Dealing clinical issues such as phobia, anxiety, post traumatic stress disorders, chronic pain, desensitization, etc,
• Counselling for victims of crimes and those who violate law and order,
• Pre-sentencing evaluation of juvenile and adult,
• Evaluation of juveniles accused of crimes,
• Treatment of mentally ill offenders,
• Help in designing connectional facilities and prisons,
• Assessing emotional factors in discrimination and sexual harassment,
• Personal injury evaluation, etc.

Some Highly Recommended Forensic Psychology Degree Courses
Bachelor’s degree in forensic psychology is not available at present. Therefore, students are eligible for enrolling in high forensic degree courses if they have an accredited bachelor’s degree in psychology.

Master of Science in Forensic Psychology and Criminal Investigation
This forensic psychology degree is designed for those who have passionate interest in investigation, criminals, crimes, and psychology and individuals currently involved in the process of criminal investigation. You can enroll in this degree after the successful completion of your graduation courses. You must be aware of techniques, skills and issues required to become a highly competent psychology professional. Besides, you must be also able to apply psychological principles in your careers. The core modules of the program cover decision making, judgement, team effectiveness, crisis intervention, critical incident management, principles of leadership, legal consultation, organizational consultation, law enforcement, etc.

PhD in Forensic Psychology
PhD in forensic psychology degree program of some universities offer two tracks, clinical licensure and psychology, policy and law.

Clinical Licensure
Clinical licensure is a five year doctorate program and it focuses on research and forensic psychology for obtaining licensure as psychologist. This program trains students for becoming forensic clinicians and it prepares them to appear for clinical licensure examination. The coursework of Clinical licensure in forensic psychology includes:

• Legal research,
• Information on the justice system,
• Sex offending,
• Serial killing,
• police stress,
• Addiction,
• Domestic violence, etc.

Psychology, Policy and Law
This is a four year program and it focuses mainly on in-depth examination of the link between psychology and law, application of psychological principles to policy implementation, legal decision making utility, impact, etc.

PsyD in Forensic Psychology
The forensic psychology degree PsyD program empowers students to apply scientific techniques and mental health principles to legal questions. This forensic psychology degree emphasizes the application of forensic psychology theory and practice in group and individual settings. Students will also get practical experience and training from prison, jail, juvenile hall, group home, parole, etc. Topics coming under PsyD in Forensic Psychology are:

• Motivations of serial killers and their victims,
• Domestic violence,
• Sex offenders,
• Addiction,
• Police stress, etc.

The areas of specialization in PsyD in Forensic Psychology are criminology and neuropsychology.

Master of Arts in Forensic Psychology
Students can seek master’s degree in forensic psychology by attending a college or university or through online. The coursework varies as per the program you select. However, students need to study legal consultation, organizational consultation, law enforcement, etc as a part of the course. This program also provides comprehensive knowledge to the students in human development, research methods used in forensic psychology, psychological assessments, psychopathology, etc.

Some schools and colleges, which offer highly recommended forensic psychology degree programs, are:

• University of Liverpool,
• Alliant International University,
• Argosy University, Phoenix,
• California Baptist University,
• California State University, Los Angeles,
• Carlos Albizu University, Miami,
• Castleton State College, Vermont,
• The Chicago School of professional Psychology,
• University of Denver,
• John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York,
• Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology,
• The University of New Haven,
• Tiffin University, Ohio, etc

Salary
The salary of a forensic psychologist depends on various factors such as areas of specialization, work experience, education level and degrees obtained, organization of employment, etc. According to the reports of US bureau of Labor and Statistics, an experienced forensic psychology professional can make around $82,800 annually.

Forensic psychology is all about the insights of the psychology files with an aim of capturing and prosecuting criminals. Nowadays, many qualified forensic psychologists find themselves specializing in civil court as well as in several family court issues. While this is the case, forensic psychology degree is offered at bachelor’s, master’s as well as doctoral levels. Each forensic psychology degree has its own set of requirements. Interested individuals are highly advised to go through all the different sets of requirements that come with these degrees in order to find one that meets their needs.

Today, forensic psychology degree which is offered at a bachelor’s level requires one to have a combination of general education courses as well as courses that have direct relations to the degree program in forensic psychology.

Forensic psychology degree offered at master’s level requires one to possess a master’s degree program which lasts for about a year or 2 where a student is introduced to advanced topics in the forensic psychology filed. For the doctoral level, students are given an opportunity to pursue and at the same time contribute advanced research to the forensic psychology field.

