Graduate programs in law and psychology

Each program provides graduate psychology students with the theoretical and scientific foundations of psychology through both didactic and experiential training.

Graduate students in each program work under the mentorship of one or two faculty members who serve as professional and academic advisers. The training we provide for our graduate students is sequential and cumulative: More support and direction are provided initially, with increased autonomy and independence later in the training. Faculty in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences are actively engaged in vibrant research initiatives to advance the science and practice of psychology.

Drexel University —a proven leader in multidisciplinary education— melds two exceptional, nationally accredited degree programs to provide students with an efficient and distinctive plan of study.

Although some academic institutions may offer joint law and psychology degrees, these are typically ad-hoc and non-integrated programs. Students are simultaneously enrolled in each degree program and earn their professional degrees in law and psychology over a total of seven years.

Scholars complete 85 semester credits required for the juris doctorate JD degree from the law school, and 91 quarter credits required for the doctoral PhD degree in Clinical Psychology. The final year of the program is dedicated to a full-time pre-doctoral clinical internship and completion of a doctoral dissertation.

Students gain an appreciation and competency in both traditions, mastering the methods, languages and epistemologies of each. Graduates carry a deep and broad understanding of social issues, enabling them to analyze existing policy and potential changes from a psycho-legal perspective.

Forensic psychology is an interdisciplinary field that merges psychology and law, and is often applied in other arenas such as public policy. From the principals of mental health assessment to legislative practices in juvenile justice, faculty in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences are experts on a broad range of forensic psychology research topics.

The department houses three faculty labs dedicated to clinical forensic psychology. The Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences is actively engaged in vibrant research initiatives to advance the science and practice of psychology.

Psychopathy, forensic psychology, forensic mental health assessment, testing in forensic assessment contexts, and drug policy research. Juvenile Justice Research and Reform Lab ; Forensic psychology and juvenile justice; Juvenile justice research and program evaluation; Juvenile justice policy and practice reform; Adolescent development and decision-making capacities; Miranda rights comprehension and juvenile confessions; Juvenile probation system reform; Dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline; Addressing racial and ethnic disparities in the justice system.

Psychological knowledge is considered in developing and evaluating numerous laws and policies dealing with topics ranging from child maltreatment to the use of science in the courtroom. The need for this information is not surprising when we consider that federal and state legislatures, courts, and administrative agencies create laws that are based upon psychological assumptions about how people act, how their actions can be controlled, whether state intervention is desirable, and how laws should be structured to achieve its goals.

These issues are no longer bounded by our national borders. The concerns we express in the United States are equally prevalent in other countries and require the same level of scrutiny. Conversely, psychology, policy and law scholarship increasingly seeks to understand the roles of law in society, and the importance of law to individuals and to society.

Although lawyers and policymakers are well equipped to draft the legal language, they typically are ill prepared to address these issues e. The Psychology, Policy and Law Program PPLP trains scholars interested in academic, research, or policy careers who will produce conceptually, theoretically, and methodologically sophisticated scholarship in the psychology, policy and law interface.

The Department of Psychology in cooperation with the College of Law offers graduate training in this area leading to the Ph. Students pursuing the Ph. Finally, opportunities exist for visiting scholars to spend time in residence working with PPLP faculty.

Students are not limited to focusing on one area or topic. Rather, we encourage students to identify their own career interests and goals, and we as a faculty strive to help them achieve these goals. Current faculty research interests include: Effects of Law and Legal Processes: Psychological research and scholarship can be used to study the effects of law on legal actors, litigants, and society.

For example, under what conditions will the legal system create or exacerbate psychological distress, and how should legal systems and legal processes be modified to minimize that distress? What effects do the legal processing and forced treatment of juveniles have on their future behavior? What are the causal mechanisms for explaining the high rate of lawyers who clinically screen for psychological distress, and what are the potential implications for legal services?

Forensic Science and Practice: The law and legal policy assign to mental health professionals a prominent role in aiding in the administration of criminal and civil law. These individuals are regularly asked to provide forensic assessments and testimony, and to treat, and intervene with, persons involved in legal systems. For example, what is the adequacy of the various forensic assessment techniques? What treatments and interventions should legal systems provide to offenders with special needs e.

How should laws be modified to minimize their adverse effects on persons who become involved in legal processes? Students interested in these issues are encouraged to apply for joint admission to The Clinical Psychology Program.

Research in this area covers a broad array of topics that focus on understanding and improving all aspects of the law, legal systems and legal processes.

What is the quality of the psychological information that is offered as scientific evidence in litigation, and how should the courts modify their rules to account for differing levels of rigor in scientific and clinical information?

Under what conditions should mediation and other alternative dispute resolution ADR processes be used as alternatives to litigation? Violent and Criminal Behavior: Psychology has an important role in studying the causes and consequences of juvenile and adult violence and crime in familial and other settings. Examples of this focus include the description, explanation and prediction of such behaviors; the development of treatments and interventions to modify these behaviors; the consequences for victims of violent and criminal encounters; and the effectiveness of legal policies for responding to offenders and victims.

