Criminal Psychology - how to get into it?

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gbrlacckibe

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What would it take to get into the field of Criminal Psych (not forensic)? I'm getting my BS in psychology right now and I'm aware I would obviously have to continue my education. From what I've picked up on, a Masters degree is not enough & I'd have to get my PhD... it also seems like Law Enforcement/FBI/Legal Firms would be my employment, but again this is all based off of Google... I'm definitely interested in the field of criminal psych but it seems very narrow and I'm not sure where I would be able to find work and make use of my degree. I don't have any family/family friends who are in the field of psych in any way, much less anyone with anything higher than an associates degree to use as a resource.
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gbrlacckibe said:
What would it take to get into the field of Criminal Psych (not forensic)? I'm getting my BS in psychology right now and I'm aware I would obviously have to continue my education. From what I've picked up on, a Masters degree is not enough & I'd have to get my PhD... it also seems like Law Enforcement/FBI/Legal Firms would be my employment, but again this is all based off of Google... I'm definitely interested in the field of criminal psych but it seems very narrow and I'm not sure where I would be able to find work and make use of my degree. I don't have any family/family friends who are in the field of psych in any way, much less anyone with anything higher than an associates degree to use as a resource.
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If by "criminal psych" you mean criminal profiling and/or being a consultant regarding individual criminal behavior, you don't need to be a psychologist at all. The vast majority of people doing this (and there aren't that many) are specially trained and/or very experienced law enforcement officials. I think Robert Ressler, who is now dead, didn't have any formal training in psychology at all, nor did John Douglas. The science behind this is dubious.

If you mean studying the history of crime(s), its patterns, specific crimes/criminals and their motivations, this is the field of "criminology "and has little to with psychology.
 
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Eh, there really isn’t a PhD in Criminal Psych. People might have studied criminology or been clinically trained with forensic/criminal research interests. People might parlay research areas like psychopathy and violence risk into work with the agencies you mentioned. Aside from law enforcement work, there really isn’t a clear career trajectory that leads to those type of positions.
 
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gbrlacckibe said:
I guess I'm not 100% sure. I just know I don't want to be sitting in an office, at a desk, for hours on end every single day.
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Well, sorry to say, that's the vast majority of white-collar/high education jobs.
 
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erg923 said:
If by "criminal psych" you mean criminal profiling and/or being a consultant regarding individual criminal behavior, you don't need to be a psychologist at all. The vast majority of people doing this (and there aren't all that many) are specially trained and/or very experienced law enforcement officials. I think Robert Restler, who is now dead, didn't have any formal training in psychology at all, nor did John Douglas. The science behind this is dubious.

If you mean studying the history of crime(s), its patterns, specific crimes/criminals and their motivations, this is the field of "criminology "and has little to with psychology.
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I think I mean more the first option, more of "profiling" and looking into why criminals do what they do, their reactions, and their behaviors. I have considered going straight into police work after college, but I guess I don't know how I'd go from being a patrol officer to being officially on the psychology side of things.
 
gbrlacckibe said:
I think I mean more the first option, more of "profiling" and looking into why criminals do what they do, their reactions, and their behaviors.
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The you need to be around criminals for a while. And move up from there (detective, Captain, etc.). You can skip that step an apply directly to the FBI after undergrad, but if you don't have that experience than they will be looking for a special skill (language, accounting, logistics, etc).
 
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WisNeuro said:
I hear forestry is good for this sort of thing.
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Yeah I know, my "dream job" is not realistic at all... really just a dream haha! Yet another reason I try and reach out on forums like this to make sure I can get clear ideas / a reality check
 
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It might just be a matter of being a bit creative and flexible in terms of what you want to do and in what field. As others have mentioned (and as the link above indicates), when it comes to profiling, all of those folks are FBI agents, with most having a bachelor's degree and subsequent field and classroom training.

My advice: I'd start by trying to identify what you see yourself doing day-to-day. What interests you, what types of jobs in the past have you been able to tolerate vs. not, etc. Make an unabashedly honest appraisal of your personal strengths and weaknesses. Then go from there. Other folks will likely have additional advice/input.
 
