Legal psychology: definition, salary and performance

We received several requests to talk more about forensic psychology. Although we have already published the text “Forensic Psychology“, there are differences and, here in Brazil, we talk about legal psychology and use very little the term forensic psychology.

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Forensic psychology is a specialization that psychologists can do in two ways:

– Attending the Contest of the Federal Council of Psychology and obtaining the title of Legal Psychologist.

– Doing a Postgraduate Degree in Legal Psychology. In general, latu sensu postgraduate courses (specializations) last between 18 and 24 months. There are several colleges that offer this specialization, such as the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), PUC, UCB, among others.

According to the UERJ website, the postgraduate course in legal psychology “aims to train psychologists to work in the interaction between Psychology and Law, focusing primarily on the areas of Justice for Children and Youth, the Criminal System and Family Courts”.

According to the Federal Council of Psychology, the psychologist who works in the area:

1) Acts in the field of Justice, collaborating in the planning and execution of citizenship policies, human rights and violence prevention, focusing its work on guiding the psychological data passed on not only to jurists but also to individuals who need such intervention, to enable the assessment of personality characteristics and provide subsidies to the judicial process, in addition to contributing to the formulation, revision and interpretation of laws

2) Evaluates the intellectual and emotional conditions of children, adolescents and adults in connection with legal processes, whether for mental disability and insanity, contested wills, acceptance into foster homes, possession and custody of children, applying psychological and/or psychological methods and techniques psychometry, to determine legal responsibility for criminal acts;

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3) Acts as a judicial expert in the civil, criminal, Labor, family, child and adolescent courts, preparing reports, opinions and expertise, to be attached to the processes, in order to provide assistance and guidance to children, adolescents, detainees and their families;

4) Guides the administration and collegiate bodies of the penitentiary system from a psychological point of view, using appropriate methods and techniques, to establish educational and professional tasks that inmates can carry out in penal establishments; provides psychological assistance to individuals who seek the Family Court, making diagnoses and using their own therapies, to organize and resolve issues raised; participates in hearings, providing information to clarify technical aspects in psychology to laypersons or readers of psychological expert work;

5) Acts in research and socio-educational and violence prevention programs, building or adapting psychological research instruments to meet the needs of children and adolescents at risk, abandoned or offenders;

6) Draws up petitions whenever requesting some measure or there is a need to communicate with the judge during the execution of expert reports, to be added to the processes;

7) Performs assessment of personality characteristics, through psychological screening, dangerousness assessment and other psychological examinations in the penitentiary system, for cases of requests for benefits, such as transfer to semi-open establishment, conditional release and/or similar ones.

8) Advises the penal administration on formulating penal policies and training personnel to apply them.

9) Conducts research aimed at building and expanding psychological knowledge applied to the field of law.

10) Provides psychological guidance to couples before the nuptial entry of the petition, as well as conciliation hearings.

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11) Provides assistance to children involved in situations that reach legal institutions, with a view to preserving their mental health.

12) It assists courts in the evaluation and psychological assistance of minors and their families, as well as assisting them in referring them to psychological therapy when necessary.

13) Provides assistance and guidance to detainees and their families with a view to preserving their health. It accompanies prisoners on parole, during hospitalization in a penitentiary hospital, as well as providing psychological support to their families.

14) Develops studies and research in the criminal area, constituting or adapting psychological research instruments.

Average Salary of Legal Psychology Professionals

Talking about average salary is always complicated, precisely because the average is an unreliable measure of statistics. In other texts here on the site we talk about the subject.

Labor Market – Psychology

Why do psychologists earn so poorly?

For legal psychology, we can say that salary represents an intermediate range of earnings, ranging from 4 to 6 thousand reais. In a 2012 announcement, published by the Court of Justice of São Paulo, the salary offered for the 55 vacancies was R$ 4,567.44 for a 40-hour week. The requirement to participate in the selection process was to have a degree in psychology.

To obtain the title of specialist by the Federal Council of Psychology, it is necessary to pass a Contest, which is opened by the CFP itself, whose requirements are:

have a certificate or diploma for completing a specialization course accredited by the CFP;
having been approved in the theoretical and practical exam, promoted by the CFP, and proving professional practice in the area for more than 2 (two) years