The School of Social and Policy Studies SSPS focuses on the understanding of the effects of social systems, communities, and cultures on human behavior. The mission of the School is to prepare professionals to deal with the complex social issues affecting the well-being of individuals, families, communities, organizations, and nations and to develop theories, methods, applications, and policy initiatives that address these issues.

No transfer credit will be allowed for courses that were taken more than five years earlier. Transfer credits allowed in the School of Social and Policy Studies may reduce the number of units a student must complete in order to obtain the degree. All courses for potential transfer credit will be considered on a case-by-case review basis.

Due to the interdisciplinary nature of the program, the review will focus on how well this interdisciplinary character was developed in the course s proposed for transfer credit. The MOB is a 30 unit program in the College of Organizational Studies, consisting of 17 units of core organizational psychology curriculum. No research project or thesis is required. The MOB degree can be completed in 12 to 18 months, after which students can matriculate into either the PsyD program or the PhD program.

This dual program may also be completed concurrently. For more information, please contact the campus admissions office. The institute is in a unique position to provide training and services because of the breadth of its activities: it offers specialized services and is in touch with critical current public and criminal justice system needs.

Thus, the institute can ensure that student training and competencies will meet the current critical needs of the employment marketplace.

In addition, students gain excellent experience while contributing directly to community needs. Psychologists are needed to work with increasing numbers of refugees and immigrants, to manage greater diversity in the workplace, and to wrestle with such international issue as global unrest and the lingering effects of oppression.

Few professionals understand the psychological bases of intercultural relations. A growing need for cultural psychologists was evidenced in the international arena in the recent reconciliation efforts in South Africa, China, and the United States. The national and international focus on developing initiatives to promote diversity in the work place is another example.

An increased number of psychologists with intercultural relations expertise is needed to assist these organizations and others. Culture and Human Behavior program graduates will be among an elite group of competent and highly skilled professionals in a growth area of high need. Through the program coursework, practicum experiences, project, and dissertation, students will develop skills and competencies to be able to: design and develop training systems manage a diverse organization conduct human relations workshops and consultations conduct an organizational assessment and analysis facilitate intercultural collaboration and conflict resolution work effectively with people of different cultural and ethnic backgrounds teach college-level multicultural courses develop and implement organizational intervention strategies to promote equity plan, develop, implement, and assess diversity and inclusion initiatives.

Areas of Study The program focuses on the cultural bases of human behavior. Psychology, sociology, and anthropology are combined in an interdisciplinary training model. Particular emphasis is on bridging cultural theory with the practical realities of everyday contexts of learning and thinking. This broad-based program involves educational experiences that incorporate personal growth, scholarly research, and internship. Applicants can choose to study in the general curriculum or select one of two emphasis areas: diversity training and training technology or international psychology.

Graduates will have general expertise in applying cultural psychology principles in research, program evaluation, diversity and inclusion training, consulting, group facilitation, organizational assessment, instructional technology, strategic change planning, and organizational development.

Culture and. Human Behavior Curriculum Students take a combination of cultural psychology and organizational psychology courses. The mix of courses provides training from a systems perspective. The full program involves four years of study, and may be completed in approximately three years by those with sufficient credit for previous graduate level course work.

The amount of time it takes an individual to complete the program depends on a number of factors, including course load, external responsibilities, and research-based thesis writing experience. A personal growth requirement provides students with first-hand experience in community building. Students work together with their cohort from the day they being the program. The first year personal growth requirement focuses on awareness. Second year students focus on cultural psychology theory, third year students focus on skill building, and fourth year students focus on leadership development.

Internship placements include community agencies, businesses, governmental agencies and educational settings. It includes such areas as police psychology, psychology of crime and behavior, correctional psychology including institutional and community corrections , psychology and law, victim services, and the delivery and evaluation of intervention and treatment programs for juvenile and adult offenders. Students graduating from the program should be able to analyze, interpret, organize, apply, and transmit existing knowledge in the field of forensic psychology.

The overall mission of the forensic psychology program is to educate students to be highly knowledgeable about he various methodologies and statistical analyses critical in conducting well-designed research. The Castleton State College Psychology Department is currently the home of the professional periodical Criminal Justice and Behavior, an international journal that publishes cutting-edge research in forensic psychology.

Graduate students may have considerable opportunity to participate in the scholarly and editorial process of the journal. The program will not provide training in mental health services, such as counseling, psychotherapy, clinical examinations, or independent clinical practice.

The program will also prepare students for acceptance into doctorate programs in psychology, criminal justice, and political science. All students are expected to participate in the program on a full-time basis. The Project The project must be researched based. The final thesis manuscript submitted to the thesis committee should be of a quality that would merit submission to a scholarly journal in the appropriate field.

Students will be encouraged to engage in the submission process. The Thesis Committee The selected committee must meet the following criteria: The committee will consist of at least two and no more than four members.