5 Things You Should Know Before Studying Criminal Psychology
Criminal Psychology, like forensic sciences, has taken on a significant rise in recent years That is why academic demand has also been increasing, especially in countries such as Spain, Mexico and Argentina. It is a subdiscipline that over time has provided us with very valuable information about the psychological reasons that lead a person to commit an illegal act.
The simple idea of studying Criminal Psychology may be very attractive and make many people decide on this specialization. However, It is always useful to come to these types of training programs knowing something about this branch of psychology
Factors to take into account before taking Criminal Psychology
Whether you want to study a master’s degree, a specialty or a diploma, here you can find five factors that you should consider before starting your course.
1. Criminal Psychology or Forensic Psychology? The differences
The first thing you should clear in your mind before going for that course is the following: Do you want to study Criminal Psychology or Forensic Psychology? Contrary to what the vast majority think, both branches are not the same, although they have a certain similarity to each other.
While Criminal Psychology is responsible for trying to understand the criminal, unraveling what psychological causes motivate him to perpetrate his acts, creating criminological profiles and estimating how to intervene so that he does not commit a crime again; Forensic Psychology’s main tasks are to collect, analyze and present evidence of a psychological nature to clarify a judicial process; that is, psychological expertise.
If you are interested in knowing more about the differences between Criminal Psychology and Forensic Psychology, it may be very useful for you to review this article.
2. Why do I want to study this subdiscipline?
Just like what happens when preparing a research paper, we must define the topic. It is essential to be completely clear about why you want to study this branch of psychology this way you can get the most out of the course and always go to work motivated.
Are you interested in taking part in the study of the phenomenon of crime and its causes? Or what really calls you is to clarify whether or not a person can be declared guilty of a crime for suffering from a mental disorder? If you answered “yes” to the second question, chances are that Forensic Psychology is your thing.
Of course, the above is only a vague example of the extensive work of both. But it is worth clarifying from the beginning what work you would like to do so that you know that what you are about to study will help you achieve it.
3. What requirements must I meet?
If up to this point you are more sure that Criminal Psychology is for you, Maybe now you are wondering what are the requirements that different universities request to take your master’s degree?, specialty or diploma. It goes without saying that each university requests different subjects and requirements, but unless you decide to do the bachelor’s degree with the full specialty (that is, the bachelor’s degree in criminal psychology), universities generally only request that you have a previous bachelor’s degree. in psychology (and if it is clinical, the better) in the case of masters and specialties.
In the case of graduates, on many occasions they only request that the performance of your work be similar; In this way, lawyers, penologists and criminologists can also take it.
3. What will my skills be at the end of the course?
Some of the tasks that you can do after specializing in Criminal Psychology are the following: carry out opinions in criminal psychology, practice as a prison psychologist to contribute to the social rehabilitation of criminals provide care and help prevent violence (for example in the community, school or work area), intervene in psychological emergency situations and provide first aid to criminals and antisocial subjects in risk situations, carry out criminological profiles in investigation agencies crime, assess violence and quantify it, and develop psychological prevention methods, among others.
4. Is it like the television series?
The most immediate answer to that question is a resounding NO The series have not only been responsible for spreading a huge and false fantastic halo around criminal psychologists, who are seen as fortune tellers who are perfectly capable of understanding everything a criminal thinks and will do just by seeing his “modus operandi”, but they have also stigmatized the prison population in general by promoting the use of stereotypes in some types of criminals, making each criminal see as if they were a brutal and sadistic being thirsty for blood, when reality is very far from these concepts.
5. Is this course really for me?
Finally, this is the most important question of all: Is this specialty/master/course really for you? Being a psychologist is hard work and a very big responsibility, but it is even more so when it comes to delving into the minds of criminals. To close this last point and also as a reflection, perhaps these questions will help you reaffirm if Criminal Psychology is your thing:
