The word forensic is derived from the Latin word ‘forensis’, which means, ‘before or of the forum’. Forensics involves using applications of technologies and science to investigate the locations or situations under consideration and find out what exactly has taken place, on the basis of the investigation. The forensics department is one of the most important departments under law enforcement where civil or criminal laws are undertaken. Astronomy, archeology and biologyare some of the other fields where the psychology of forensics is applied for investigation.
Recently there has been a rapid growth of this field of occupation, which can be claimed to be solely because of the exaggerated portrayals of this field in television serials and movies. But, these portrayals are inaccurate most of the times. Sometimes, these Forensic psychologists are portrayed as criminal profilers too. This is because they are able to predict almost accurately a murderer’s next move. In such cases, these psychologists practice their knowledge as science within thecivil courts and criminal justice system.
Job duties
Managing custody disputes, lawsuits and insurance claims are some of the fields that are customary for the forensic psychologists to work upon. Sometimes professionals may even evaluate and perform child custody and perform investigations on reports of child abuse. Some may even work in family courts and deliver psychotherapy services. Moreover, forensic psychologists often undertake visitation risk assessments.
Along with this, psychologists who prefer practicing in civil courts, often offer second opinions, evaluate competency, and deliver psychotherapy services to crime victims. Practitioners of criminal courts evaluate mental competency, deal with
Professional forensic practitioners working in the criminal courts conduct evaluations of mental competency, work with child spectators, and deliver assessment of adult and juvenile offenders.
Earnings of forensic psychologists
Forensic psychologists can get paid from about $60,000 to about $70,000 annually. But psychologists need to have a doctorate degree for that. But, the amount depends a great extent on your position of job and the employment sector.
A forensic psychologist can get the position of a psychological associate or psychological assistant having just a degree of bachelor or master. A psychological assistant can get a salary of about $35,000 or $40,000. Private practitioners offering consulting services, earn in a range of about $85,000 to $95,000 range.
Degrees needed for forensic psychologists
A doctoral degree in counseling or clinical psychology is needed by a forensic psychologist. There are many schools and Universities which offer degrees based on forensic psychology .These courses are combined courses of both law and psychology. These doctoral courses, these days have been very competitive. To avail this degree a graduate study of about 5 to 7 years is needed.
The most important thing, we need to think about now, is whether being a forensic psychologist is the perfect career option for us or not? If you enjoy working with people, and enjoy tackling problems even more, have patience and creativity, then, this is the right career option that you should opt for.
Being a forensic psychologist, one gets an opportunity to serve others. One can have a very rewarding and challenging career. Along with that you get a lot of scopes to proceed with your career smoothly.
