My Forensic Psychologist

Hello, everyone my name is Gabriel Fuentes and I am a criminal justice major. The reason i am taking this course is that I am very interested with our criminal law system and how it operates With my free time I love to skate, surf and read, my future planes are to become part of the United States Marshall fugitive task force unit.

Ever since I was a little girl I’ve always dreamed about working in the field of law. Growing up my favorite TV shows were and still is “The First 48” and “Criminal Minds”. Both shows portray investigating, administration, and problem-solving, which are three components I will be assisting in my career. The last three years I’ve attended Tennessee State University, I’ve came to the conclusion that my major being “Criminal Justice” is meant for my life. Of course Criminal Justice is a broad topic with various occupations and skills you’ll have to select and understand. The list of duties, responsibilities, salary, employment change & outlook in the next year, unemployment rate, and education in the field are essentials one needs to be successful

Research shows that the median annual salary for psychologists in general is $70,700 and salaries for forensic psychologists of the top 10% earned more than $114,290 (“Forensic Psychology Salary: What You’ll Earn”, 2017). According to “Forensic Psychologist Salary” (see website: [ http://www.payscale.com/], forensic psychologists start at $60,000 annually and depending on the level of experience, the salary ranges from $60,000 to $118,000 (n.d.). The potential benefits of this career are the choice of working in private practice or in a public sector, the chance to serve the community, challenge and risk in dealing with a criminal justice field, high job satisfaction, and high salaries (“Forensic Psychology”, 2016). Other benefits for full-time forensic psychologists receive full health coverage, which includes health insurance, life insurance, or paid time off (“Forensic Psychology- Masters Degree & Salary Information”, 2017), and dental and vision coverage (“Forensic Psychologist Salary, n.d.). Career advancements for this field is education and experience. Experience in law enforcement, legal procedures, and computer science may also help with career advancement in this field (“Forensic Psychology Salary: What You’ll Earn, 2017). The forensic psychology field is a growing field. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook, the employment of psychologists is expected to increase by 19% between 2014-2024, which is faster than the average of all occupations (2015). This field is a growing field and those with a doctoral degree have higher prospects of finding

This field allows hands on interaction with all different situations and come across different people. I pride myself in being one of the few American-Indians interested in pursuing a career in law enforcement. I have done research on Rutgers, and it makes me content to know that Rutgers offers such programs that allow transfer students like me to relocate at ease. Also, I have learned that Rutgers is both energetic and prominent not only to the fabric of the nation, but worldwide as well. Due to the selection of courses and to the diversity of the student body and faculty, I know that I will be vastly enriched culturally, socially and educationally. I look forward to face the new challenges in my life after graduating Hudson County Community College to university and becoming a student at this highly accredited

This was a very short semester, but I did learn quite a few things. The chapters I was more interested on were 4-6. Chapter 4 dealt with communication skills which are a very important aspect in Law Enforcement without it we would be lost. Communication is the simple process of which information is transferred from one person to another. (Hess & Orthmann, 2012, pg. 103) Some people excel at it because they were born being very sociable, others have a hard time trying to get that message to others. Practice can fix this problem over time, so there won’t be any barriers or problems getting that message send in time to get the proper help fast. Next it was Chapter 5 this chapter described all the decision-making strategies, and problem-solving

As a child, if you asked me what I wanted to be when I grow up, and I answered a lawyer undoubtingly. Once my parents denied signing any of my financial aid forms for school, all of my optimism for that dream went downhill. One thing that has always been consistent is my love for fighting for what is right for the people. My passion for the law and people aided my decision to join the military. Upon my retirement from the military, I was compelled to enroll in the Criminal Justice program at Saint Leo University. After attending a few courses, I deliberated on becoming a forensic psychologist. I believed that becoming a forensic psychologist would allow me to be involved in legal cases while being the eyes and the ears of the courtroom. As time went on I pondered, if I would be helping people or the court system. Now, my interest in the subfields of psychology lies between forensics and counseling. I am not as knowledgeable in either area, so I plan on taking a course in each class to see what feels right. Being in the military all these years, have made me desire to do what my instincts say I was born to do.

