What Does a Forensic Psychologist Do?

A forensic psychologist is a clinical psychologist that focuses his or her efforts on the criminal justice system. Forensic psychologists combine psychological techniques with forensic assessments to better their patients and communities. If you have been thinking of a job in forensic psychology, you may encounter a variety of job duties during your career. The information below provides a look at some of the many tasks you may come across during your work in forensic psychology. What does a forensic psychologist do? Let’s find out.

Forensic Evaluations

Forensic psychologists spend a great deal of their time evaluating children, criminals, parents, and other individuals in the criminal justice system. Some of their job duties may involve:

• Evaluations of juveniles accused of criminal acts
• Juvenile and adult pre-sentencing evaluations
• Juvenile probation evaluations
• Juvenile waiver evaluations
• Evaluating the credibility of child witnesses
• Assessment of sexual offenders
• Competency and diminished capacity evaluations
• Personal injury evaluations
• IME second opinion evaluations
• Assessment of emotional factors in sexual harassment
• Worker’s compensation evaluations
• Child custody evaluations
• Visitation risk assessments
• Adoption readiness evaluations
• Civil competency evaluations
• Child abuse evaluations
• Grandparent visitation evaluations
• Evaluations to assess termination of parental rights
• Evaluating grade school students to detect abuse
• Evaluating criminals for parole

The results of these evaluations and others are highly important to court systems, schools, and families as they all aim to provide safety in the community. Forensic psychologists must use their abilities to tap into the human mind and assess potential crime situations. Some evaluations lead to the counseling services discussed below, but others determine a person’s fate in court.

Counseling Services

Since forensic psychologists hold the same psychology degrees as clinical psychologists, they are often called upon to counsel individuals involved with the court systems. Some forensic psychologists do this on top of counseling traditional patients, depending on where they work. If you were to provide counseling services to the court system, you may encounter some of the following situations:

• Parental communication skills training
• Parent-child family counseling
• Adjustment counseling following trauma
• Counseling of restraining order violators
• Couple’s counseling in trauma cases
• Counseling of individuals awaiting trial
• Supportive counseling for the victims of crimes
• Counseling and psychotherapy for sexual offenders
• Anger management counseling
• Counseling juveniles on probation
• Counseling adults on probation
• Divorce adjustment counseling for children and adults

Forensic psychologists must act as both assessors and supporters during these evaluations to determine the best route for patients in the future. Some patients only require one or two sessions of counseling, but others spend months working with a forensic psychologist to get better. Who you work with will purely be determined by the situations your job leads you to.

Expert Testimonies

In many cases, forensic psychologists are called upon as expert witnesses in court cases. They use their knowledge in psychology and criminal justice to prosecute individuals or prove their innocence during court cases. This work only makes up a small portion of a forensic psychologist’s duties, unless he or she works in an area with a lot of criminal activity. If that is the case for you, you may find full time employment working with lawyers in your area.

Teaching

Some forensic psychologists devote their careers to teaching others about the field of forensic psychology. They work in high schools, colleges, and graduate schools to guide others toward criminal justice careers. In order to work in a college level education system, teachers must hold a doctorate degree in their field of study. Since forensic psychologists hold such a degree for their careers, they are easily capable of working as teachers in the school system.

Final Thoughts

Forensic psychologist job duties are somewhat unpredictable. There are simply too many variables that go into answering “What does a forensic psychologist do?” Nevertheless, you can expect to work in counseling and evaluations if you hold this career in the future. Whether you work in a private practice or as a member of a large firm, you can find something to do with a forensic psychology degree. Consider your educational options today if these job duties sound like great experiences to you.