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Yes, it sounds as though you would be a better fit in the law enforcement/criminology space.

gbrlacckibe said:
I think I mean more the first option, more of "profiling" and looking into why criminals do what they do, their reactions, and their behaviors.
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This is pretty left field, but some nonfiction writers and investigative journalists have produced some riveting longform articles and books about criminals. There’s more license to speculate also, though some take it way too far.
 
BuckeyeLove said:
who was that dude that was on Criminal Minds at first and then went over to Homeland? I think he also was in Princess Bride. That guy seems to know a lot about criminal psychology.
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You see, those guys get all the glory on TV, but for my money Forensic Neuropsych is where the brave guys go. You try being locked in a small room with a possible felon, no gun or means of self-defense other than a button, and convincing him to complete a Wisconsin Card Sort after two hours of previous cognitive tests. There is a moment of what did I get myself into...oh, grad school. Anyone can be a tough guy with a gun on their hip. Try being one with just funny pictures.
 
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Sanman said:
You see, those guys get all the glory on TV, but for my money Forensic Neuropsych is where the brave guys go. You try being locked in a small room with a possible felon, no gun or means of self-defense other than a button, and convincing him to complete a Wisconsin Card Sort after two hours of previous cognitive tests. There is a moment of what did I get myself into...oh, grad school. Anyone can be a tough guy with a gun on their hip. Try being one with just funny pictures.
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This is probably the truest thing that has ever been said on this forum.
 
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The only thing portrayed on TV shows/documentaries, from what I have seen anyway, celebrate the successes and wonders of criminal profilers. But I am not sure how solid the field/work really is in terms of its reliability/validity when one takes a more empirical approach...as opposed to a speculative approach that uses statistics from known crimes/criminals as their source?

Isn't theree some debate about their work with the Atlanta child murders, as well as a few other high profile cases?
 
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Yup, my grad program had a strong forensic psych department and they said that profiling is more of an art than a science. Also, generally profilers aren't psychologists but law enforcement. They said that BD Wong's job in L&O: SVU does not exist in real life.
 
cara susanna said:
Yup, my grad program had a strong forensic psych department and they said that profiling is more of an art than a science. Also, generally profilers aren't psychologists but law enforcement. They said that BD Wong's job in L&O: SVU does not exist in real life.
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Skoda's da man right there.
 
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cara susanna said:
Yup, my grad program had a strong forensic psych department and they said that profiling is more of an art than a science. Also, generally profilers aren't psychologists but law enforcement. They said that BD Wong's job in L&O: SVU does not exist in real life.
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Wayne Williams didn't do that ****
 
gbrlacckibe said:
What would it take to get into the field of Criminal Psych (not forensic)? I'm getting my BS in psychology right now and I'm aware I would obviously have to continue my education. From what I've picked up on, a Masters degree is not enough & I'd have to get my PhD... it also seems like Law Enforcement/FBI/Legal Firms would be my employment, but again this is all based off of Google... I'm definitely interested in the field of criminal psych but it seems very narrow and I'm not sure where I would be able to find work and make use of my degree. I don't have any family/family friends who are in the field of psych in any way, much less anyone with anything higher than an associates degree to use as a resource.
Click to expand...

This interest comes up from time to time in the forum, and unfortunately, criminal profiling and criminology are completely separate from the field of psychology. I can’t imagine a psych degree wouldn’t help a little on that path though, if you spin it a certain way to employers in law enforcement, perhaps? If you’re willing to work your way up from the bottom to a detective, etc, law enforcement might be your best bet. There will be aspects of it that are also very desk-job type of work at times, too, though.

One last thought, although it might be way in left field: forensic anthropology (usually within the biological branch) is very indirectly related, but is a graduate shool option if you like solving mysteries via remains. A professor I had was called up from time to time as a consultant to examine remains/skeletons and identify cause of death, sex, approximate age, etc. which I thought was pretty cool. In his own way, he was helping solve crimes, although he wasn’t directly involved in detective work. Those folks sometimes end up being interviewed for their expertise on the ID channel.

