There are a  vast amount of different jobs for Psychologist in the Criminal Justice Field. The jobs explained in this editorial represent the foundations of Psychological evaluations and assessment by the different departments located in the Criminal Justice Field. 

There are many areas and fields that use Psychologist on an everyday basis in the United States and in the rest of the world. Some of the Jobs other than social psychological therapy on a private basis are located in the field of Criminal Justice. As explained and recanted many psychological evaluations and experimental jobs are located in the Criminal Justice Field.  Criminal Justice agencies need qualified Psychologists to help them evaluate criminals, workers, and prisoners in the law enforcement arena. Let us begin by exploring some of the jobs that exist in each area of Criminal Justice such as Law Enforcement, Courts, and Corrections. 

Law Enforcement

 Psychologists play an important role in the Law Enforcement area of Criminal Justice. They evaluate criminals to find out what their mental state of mind is at the time that they have committed a given crime. This evaluation may lead to the capture of a repeat offender establishing that the criminal has possibly had mental disorders in the past that have been evaluated and attended to on a regular basses. If a criminal leaves a ransom note, you can tell if they are in distress by the type of handwriting that the criminal displays on the note. Psychological disorders such as mental disorders could prohibit the capacity of learning for the criminal. They may not understand that their actions are reckless, dangerous and go against the civil grain of society, such as people that are members of gangs that participate in illegal activities according to Gross and Magaletta (2009).

Another Law Enforcement job that Psychologists perform is to evaluate Police Officers. Psychologist evaluates Police Officers to recommend them for the Police Force every day. A Police Officer should have many different qualities that are common among the Police Department some of which qualities include being incorruptible, well adjusted, people oriented, free of emotional reaction, and logical, Green, Edie / Heilbrun, Kirk / Fortune, William H. / Nietzel, Michael T. / (2010).

Psychologist performs interviews that evaluate the stature of Police Officers and the way they respond to their surroundings. Personal interviews, observations, and physical tests all provide good information for the Police Force to make a hiring decision, Green, Edie / Heilbrun, Kirk / Fortune, William H. / Nietzel, Michael T. / (2010). Structured interviews provide the Psychologist with a sense of reliability and the validity of their information whether resume or report from the Police Academy. All information that is obtained by the Psychologist is reviewed and later written into a record identifying why the Police Department should hire the applicant or why they should not hire the applicant. Green, Edie / Heilbrun, Kirk / Fortune, William H. / Nietzel, Michael T. / (2010).

Courts and Evaluation of Witnesses

The Psychologist evaluates witnesses that are brought to court for extraneous reasons. They are called upon to evaluate the sanity of a witness that is brought to trial whether by the prosecution or defence. Problems such as PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) or ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder) are common disorders that the Psychologist should test for during interviews and assessments. Whether or not the witness is suffering from depression or any other mental barrier that may affect their competency during trial is a decision that the Psychologists needs to make known. Psychologist are also used to identify cases of witnesses  that have health and mental problems that exclude them from being able to testify in trail such as  a witness clamming to identify another person but the witness has  bad eyesight and is unable to confidently identify the suspect. The witness could have a number of problems with their eyesight ranging from glaucoma, color blindness, and blindness that could affect the prosecutions ruling during the court trial. Is the witness a sociopathic liar, a person that cannot be trusted, is this disorder built in to their personality or social being?  These are some of the questions that a qualified Psychologist can provide answers for.

While evaluating child abuse, the Psychologists is to decipher whether there are grounds for a case against the suspect. When a Psychologist evaluates a victim of child abuse, they must enquire a series of questions that eliminate the accusation of false testimony. After evaluating the child’s situation, the recommendation for relocating the child is the next step to evaluating child abuse. Psychologists perform a number of tests on the child, parents, and witnesses that give them information such as emotional state, mental problems, and physical wellness. This information will eventually present the courts with a recommendation, Psychology Information Online.

Child custody is another area that using a Psychologist may be beneficial to the court, while performing an assessment.  Families that go through divorce may need a mediator to examine the best solution for the child during the divorce process. In most cases, the Psychologist will offer emotional support to the parents that are obligated to be fair and equal during the litigation of child support. A Psychologist evaluates the parents for any psychological problem that may hinder their parenting decisions: Franklin, Donald PhD, (2010).   

Corrections

Counselling is a major area of psychology, the different types of counselling such as suicide assessment, improving individual skills, and group skills all build a stronger foundation for the patient. Drugs, abuse, crisis intervention, and the rehabilitation of sex offenders all play an important role for the Corrections Officer and Psychologist that work together helping prisoners deal with social problems in the correctional systems.  Other areas of corrections involve the assessment of institutionalized inmates. This involves a number of correctional studies that implement the evaluation of the inmates work environment, how the inmates react to their punishments and how to treat inmates for social and psychological problems. Evaluation of environment adaptation displays how inmates react to other inmates and workers in the prison system. Assessments, studies, and tests absolutely improve the success rate of the overall correctional system. Thomas and Jones (Sept 1999)

Much like a doctor is needed to fix physical problems with the body a Psychologist is needed to fix problems with the brain. There is a need for testers, analyzers, and assessors for studies in the psychological field. Many areas in Criminal Justice have to have on staff Psychologists in order to operate efficiently.

References

Franklin, Donald PhD, (2010) http://www.psychologyinfo.com/forensic/criminal_court.html

Green, Edie / Heilbrun, Kirk / Fortune, William H. / Nietzel, Michael T. / (2010) © Cengage Learning, Wrightsman’s Psychology and the Legal System, 6e

Gross, Nicole R. / Magaletta, Philip R. Ph.D.(2009) The National Psychologist,Corrections system has career opportunities from source: http://nationalpsychologist.com/articles/art_v18n2_2.htm

O’Brien, Thomas\ Jones, Derek J. (Sept 1999) American Psychologist News Paper, A Balanced Approach for Corrections Policy Needed