On completion of a forensic psychology degree program, an individual will have enough knowledge of how to obtain forensic evidence and psychological analysis to catch criminals.

Forensic psychologists apart from policing also works on various departments and roles under law, some of them work in courtrooms, whereas other work for police departments. He can also work in prisons or detention centers as a college professor in community outreach program. There are many other branches of psychology like as social, cognitive, behavioral and so on as according to type of crimes found like arson, murder, robbery and others, there are many other things that a psychologist can do.  However, this all depends upon the education attained by a forensic psychologist. A forensic psychologist working as a therapist for prison inmates would have entirely a different role working for an intelligence agency.

In whatever criminal activity a psychologist may delve into or remain into, however, it becomes very much imperative for him to do his study based upon research other way research is too integral for a forensic psychologist to deduct result. A forensic psychologist interviews imprisoned criminals to learn they committed the specific crimes. Forensic psychologists in order to have correct decision also consult with fellow psychologists to have more insight into matter and issues.

With this much knowledge, a forensic psychologist can notice similarities between different types of criminals. With the help of principle that a crime scene can show up a lot about crime a psychologists can create a profile for the perpetrator based on what clues he or she may leave behind. Profiling, is must as it comes to the mind of people go and draw themselves close to forensic psychology with ability to develop a profile as bigger yet forensic psychologist by any means cannot be limited only to profiling only.

A forensic psychologist also works as an expert as according to a witness in court cases.  He as an expert give judge and jurors all the psychological advantage according to and reference to the crime, more they can advise the judge on what sort of sentence should be handed out to a criminal. Some other forensic psychologist read the accuracy of eyewitness testimony along with youthful offenders and other work with victim and their families.

Deficiency, on the part of a forensic psychologist is to understand the respective laws can put his credibility in the courtroom to be jeopardized. A forensic psychologist happens to an expert of a specified discipline and can be further taught in clinical, social, organizational or any other branch of psychology.  A  F. P should be clever enough to reply back to legal authorities in language of their profession, obviously, legal. Therefore, a forensic psychologist should be capable of transforming psychological information into a legal framework.

• Nature of JOB: As for the nature of the job of Forensic psychologists, he gives sentencing recommendations, treatment recommendations, mitigation factors, assessment of future risk, and evaluation of witness credibility. They also get involved in training and evaluating any law enforcement professional. They work along Public defender, the states attorney, and private attorneys and pays very important role in the selection of jury.
• Dealing with Clients:  Moreover, in dealing of a client with a Forensic psychologist, the professional codes differ to be from clinical practice of psychology. A forensic psychologist differs in opinion as in non clinical nature he address a narrowly defined set of activities.  He in a clinical nature has to keep the client’s point of view primary, where as in case of F.P; it is the accuracy that is needed to pay full and complete attention over things. In a clinical setup a patient is examined with the voluntary view, whereas as in case of FP it is the order of judge that a patient or a client is examined. As in forensic environment with court schedules, limited resources, and other external factors, place great time constraints on the evaluation without opportunities for reevaluation.
• Practice in Forensic psychology: As for practicing in forensic psychology it is the view of the psychologist that is of the paramount value. In forensic a psychologist has to look at things from the perspective of legal point of view not his client’s outlook. He should be in position to provide the resource for what information is based upon.

One of the differences is that forensic psychologists dig into the broad psychological perspectives and employ them to the justice system. Forensic psychologists also deal in legal issues such as competency, new laws, and public policies. They are involved in figuring out whether a person was in their right mind when they committed the crime.

These issues and the law topics make up psychology. They are essential to Forensic psychology in its application in treating mentally ill offenders, analyzing the offender’s attorneys (picking the jury) and practicing within the civil field. They enable you to detect whether a person is in their right state of mind or not.

Students who are interested in taking up forensic psychology will need to take up psychology and criminal justice at the core of their studies. There are quite a few colleges, which offer the psychology degree. If you desire to work in the field, you may also take up courses such as social, cognitive, clinical, developmental psychology and criminal investigative. These courses also prepare an individual in this specialty.

As a forensics psychologist, you may choose to focus your career on research in areas such as examination of testimonies by eyewitnesses or learn on how to improve your interrogation skills. The research will go a long way in helping other forensic psychologists in handling related work.

Public policy is another forensic psychology field that you can decide to get involved in. In this area you can decide to work in prisons and correctional facilities. In general, the forensic psychology degree covers the traditional options for criminal justice such as law enforcement, academic training, corrections etc.