Forensic psychology

Not many people have any idea of what forensic psychology is. Basically, forensic psychology is the use of psychology within the legal context.A forensic psychologist is a psychologist who has knowledge on the legal system and can apply psychological knowledge to such a context. There are many benefits to performing forensic psychology which include being able to help other people, gain personal satisfaction and to continue to learn through continual education opportunities.

 Forensic psychology is a relatively new area of psychology and was only established in 2001 due to its need within society. Although forensic psychology is a specialized area of psychology, other types of psychologists can also be required to perform forensic psychology if they are to provide assessments of clients who are a part of a legal case. An example of this would be NLPTraining. They can also be required to prepare them and their case for court and to testify as well on a professional level. This shows that forensic psychology is not simply just what you see on television and in books, as these can often glamorize the area of forensic psychology.

Although forensic psychology can be used within any area of psychology that has an aspect of legality associated with it, it is most common for specialist forensic psychologists to work within the context of prisons, police departments, lawyer’s offices, and within rehabilitation services, as well as with the families of clients, their lawyers and government agencies. A forensic psychologist’s role within these contexts is to continually assess and reassess clients as require by the courts or for assessment purposes. This can help in determining where they are at psychologically and what is affecting them psychologically.

 Although working with clients of psychology is at the forefront of forensic psychology, there are also other areas of forensic psychology that people can be involved in. Some choose to continue on at university and complete further research into forensic psychology and specialize further into law and criminology. Such forensic psychologists can use this useful knowledge in order to analyze crime and laws and how treatments work for certain people with mental health issues. They can also work with the police to profile convicted criminals.

For a forensic psychologist to be effective at their job they tend to need to hold some certain key qualities which help them to perform well within the context of forensic psychology. These qualities include being patient, flexible, get along with other people well and be able to works with other people without any issues, have a passion for research and also being a good speaker as forensic psychologists tend to do a lot of speaking and often work in teams so need to be able to be articulate. They also need to have a passion in psychology as the training that is required to become a qualified psychologist is lengthy and continual education is mandatory for forensic psychologists as there is always more to learn within this field and keeping up with new laws is also important.