How to Become a Criminal Profiler in School

Criminal profilers work within the justice system to identify criminals.

Forensic Psychologists, or Criminal Profilers, create psychological profiles of criminals. Becoming a Forensic Psychologist is a very long process, requiring 10 to 12 years of education and a couple of years of professional training. Additionally, professional state licensing and specialty certification examinations to become a specialist in Forensic Psychology are required.

Things You'll Need

• Doctoral degree in Psychology
• Internship experience with an approved Supervisor
• State License as a Psychologist
• Additional Training in Speciality of Forensic Psychology
• Certification as a Specialist in Forensic Psychology

Instructions

Education Required

1. 

   Membership in Psi Chi, helps with applications to doctoral programs later.

   Complete a bachelor of science degree program in psychology that is regionally accredited. Obtaining a Bachelor of Science degree typically takes 4 years to complete.

2. 

   Doctoral programs can take 4 to 6 years to complete.

   Complete a Doctoral program in clinical psychology, either a Ph.D. or Psy.D. To become licensed in your state, the degree program must be accredited by the APA. See "Resources" section for a link to APA-accredited doctoral degree programs.

3. 

   It usually takes approximately two years working full-time to earn 3000 hours.

   Earn internship hours from professional experience under the supervision of an approved supervisor. In California, 3000 hours of professional experience is required. These hours include the weekly meetings with your supervisor to discuss cases and get feedback. A licensing exam is also required, which consists of both written and oral examinations.

4. Complete several years of experience through postdoctoral training in Forensic Psychology to earn your certification from The American Board of Forensic Psychology (ABFP) and earn "professional endorsements," according to The American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP). Applicants are then required to pass the ABPP specialty board examination.

Tips & Warnings

• Attend a Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) camp, if you are in high school, to explore this field. CSI summer camps are available in many states for high school students interested in crime scene investigation and forensics. An interest in math, especially statistics is an asset to criminal profilers because they must deal with odds and probability.

• Become a Psi Chi member if you are an undergraduate student. Psi Chi, The International Honor Society in Psychology requires members to be enrolled students with a GPA of at least 3.00 as a second-semester sophomore majoring or minoring in a psychology.

• Criminal Profilers on television are portrayed working independently on one case until it's solved. In reality, one forensic psychologist is assigned a specific task on several cases. Others, like forensic investigators and scientists with various specialties, also perform a specific task on many cases. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) advises that "in real life [Forensic Psychologists] have little autonomy and might work diligently for years on several cases, without a breakthrough."

References

• The American Psychological Association:
• All-About-Forensic-Psychology: Criminal Profiling
• Bureau of Labor Statistics: Forensic Psychologists
• The American Board of Forensic Psychology (ABFP)
• The American Board of Professional Psychology: Forensic Psychology
• Psi Chi: The International Honor Society in Psychology

Resources

• Psi Chi: The International Honor Society in Psychology
• Bureau of Labor Statistics: Reality vs. fantasy
• The American Psychological Association: Accredited Programs in Clinical Psychology