Forensic Psychologist Essay

Forensic psychologists may be new to the criminal justice system, but they are extremely paramount to keeping the system honest. Forensic psychologists have many duties within the criminal justice system, and because of this they must have extensive schooling. The level of schooling that they acquire also affects they salary that they receive from their employers. The field of forensic psychology is very interesting and can attract the attention of many people (even a priest), but due to the serious, and sometimes dangerous, nature of a forensic psychologist’s job the interested person must have a specific personality, be able to be aware of their surrounding, and know self-defense. The job of a forensic psychologist can be challenging, but
“…forensic psychology refers to professional practice by any psychologist working within any sub-discipline of psychology (e.g., clinical, developmental, social, cognitive) when applying the scientific, technical, or specialized knowledge of psychology to the law to assist in addressing legal, contractual, and administrative matters” (Specialty Guidelines… 1). Many people think that what they see on television, such as “Criminal Minds”, is the basis of what forensic psychologist do, but this is untrue. Forensic psychologists do considerably more work than what is portrayed in Hollywood. While handling many tasks forensic psychologists must remember that they can often be responsible for changing someone’s life indefinitely. This can place a great deal of pressure on a person; for this reason people who are considering this field must have a certain
“A forensic autopsy is a postmortem mental state evaluation of the deceased and involves a data evaluation of the subject’s mental health records” (Reid 1). Often a psychological autopsy is used when the cause of death is unclear or to better understand why a death occurred; such as in the case of a suicide bomber or serial killers. When conducting a psychological autopsy information collected can include biographical, personal, and secondary information along with medical history. While there are standard procedures that one must follow when preforms a psychological autopsy there are many different methods that can be followed. An example of this is that “…the clinical approach vs. the equivocal death analysis approach favored by FBI” (“Psychological Autopsy” 1). Although there are many interesting areas of the career it is important to consider advantages and disadvantages of working as a forensic