Forensic Psychology

1. ForensicPsychology Courtney Facca

2. Job Description • Forensic psychology is often perceived as concerning criminal investigation and profiling. • Forensic psychologists deal with the assessment and the treatment of offenders and victims. • They work within the prison service, probation service, the police, hospitals, and higher education institutions. • They work closely with other professional agencies. • They use their expertise on psychological theory and research to assess whomever needs assessment.

3. Work Activities • One-on-one assessments; • Statistical analysis for forensic client profiling; • Preparing risk assessment and other formal written reports; • Research projects to evaluate the contribution of specific service elements, policy initiatives or group programme developments; • Delivering training to support forensic staff in areas such as stress management, or training on how to cope with understanding bullying and techniques for crisis (hostage) negotiation.

4. Job Details • Forensic psychologists have a salary ranging from $34,487 - $123,954. • Job-share and part-time working options are possible. Career breaks are possible depending on the employer. • Working hours are typically nine to five, with some flexibility required. Evening and weekend work may occasionally be necessary, for example if running groups at the weekend or in the evening.

5. Sources • Cherry, K. 2013. Forensic Psychology Careers. [online] Available at: http://psychology.about.com/od/psychologycareerprofiles/a/forensicpsych.htm [Accessed: 6 Sep 2013]. • Prospects.ac.uk. 2013. Forensic psychologist: Salary and conditions | Prospects.ac.uk. [online] Available at: http://www.prospects.ac.uk/forensic_psychologist_salary.htm [Accessed: 6 Sep 2013]. • Prospects.ac.uk. 2013. Forensic psychologist: Job description | Prospects.ac.uk. [online] Available at: http://www.prospects.ac.uk/forensic_psychologist_job_description.htm [Accessed: 6 Sep 2013].

6. Forensic Ballistic Analyst Alice Li

7. Description Education Specialty within forensic science Examines anything to do with firearms Includes collecting evidence, performing gunshot residue analysis, identifying caliber of bullets, writing reports, providing courtroom testimony Performs bulk of investigative work in a lab Examine crime scenes and/or analyze evidence Science courses in high school Requires at least bachelor in science-related field Acquire work experience as forensic science technician Complete apprenticeship and pursue specialization as forensic ballistic analyst

8. Salary Skills Required • Firearms knowledge • Be familiar with various firearm designs, configurations and uses • Crime scene investigation skills • Be able to determine type of gun in crime, origination point, whether weapon was involved in crime, etc. • Ballistics database familiarity • Match evidence with records, updates records • Communication skills • Required when communicating with law enforcement and legal authorities Average salary in US $56 000 Starting salary $20 000 Working for police agency at federal level average pay is $95 000

9. Bobby Dawson Firearms and ballistics expert who works dayshift in Las Vegas Crime Lab from CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

10. References Bobby Dawson - CSI. (n.d.). CSI. Retrieved September 6, 2013, from http://csi.wikia.com/wiki/Bobby_Dawson CSI bullet clean up with Sara Sidle and Bobby Dawson in the ballistics lab - YouTube. (n.d.). YouTube. Retrieved September 6, 2013, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U12Wm3PwT0U Hall, S. (n.d.). Forensic Ballistics Analyst Salary | eHow. eHow | How to Videos, Articles & More - Discover the expert in you.. Retrieved September 6, 2013, from http://www.ehow.com/info_12015942_forensic-ballistics-analyst-salary.html Media, D. (n.d.). Forensic Ballistic Analyst Facts | Chron.com. Work - Chron.com. Retrieved September 6, 2013, from http://work.chron.com/forensic-ballistic-analyst- 19965.html Media, D. (n.d.). How Much Does Ballistics Forensics Pay? | Chron.com. Work - Chron.com. Retrieved September 6, 2013, from http://work.chron.com/much- ballistics-forensics-pay-17206.html Media, D. (n.d.). Skills Required for a Ballistics Expert | Chron.com. Work - Chron.com. Retrieved September 6, 2013, from http://work.chron.com/skills-required-ballistics- expert-17083.html Roufa, T. (n.d.). Forensic Ballistics Expert Career Profile. Criminal Justice and Criminology Careers. Retrieved September 6, 2013, from http://criminologycareers.about.com/od/Career_Profiles/a/Career-Profile-Ballistics- Expert.htm

11. The Forensic Entomologist Career Richelle Aikins

12. Definition and Examples • Definition: The use of insects, and their arthropod relatives that inhabit decomposing remains to aid legal investigations. • Can be used to detect drugs, determine location of incidents and find the presence and time of the infliction of wounds. • 3 subfields • Urban: pest infestations and litigation between private parties. • Stored-product litigation over insect infestation of commercially distributed foods. • Medico-legal: evidence gathered through arthropod studies at crime scenes.

13. Education Requirements • Undergraduate bachelor of science majoring in Entomology or Forensic Science • Good knowledge of biology, chemistry, genetics, taxonomy, medical entomology, biochemistry, forensic law, parasitology, and general entomology.

14. Famous Cases: Danielle Van Dam Murder Trial • Kidnapping of 7 year old girl who’s decomposing body was found on the side of the road. • David Faulkner, local forensic entomologist, collected insects from Danielle’s remains and determined that the maggots began growing 10 to 12 days prior to the autopsy. • This aided in determining how she was kept and how long she had been dead for.

15. Salary Range and Images • Salary of $25,000-$75,000 averaging at $47,740 annually

16. Forensic Police Officer By: Sanjay Arunachalam

17. Job Description • A forensic police officer is a really broad profession but essentially they are people who collect hard evidence such as hair, finger prints, and blood samples from a crime scene. In addition to this there are officers that stay in the lab and they will analyze this data themselves and try to find out if it gives them a lead on potential a suspect. This career is definitely oriented around forensics because these officers use scientific techniques to apply themselves during the investigation of crime. • There are many specialized fields therefore one must have at least completed high school and they would have to have taken forensic science throughout university to get a degree. Another way to get into the forensic department would be to serve the police for at least 3 years and then study forensic science. • Debra Morgan from the TV show “Dexter” works some what as a forensic police officer, she does field work and tries to link the hard evidence found, to suspects in or out of their database. • The Mean salary of a forensics officer is around $50 000 this includes the salary of the officers that work in labs and on the field. The range of their salary could be from 36 000 or lower, to about 85 000 or higher.