How To Become A Psychological Profiler
Establish Criminal Patterns and Trends to Help Prevent Crimes as a Psychological Profiler
Most people have heard of a psychological profiler because of how they are portrayed on tv, but in actuality working in the field of forensic psychology has many more responsibilities than simply investigating crimes to find suspects. The role is varied and requires many diverse skills, but ultimately it is the perfect marriage of a psychology education with a law enforcement focus. You need to be patient, compassionate and meticulous in order to help law enforcement officers detect patterns of crime and also to help courts decide on the psychological profile of offenders to help determine their sentencing. Punishing criminals and stopping crimes is not always cut and dried, and so by establishing thought patterns, trends and predicting actions, a psychological profiler can become more proactive in preventing crime.
Training Obligations
To work as a psychological profiler or forensic psychologist requires a high level of education crossing over two fields. You have to start out by obtaining your bachelor's criminal justice degree in forensic psychology, psychology or criminal justice. The Chicago School of Professional Psychology or Kaplan University are two of the top recommended online schools to consider for another method of studying. You will then need to become licensed as a psychologist before you can move on to your law enforcement focus. You will also need to pursue advanced degrees like a masters degree or even a PhD with a forensic concentration to be skilled enough to be considered for this career choice. With this level of education, a psychological profiler can expect to earn a salary of around $53,000, but with added years of experience, you can expect an increase to almost $75,000 which is good compared to other careers in criminal justice.
Job Duties
There are different venues that a psychological profiler can work. First of all, they will be called in by the local law enforcement to help them predict the trends and actions of suspected arsonists, sexual predators and other wanted criminals. By analysing their behavior and previous actions, a psychological profiler hope to be able to detect where they will go and what they will do in order to catch them. They will also work with the court system by interviewing offenders waiting for trial or sentencing to determine their mental competency. Reports of this analysis will help the judge determine the appropriate punishment. Profilers will then testify as to their findings and are valuable assets to the corrections, judicial and law enforcement systems. A psychological profiler may have at one time been scoffed at and hard evidence was instead the sole motivation for punishment, but they today they play a strong role in many aspects of crime prevention and punishment, so it can be an interesting career choice for someone who wants to go beyond the standard conventions of a psychology profession.
Criminal Justice Degree |
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