Educator & Researcher
With an advanced degree in criminal psychology you may be able to seek employment as an educator and/or researcher at colleges, universities, or research laboratories.
The knowledge that you acquire from your criminal psychology degree may help you teach criminal psychology classes to undergraduate and/or graduate students.
It may also allow you to use your psychological expertise to develop more effective ways to examine and evaluate the mental health of witnesses, victims, suspects, prison inmates and repeat offenders.
Moreover, you may conduct studies on how to improve the legal process, how to develop more effective crime scene protocols and investigations and how to create more reliable criminal profiles so that cases can be solved faster.
Forensic Psychologist
Another career path you can take if you have a doctorate in criminal psychology is forensic science. This degree, along with a license and/or certification, can allow you to practice forensic psychology.
With this degree you will be able to study the thought patterns, motivations and behaviors of criminals. You will spend the majority of your time interviewing, observing and assessing suspects, victims, medical experts and witnesses.
You will also spend time perusing police reports, providing expert testimonies during court trials and developing cases studies that can be used to arrest suspects and/or build criminal cases.
In some cases, you may provide counseling services to prison inmates and/or make recommendations on whether or not the offenders need more extensive mental health services.
Criminal/Crime Scene Investigator
With a bachelor’s or master’s degree in criminal psychology, you may be able to assist with criminal investigations. Your main responsibilities will be to: assess the mental processes (thinking patterns) of witnesses, the victim and the perpetrator, administer and analyze psychological assessments, provide criminal profiles to law enforcement, evaluate crime scenes, provide expert testimonies and aid in investigations (law enforcement, the court, federal bureau of investigations and so on by helping them understand why the suspect could have or would have committed the crime).
In other words, your main duties will be to provide a psychological explanation as to what motivated the crime, whether or not the suspect was insane at the time and why early warning signs were missed. Your main goal as a criminal investigator will be to provide insight into the mind and behaviors of those involved in the case.
To be successful in this career field, you must have a strong background in forensic science, criminal justice, criminal science and criminology.
Trial Consultant
A trial consultant offers their expertise to prosecutors and defense attorneys to help them prepare for a trial. Trial consultants can be experts in a wide variety of fields, from psychology to sociology to communications to law enforcement. Trial consultants use this expertise to perform any number of tasks, from helping lawyers prepare their opening or closing statements to working with witnesses to prepare them for testimony in court.
For example, a trial consultant that’s an expert in verbal communication might coach a prosecuting attorney in their delivery of their statements to the court with the express purpose of increasing the impact of the attorney’s words on the jury.
Social Worker
If you decide to earn a criminal psychology degree or you already have a degree in criminal psychology, you may become a social worker with a bachelor’s degree.
A background in criminal psychology may allow you to work for a prison, government agency and/or juvenile detention center. Your main responsibilities will be to provide assistance and support to felons and those who have a criminal record.
Your duties may include: helping these individuals find employment, outpatient mental health services, housing and/or obtain resources. Much of your time will be spent helping those recently released from jail or prison successfully re-enter society.
You may also provide counseling services to children and adolescents who are at-risk for future criminal acts.