employers Key takeaways
- The answer to ‘where do criminal psychologists work’ and ‘how much do they earn’ depends on many factors.
- Criminal psychology is a subfield of criminology that studies the minds of criminals to understand the motivations behind the crime.
- Job responsibilities include analyzing criminal behavior, evidence, evaluating witnesses, defendants, and victims, conducting interviews, and more.
- Criminal psychologists also serve as expert witnesses and may be called upon to testify in court.
- They are employed in different organizations, including law enforcement agencies, universities, courts, and correctional facilities.
- You need an advanced degree, such as a PhD, to access the full range of job opportunities.
- Criminal psychologists earn an annual wage significantly higher than the median annual salary of all occupations in the US.
What compels someone to commit a crime? What are the scientific, sociological, cultural, or other reasons why some people are more likely to become criminals? Criminal psychologists answer these questions and more through the study of psychology, scientific analysis, and more. They are essentially mental health professionals working in the criminal justice field.
Here, we answer the question ‘where do criminal psychologists work by listing potential employers, detailing what the work environment looks like, and more. You will also find a detailed job description of what criminal psychologists do, their job responsibilities, required education, and skill set.
Understanding what the job roles and responsibilities are is essential before choosing a career path. When it comes to crime psychology, the exact answer for ‘what does a criminal psychologist do’ is dependent on where they are employed, their position, education, and acquired skills. However, the primary responsibility of a criminal psychologist is to identify the underlying reasons and contributing factors that lead to the development of criminals.
Criminal psychology is a branch of psychology that studies the behavior, thoughts, and activities of criminals to understand what pushes someone to commit crimes. They do so by conducting interviews with criminals, victims, law enforcement professionals, crime scene investigators, witnesses, and more. Through intensive research, a combination of scientific research, and application of psychological principles and theories, criminal psychology tries to develop an understanding of the criminal minds.
Criminal psychologist job description
The job of a criminal psychologist is to evaluate the psychology of those involved in the criminal justice system, specifically criminals. They use psychology to assess the criminal minds to help aid criminal investigations, solve crimes, and devise strategies to help identify at-risk individuals and prevent them from going down the wrong path. They do so by conducting extensive research, through interviews, analyzing evidence, crime scene evaluations, witness testimonies, victim’s account, and more.
Criminal psychology is a vast field, and criminal psychologists are employed in many different organizations in the criminal justice system.
Criminal psychologist roles and responsibilities
The exact job description and roles, and responsibilities depend on several factors. Here is a list of the general roles and responsibilities that criminal psychologists need to fulfill.
- They perform psychological evaluations of the suspects, victims, witnesses, defendants, and so on.
- Assess the psychological state of the offender at the time of the crime.
- Build an understanding of the situation and series of events that led to or influenced the crime, the motive behind the crime, the execution style, and so on.
- Evaluate competency to stand trial.
- Assess the mental condition of defendants who claim insanity, mental illness, emotional distress, and so on.
- Create psychological profiles of criminals to help law enforcement officers identify potential suspects and aid in legal investigations.
- Analyze criminal behaviors and identify patterns and prevalent behaviors.
- Give expert testimonials in court.
- Provide professional opinion on the mental health side effects of the crime or other mental issues that may be brought up in a case.
- Conduct research on the mental conditions that affect criminal behavior.
- Use research to present suggestions for the creation of policies and practices in the criminal justice system.
- Create guidelines and protocols for investigations, interviews, and interrogations.
- Train those involved in the criminal justice system on how to be mindful of mental illness during investigations.
- Recommend treatment and provide counseling for at-risk individuals and convicted criminals.
Education required
To pursue a career as a crime psychologist, you typically need an advanced degree such as a PhD in psychology. You can major in clinical psychology or in forensic psychology to pursue criminal forensic psychology or criminal psychology as a career. You can also pursue a degree in criminology to become a criminal psychologist. However, you will need an advanced degree, such as a master’s degree at the very least, to join the field.
Moreover, you will need to pursue additional certifications or obtain a license to practice, especially if you want to go into clinical psychology and will be involved in providing treatment to convicted criminals.
