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Criminal Justice Psychologist

Criminal justice psychologists work with offenders to assess and provide treatment to help them make changes in their lives and reduce the risk of reoffending.

Tasks & duties

Criminal justice psychologists may do some or all of the following:

assess the lifestyle, emotional and behavioural problems of offenders on a one-to-one or group basis and target the underlying problems causing crime to reduce the chance of reoffending
design and provide treatment programmes for individuals and groups
prepare reports, including risk assessment, about prisoners for the Parole Board and courts
provide advice to parts of the criminal justice system and Department of Corrections such as judges, the Parole Board and probation officers
train other staff
evaluate the programme development of a government department or organisation
industry research, such as risk assessments, offending rates, type of offending and special treatment programme assessments
supervise programme facilitators who present programmes written by psychologists

Skills & knowledge

Criminal justice psychologists need to have:

good people and communication skills
observational skills
knowledge of criminal behaviour
up-to-date knowledge of theories and research relating to offending
knowledge of treatment and assessment methods such as psychometric tests
understanding of how the criminal justice system works
interviewing skills
the ability to assess and treat psychological factors that lead to offending
good research and report-writing skills

Entry requirements

To become a criminal justice psychologist you usually require a postgraduate diploma in clinical psychology, or an equivalent qualification.

Secondary education

A tertiary entrance qualification is required to enter further training. Useful subjects include English and maths.

Training on the job

The Department of Corrections offers on-going education programmes for its staff, but for those working independently the New Zealand Psychological Society runs workshops and training courses several times a year for its members.

Registration

Criminal justice psychologists need to be registered with the New Zealand Psychologists Board.

Useful experience

Previous experience working with people in a helping or counselling role is useful for working as a criminal justice psychologist. Volunteering at places like Samaritans and Youthline can also be useful experience.