Subspecialties in Forensic Psychology
Anissa Michaud
Walden University
Subspecialties in Forensic Psychology Forensic psychology is a continuing growth and reflects in professional development in devotion to research and practice in the field. The division of forensic psychology includes five subspecialties, such as police psychology, a psychology of crime, victimology, legal psychology and correctional psychology (Bartol & Bartol, 2012). Among the subspecialties are several other professions, but it is easier to break down into five categories. A person can then research the area of interest on the basis of subspecialties. Before a student enters into a particular role of forensic psychology, he or she will focus on the subspecialties and where one might fit.
Roles
Role One
One role in forensic psychology is through supporting victims by working in the area of Special Victims Unit, sex trafficking, or an advocate for victims of the court process (Laureate Education, 2009). A victim's advocate works objectively in evaluating victims, so to better ensure the person's rights are being met. The psychologists are unlike the other professions such as lawyers and judges who have concerns for broken laws (Laureate Education, 2009). Instead, psychologists are ensuring the person's mental stability, injuries, and so forth in the process of the trial. Then the court can determine the crime with the basis in the collection of information.
Subspecialties
So role one of victims advocacy is a subspecialty of victimology. Victimology is the study of an individual’s experience of physical threat, psychological, or financial harm (Bartol & Bartol, 2012). Victims or witnesses are important in court trials and victimology evaluates or treats the individual during the process. A student is studying victimology he or she should focus on areas of crime, social work, or sociology.
Role Two
Another role in forensic psychology is a crime analysis involves law enforcement who analyze patterns or trends in crime. The person can assist detectives in apprehending suspects, by identifying patterns (Laureate Education, 2009). The person should have knowledge about analytical, statistical, and collection procedures that include qualitative (meaning) and quantitative (numerical) data. Crime analysis even includes proper staffing to meet the needs of police officers who interact with scenarios that may cause trauma (Laureate Education, 2009). Also, another job within crime analysis are ways of creating crime prevention or awareness.
Subspecialties