Speaking of SVU, if you’ve watched the show long enough, you’ve probably had the privilege of seeing Olivia Benson get mad enough at a criminal to angry-whisper, and her angry-whisper is as fun as Ice T’s snazzy one-liners!
 
foreverbull said:
This interest comes up from time to time in the forum, and unfortunately, criminal profiling and criminology are completely separate from the field of psychology. I can’t imagine a psych degree wouldn’t help a little on that path though, if you spin it a certain way to employers in law enforcement, perhaps? If you’re willing to work your way up from the bottom to a detective, etc, law enforcement might be your best bet. There will be aspects of it that are also very desk-job type of work at times, too, though.

One last thought, although it might be way in left field: forensic anthropology (usually within the biological branch) is very indirectly related, but is a graduate shool option if you like solving mysteries via remains. A professor I had was called up from time to time as a consultant to examine remains/skeletons and identify cause of death, sex, approximate age, etc. which I thought was pretty cool. In his own way, he was helping solve crimes, although he wasn’t directly involved in detective work. Those folks sometimes end up being interviewed for their expertise on the ID channel.

Speaking of SVU, if you’ve watched the show long enough, you’ve probably had the privilege of seeing Olivia Benson get mad enough at a criminal to angry-whisper, and her angry-whisper is as fun as Ice T’s snazzy one-liners!
Click to expand...

Word...
 
foreverbull said:
This interest comes up from time to time in the forum, and unfortunately, criminal profiling and criminology are completely separate from the field of psychology. I can’t imagine a psych degree wouldn’t help a little on that path though, if you spin it a certain way to employers in law enforcement, perhaps? If you’re willing to work your way up from the bottom to a detective, etc, law enforcement might be your best bet. There will be aspects of it that are also very desk-job type of work at times, too, though.

One last thought, although it might be way in left field: forensic anthropology (usually within the biological branch) is very indirectly related, but is a graduate shool option if you like solving mysteries via remains. A professor I had was called up from time to time as a consultant to examine remains/skeletons and identify cause of death, sex, approximate age, etc. which I thought was pretty cool. In his own way, he was helping solve crimes, although he wasn’t directly involved in detective work. Those folks sometimes end up being interviewed for their expertise on the ID channel.

Speaking of SVU, if you’ve watched the show long enough, you’ve probably had the privilege of seeing Olivia Benson get mad enough at a criminal to angry-whisper, and her angry-whisper is as fun as Ice T’s snazzy one-liners!
Click to expand...

I know where you live MFer (said in a whisper...with a gun to my head)
 
erg923 said:
I know where you live MFer (said in a whisper...with a gun to my head)
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Ha! This sounds like the HBO version of SVU. NBC keeps it cleaner for the kids (well, relatively speaking, for a show with a premise centered around sexual assault and exploitation of adults and minors).
 
foreverbull said:
Ha! This sounds like the HBO version of SVU. NBC keeps it cleaner for the kids (well, relatively speaking, for a show with a premise centered around sexual assault and exploitation of adults and minors).
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Wife watches Criminal Minds, SVU, NCIS..all that. I actually cant stand/handle half if it, and then our oldest walks in and she thinks its fine/cool!
My youngest already says: "Daddy, I wanna snuggle a Law'n Order marathon with you an mommy before I go bed??!!

Yes, of course I love every second of it...but I'm not sure if I should?!
 
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erg923 said:
Wife watches Criminal Minds, SVU, NCIS..all that. I actually cant stand/handle half if it, and then our oldest walks in and she thinks its fine/cool!
My youngest already says: "Daddy, I wanna snuggle a Law'n Order marathon with you an mommy before I go bed??!!

Yes, of course I love every second of it...but I'm not sure if I should?!
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That's funny! I can only tolerate SVU out of those...too many of those shows are overkill for me. Although it does seem weird that there are so many shows that are completely centered around violence/murder...and that they're so popular. I like that SVU is about bringing victims justice, but it's week after week of variations of the same thing.

Of course I say that, and I'm just about to start the Ted Bundy documentary series on Netflix...
 
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