CJ and Forensic Psychology

Criminal Justice is a multi-disciplinary field of study devoted to understanding criminal behavior , learning law enforcement procedures and ensuring that those going through the system are afforded due process . Historically , most CJ personnel were trained on the job without any formal social science education , but with the growing complexity of society , there is a need for further education . In contrast , forensic psychologists (or any other form of practicing psychologist ) were required to receive advanced degrees in their field of study before finding gainful employment . However , a CJ psychologist is not required

to have a doctorate . While forensic psychology is related to Criminal Justice , it is but a subset of the field

According to Donald J . Franklin of Psychology Information Online (2006 it is the interface between psychology and the law , so all psychological services provided for the legal community are forensic psychological services ' Some of the duties of a forensic psychologist include : providing therapy for people with post-traumatic stress dis , family counseling for parents and children during a divorce providing counseling services to sex offenders and criminals with strong anger issues . While it may not seem much different than ordinary counseling , forensic psychologists often provide their assessments to the court . The function of criminal justice is to ascertain the guilt or innocence of an accused party while the role of the forensic psychologist is needed to assess his or her mental state . In capital crimes , they are needed to verify the competence of the accused to stand trial . Many murders are committed in the throes of psychosis and recently , and more of the higher courts are questioning the ethics behind holding the mentally ill legally responsible for their actions

According to careercolleges .com (n .d , three possible career paths in the Criminal Justice field include : paralegal , criminologist , and legal assistant . Paralegals usually work mainly with lawyers . Their duties include : researching , analyzing , and managing tasks for cases . Because they do not pass the bar exam , their control over the outcome of a case is quite limited . Some paralegals work outside the criminal justice system and work with contracts , real estate , etc . Their work usually does not overlap with that of forensic psychologists , thus both professions occupy different spheres of the criminal justice field

Criminologists are most similar to forensic psychologists in that they study criminal behavior and the cultural conditions that produce it While forensic psychologists are often focused on individual pathology criminologists analyze dysfunctional cultural norms that give rise to certain behaviors such as the cult of violence in the media . However like forensic psychologists , they study pros of victims and perpetrators . However , psychologists usually end up working with the aforementioned more closely , including determining the extent an individual can be exposed to society . For example , As psychologists in clinical practice , the Smiths might be asked to assess individuals for the purpose of making a determination of dangerousness in a variety of contexts . Consider first , an assessment of risk for the purpose of testimony at a civil commitment hearing . Mary...