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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Forensic and Legal Psychology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1439874

Training, Practice, and Career Considerations in Forensic Psychology: Results from a Field Survey of Clinical and Non-Clinical Professionals in the United States

Provisionally accepted
  • 1 Department of Psychology, John Jay College of Criminal Justice and The Graduate Center, The City University of New York, New York, New York, United States
  • 2 Private practice, New York, United States
  • 3 Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences and Thomas R. Kline School of Law, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
  • 4 Private Practice, Philadelphia, United States
  • 5 Center on Children, Families, and the Law, Department of Psychology, and College of Law, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska, United States
  • 6 Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, United States
  • 7 Private Practice, Chicago, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The current field survey describes the identities, training, practices, and careers of 351 U.S. forensic psychologists. Findings are presented for clinical forensic psychologists (n = 323) with additional consideration for those working in institutions (n = 119), private practice (n = 107), or both (n = 90), and separately for non-clinical forensic psychologists (n = 35). The sample was predominantly middle-aged, White, and female. Participants reported various training paths to the field, and professional settings and activities in the field. Student loan debt was common and significant in clinical Forensic psychologists. Income was generally high, with trends in higher incomes for private practice, board certification, urban areas, and certain geographic regions. Gendered income disparities were common, particularly among those later in their careers and in private practice, with relative parity only observed among early-career clinical forensic psychologists in institutions. Career satisfaction was generally high, with some important barriers noted. Overall, the limited representation of those with historically marginalized cultural identities restricted further consideration and understanding of these important factors in the field. Additional data and discussion are provided for these and other areas of demographics and lived experiences, training and related financial considerations, professional practices (including settings, activities, and clinical test use), and career considerations (including income, benefits, retirement planning, and satisfaction). Together, these data and related discussions offer important insights for prospective and current trainees entering the field, professionals seeking to navigate and advance their careers, and field leaders aiming to contribute to the ongoing development of forensic psychology.

    Keywords: forensic psychology, training, Practice, Career, Income, Debt, Satisfaction

    Received: 28 May 2024; Accepted: 06 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 LaDuke, DeMatteo, Brank and Kavanaugh. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Casey LaDuke, Department of Psychology, John Jay College of Criminal Justice and The Graduate Center, The City University of New York, New York, 10017, New York, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.