As we all now know, being a criminal psychologist is difficult yet plays an important role in the community. What we are next to get to know is it also has great expectations on educations, skills and experience to work in the criminal psychology field.
To be a criminal psychologist, there are a few educational requirements to be met. Obtaining at least a Degree and a licensure from the State is a must before a psychologist can start in this field. Besides that, participating in Post Doctoral Forensic Psychology specialty training and it is a must to have a Diploma from the American Board of Forensic Psychology.
In some states, it might be possible for someone to become a criminal psychologist by just obtaining Master’s Degree, but more recognition is given to those who hold a doctoral degree. There are two types of doctoral degrees:- i) Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) ii) Doctor of Psychology
The Doctor of Philosophy is heavily focused on the intellectual, whereas the Doctor of Psychology focuses more on the importance of the clinical based training together with the intellectual training.
For those who are passionate about being a criminal psychology in future, you may want to enroll yourself in some criminal justice classes apart from your psychology training. Doing so will eventually help you to be more successful when training for your diploma postgraduate.
Ultimately, it will take about 7 years (5 years of studies and 2 years of special training) of complete education and training to be able to work with or in a criminal psychology field. On the completion of the 2 years training, you will be able to be an aspiring expert in psychology (Psychology Career Headquarters 2012).
Skills Required Being a Criminal Psychologist
Being a criminal psychologist is no easy job nor is it a 9.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. job. It takes more abilities and skills to identify the criminal. Therefore, the utmost ability