Description of Criminal Psychology
Criminal psychology, or forensic psychology, is a field where psychological approaches are used to understand criminal behavior in an attempt to control it.
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Training
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Criminal psychologists usually hold a bachelor's degree in psychology as well as a master's degree or Ph.D in applied, criminal or forensic psychology.
Profiling
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Criminal psychologists help find leads during investigations through profiling--a process where they collect information about a crime to generate clues about a suspect's personality and lifestyle habits. They also use this information to predict the kinds of people criminals are likely to target for future crimes.
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Treating Criminals
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Criminal psychologists treat criminals using techniques that create aversions to bad behaviors, reward good behaviors and illustrate why a criminal's actions were wrong. They also provide social skills training to prisoners and evaluate them to assess if they are appropriate candidates for parole.
Work with Eyewitnesses
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Criminal psychologists can assist the police by helping witnesses remember the events of a crime accurately. Witness testimony is known for being unreliable, and these professionals have developed ways--such as revising questioning techniques--to ensure accurate testimony.
Research Areas
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Criminal psychologists focus their research on the reasons people commit crimes. One ongoing debate in the field has been the extent to which nature and/or nurture plays a role in creating criminals.
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References
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