Expert: Bruce Borkosky, Psy.D. - 8/5/2011

Question
Hello there.

I have a question concerning Criminal Psychology, Forensic Psychology, and Criminology. I am a Psychology major, and the Criminal Justice field interests me too. I would like to be a counselor too, so I'm torn lol.

My question is, are Criminology and Criminal Psychology the same? Is Forensic Psychology and the same also? How are they used, and what area of study should I focus on concerning criminal profiling? What will work best?

Thankyou:)

Answer
Hi Christopher, thank for your questions.

are Criminology and Criminal Psychology the same? Is Forensic Psychology and the same also?
-----------probably not, since they use different words (no pun intended).

How are they used
------------------ Criminology is a field that studies criminals and sundry institutions in general. It includes non-personality influences (social, community, societal, etc) influences on crime. I'm not really sure about criminal psychology - I haven't seen it used or, if I have, I cant recall. Forensic psychology takes psychological research and applies it to various legal situations. Generally, there are two 'types' of forensic psychologists. There are the academics, who study - I could you could call it "basic science", such as eye witness abilities. Most of us, though, work "in the trenches", evaluating clients and trying to testify as to how this particular client meets (or doesnt meet) the legal criteria at issue before the court.

what area of study should I focus on concerning criminal profiling?
--------I think this really depends, primarily, on which organization you are trying to have hire you. For example, the FBI might have one set of criteria, while another organization, such as FDLE, might have another set of criteria. Since this is not a long-time, well entrenched field, the criteria varies. The activities of the job likely varies from organization to another, as well.

Basically, in job searching, the more skills you have, the more valuable you are. So, for example, how many certifications or licenses do you hold? Are you a certified police officer? Do you hold a concealed weapons or high level security officer certificate? What internships, such as criminalist, have you completed? If your school doesn't have any, why not create one for yourself? If you want to understand criminals, you will have to get to know them and their crime scenes. Have you done any studies on criminals? How many hours have you spent interviewing them? It's pretty easy, by the way - In florida, that is all public record. You can just write to them, and ask to interview them.
Bruce