How to Obtain a Successful Career Having a Forensic Degree in Psychology

Reference & EducationCollege & University

  • Author Bimol Bee
  • Published July 2, 2011
  • Word count 993

First of all let’s begin with the explanation of the term ‘forensic science’. Forensic science is the term which is referred to a great variety of specialties which aim and work is to analyze some information for legal matters. This data can be physical, biological and digital. Mostly, forensic scientists work with police in order to analyze evidences in the committed crimes. Usually they help greatly and try to make the process of investigation as quick as possible.

If you want to become a forensic scientist, you have to give a lot of energy and time in order to obtain a qualified education. To achieve a good higher education you need to apply the accredited university, which will definitely give a very good and necessary knowledge.

There are a lot of kinds of forensic science, but one of the most fascinating and exciting is the forensic psychology. Forensic psychology is the field of forensic studies which is involved greatly to the different crime investigations and criminal proceedings. This field of forensic science helps to investigate, analyze and collect evidences. Psychologists are the people who usually not only stick to the law, but also analyze personal characteristics and the motives of committing a crime.

As it was already mentioned, in order to become a successful psychologist you need to obtain the necessary education. If you have already chosen the field of forensic psychology, you have to enter the higher educational establishment where you can successfully obtain the forensic psychology degree.

Your career in forensic psychology can start from the obtaining of the master’s or doctoral degree in three fields of psychology. These fields are as follows:

  • Developmental psychology;

  • Clinical psychology;

  • Social psychology;

You can also take some additional courses before or after graduating. On these courses you can learn a lot of information which concerns the law system. The given information will be very useful in your future life and career.

Unfortunately, there are too little schools which can offer the opportunity to achieve a forensic psychology degree at the master’s or doctoral level. But nevertheless, you can obtain a specific degree taking a definite degree program. According to your abilities and likings you can obtain these degrees by means of attending full time courses or by taking the online forensic degree programs in psychology. You should know that all master’s degree programs require choosing one more field within psychology area. Having the specialization in one more field, besides the forensic psychology specialization, you will have an opportunity to be promoted on the higher position or to get more qualified job. The knowledge of two specializations makes an employer to believe that you are a qualified specialist in the field of forensic psychology. Besides, there are a lot of such courses offered for a master’s degree in the definite subfield of psychology.

Speaking about the doctoral forensic degree programs in psychology, you should mention that these programs require practicing in forensic social work in such areas as legal consultation or law enforcement. The choice of the degree level is very important and difficult. But you have to choose which degree you would like to obtain. There are two kinds of areas from which you can decide, in what very field you would like to work. You can work in the academic or clinical realm. Academic realm means that you will deal with such activities as teaching and research. As for the clinical realm, you have to know that you will deal with practice itself in the field of forensic psychology.

There is one more interesting thing. The main interesting moment is that there are two kinds of doctoral degrees. You can obtain the Doctor of Psychology degree or a PsyD. The difference between these doctoral degrees is very simple. The Doctor of Psychology degree requires a practical training during which you make less research. When you obtain the PsyD, then you need to make more research.

Having any forensic degree in psychology complete, you will have an opportunity to become a certified specialist in mental health. But you have to understand that nowadays most jobs in forensic psychology require a Doctoral degree. If you will have only a master’s degree, then you will have limited opportunities to choose a good job. So, you should mention that only the completion of a doctoral degree program in psychology will give you a greater range of jobs in this area.

Having read the information from this article you have to think thoroughly over your choice. If you really want to be connected with criminal and law, if you would like to help in the crime investigations or criminal proceedings and you want to understand the motives of the crime, then you have to choose the forensic science in the field of psychology. Before that, you will have to find an accredited institution which will offer you a perfect forensic degree program in psychology. You have to be sure that after graduation you will definitely have a good knowledge for your future career. Mention, that if you want to have a prestige job and a successful career, you have to obtain the doctoral degree in the field of forensic science. Nowadays only with this degree you can achieve success in this field. You can also choose between teaching and practice.

So, before you will start to choose a higher educational establishment with the forensic degree program in psychology offered, you should think a lot about your choice. You have to know what you really want to do as a forensic psychologist. Weight all your thoughts and choose whether you would like to teach or you would like to have a practice in the field of forensic psychology. If you understand what you want, then move forward to your dream and achieve it! Be patient and purposeful, because studying on the forensic psychologist is a very difficult and important job.

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