Skills required to be a criminal psychologist
To pursue a career in criminal justice, criminal psychology, or a related field, one needs a blend of skills and extensive knowledge of best practices in the field of psychology. Here are the skills you should focus on developing to pursue a career as a criminal justice psychologist.
- Extensive knowledge of psychology concepts, principles, and best practices.
- In-depth understanding of the criminal justice system.
- Strong analytical skills to be able to analyze evidence, witness records, and other information.
- Critical thinking skills to be able to understand complex situations, peel the layers to get to the root cause of the problem.
- Excellent observational skills as criminal psychologists are needed to see and hear all that is not said or shown.
- Teamwork is also an essential skill as criminal psychologists need to communicate and work with multiple professionals across the criminal justice system.
Additionally, crime psychologists must be excellent at stress management, as it is quite a stressful job. You will be required to analyze evidence which also includes gruesome images. Moreover, conducting interviews, especially with those criminals convicted of violent crimes, can be extremely challenging.
Where do criminal psychologists work?
Criminal psychologists are employed in a variety of organizations across the criminal justice system, including law enforcement agencies, courts, correctional facilities, and so on. Here is a list of places where criminal psychologists work.
Law enforcement agencies
Law enforcement agencies are probably the biggest employers of criminal psychologists. These include police departments, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Agency, and so on. The FBI employs criminal psychologists as criminal profilers under the official designation of Special Supervisory Agents in the Behavioral Analysis Unit.
Related: How to become and FBI Profiler.
The average annual salary of criminal psychologists employed in law enforcement agencies varies by department, employment level, role of employment, and many other factors.
Police psychologists’ average salary: $92,813 per year.
FBI criminal psychologist average salary: $109,000 per year.
FBI Special Supervisory Agent: $127,000 per year
Courts
Criminal psychologists are often employed as consultants to courts, where they provide expert opinion and guidance, often shaping the narrative of the case. Their role is primarily advisory but pivotal as the insights brought by a psychologist can have a great impact on the outcome of a case. Moreover, they offer their expertise in some complicated criminal cases by providing recommendations for treatment and offering advice if needed.
The average annual salary of a court psychologist: $92,813 per year.
Correctional facilities
Criminal psychologists employed in correctional facilities are responsible for the provision and administration of correctional treatment to imprisoned individuals. Therapy and counseling are often an integral part of the verdict or sentence ordered by a judge. Through regular therapy sessions, a criminal psychologist tries to understand the mind of the criminal and help them solve the underlying problems that contributed to them committing the crime. Moreover, they also determine if and how big of a risk is present of the individual becoming a repeat offender.
The average salary of a prison psychologist: $115,400 per year.
Universities
Universities employ criminal psychologists in the capacity of educators and researchers. If you want to improve the field and criminal psychology and educate the professionals of tomorrow, this is the field for you. To join a university as an educator and researcher, you need at least a PhD and substantial work experience. Employers prefer candidates with published researches under their belt.
Average salary of criminal psychology professor: $80,370 per year
Criminal vs forensic psychology
There are significant differences between the two fields, even though people often use them interchangeably. Criminal or criminological psychology is a subfield of criminology. This branch aims to study crime, motivation, and factors behind crime to help prevent crime. A criminal justice psychologist is also responsible for the administration of ordered treatment to imprisoned criminals.
In comparison, criminal forensic psychology is a combination of the fields of psychology and law. Forensic psychologists are responsible for answering questions that may arise during criminal investigations and legal proceedings. Additionally, they serve as legal experts and help in jury selection, child custody cases, assessing the legal system and proceedings to highlight areas of improvement.
Do criminal psychologists go to crime scenes?
If needed, criminal psychologists do visit crime scenes to get insight into the criminal’s state of mind. So, yes, criminal psychologists do visit crime scenes so they can view and analyze the evidence and the crime scene themselves to come to an unbiased conclusion.
Get the right education to pursue criminal psychology as a career!
The first step to any career path starts with the right education. When it comes to criminological psychology, the path is quite long. You need at least a master’s degree in criminal psychology, forensic psychology, or criminology to be eligible for the majority of roles in the field. However, employers give preference to candidates with a PhD, especially for leadership roles.
The demand for criminal psychologists is high, as is evident from the average pay of psychologists in the field. If you want to help prevent crime and make a positive impact on society, this is the field for you.