After three in a half years of serving in the United States’ Army, I had decided to leave the service. I returned home to St. Petersburg, Florida where I enrolled in St. Petersburg College. After, obtaining my Associates’ degree from SPC, I transferred to the University of South Florida where I studied for my bachelor’s degree in criminology. After one semester at USF, I had decided that I needed to get some experience under my belt, because I knew that a four year degree would not necessarily guarantee me a respectable career. Originally, I wanted to join the St. Petersburg Police Department. They seemed to have a much diversified agency, and I felt comfortable with the area because I was born and raised in St. Petersburg. There I was putting on my tie, brushing my hair and shining my shoes, I was preparing to meet with the St. Petersburg’s Assistant Police Chief in the morning.

This course fits in with my other courses because I am in the criminal justice field, which serves the public. It is a course that I need to better improve the skills I have been taught throughout my journey at NAU. It will help me have a better understanding of how I can be more successful at my job in public administration. Working with the public requires a different and unique skill set than many other jobs, therefore learning more about myself as a leader, person, and employee will allow me to better serve the people. My core courses all involved learning the criminal justice process, terms, and information, to gain the knowledge needed to graduate in this particular subject. This course will help me combine my knowledge obtained from my previous courses and help me to utilize them in the real world of public administration. It is not just about knowing the information about your particular field, but being able to work productively in a work environment that requires you to work with the public and have the proper communication skills to achieve your wanted end result. This course will help enhance my ability to apply for a job, get the job, and succeed at that job.

I have been taking critical fundamental classes towards earning my bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice for four years now. During this time I have learned a great deal about criminal justice; based on the scientific study of crime by focusing on its history, causes and consequences of crime as well as the responses of the criminal justice system to crime, criminals, and the victim of theses crimes. Inside of the justice system I also have gotten acquainted with the substantive criminal law that defines criminal behavior by analyzing the general principles of criminal liability. Similarly, with examining American courts decisions to interpret the ruling and doctrines. Together with, many other informative courses such as, theories of crime

Whenever I found out that we were reading Sherlock Holmes I got excited because who doesn’t love Sir Doyle? I’m not an avid reader of his collections but his stories and his characters got me interested in forensic science and criminal justice. Working in the field rather in a lab sounds more

The course Ethics and Policy in criminal justice is one of the most important courses to be taken by criminal justice and/or sociology majors, because ethics is the infrastructure to these two majors. Individuals who major in criminal justice and sociology use a vast amount of discretion based upon their moral reasoning. The way one individual thinks the next person will not. Many law enforcement officers and sociologist are faced with tough encounters and questions; what to report who to arrest or not to arrest, and who to comply with. Ethics and Policy is a important course for these to majors because helps one understand what is ethically correct when working in these fields.

My interest in forensic psychology came from a television show “Criminal Minds”, that brighten my arisen to want to know more about this field. Being a psychology major and minor in criminal justice has gotten me a step further to my goal as becoming a forensic psychologist. What most exciting about becoming a forensic psychologist is that I will be setting of a courtroom or a police station where I will be getting that face to face interaction with the criminals. My favorite part about forensic psychology is that I will be able to evaluate the criminal and testify about them on what I think was the cause of their psychological breakthrough. Even though I will be working long hours and stuck in a courtroom and a police station all day is something

To be proficient in this field, I still have some learning to do and look forward to the task given to me. Although this course did teach me a significant amount of information concerning criminal justice administration, and the three areas surrounding it, which include the police, courts, and corrections there is still more to be learned. With this course it can be determined that without administrators keeping the various organizations running effectively and efficiently, there would be constant issues.

At first, I was hesitant. Psychology was the first Advanced Placement class I was enrolled in. This made learning the material vaguely at such a fast pace onerous for me. Once I started to gain control of my education, learning the material became a lot easier for me. However, psychology continued to challenge me to question more and research outside of class. As the year went on my love for the subject flourished. I began to explore jobs that are affiliated with psychology. This lead me to something I was not even aware of at the time, forensic psychology.

Education is the difference between achieving success as a forensic psychologist and being forced to find another career. Overall, a person planning to work as a forensic psychologist should focus on psychology, criminology, or forensics (“Forensic Psychology Careers”). The basic overview of training obligations begins with “a