In a world where law and psychology converge, pursuing a career in forensic psychology as a law student can be an exhilarating yet demanding journey.
Intersection of Law and Forensic Psychology
Law and psychology intersect at many facets, unlike how people may believe. Though, it is one of those topics that are not in the forefront of the Judiciary because our country is so overburdened and overworked pertaining to which the mental health aspect takes a back seat. Although mental health awareness is slowly gaining traction, there is still a lot to be done to dispel the stigma around psychological evaluation and therapy.
Forensic psychology includes as the name suggests psychological evaluations, criminal profiling, witness testimonies, victim support, correctional settings, child psychology, etc. All these are extremely important aspects both from an investigative and legal point of view; however, owing to lack of adequate emphasis, these aspects sometimes get missed or lost in the process.
An apt example of this is the deplorable state of our country’s juvenile detention centers wherein the children are not being monitored. In more than half of the cases, people being put in these detention centers are not even juveniles. What our juvenile detention centers really need is a proper evaluation of the minors and to see to it that we construct curriculum catering to their needs considering how the main objective of these centers is to rehabilitate individuals to join the society and attain quality of life. Instead in reality we just end up minting more and more criminals, where no one is actually getting rehabilitated to join the society after serving their sentence. This defeats the whole purpose of having such systems in the first place. Moreover, rehabilitation is not just limited to having a productive jail time but also assimilating into the society post it such as getting a job, being equipped with more adaptive behavior skills, etc.
Bridging the Gap
For a law student aspiring to specialize in forensic psychology, effective communication plays a pivotal role because you are often asked why you are switching careers after finishing a 5 year degree. Especially because there isn’t much of a future scope in this career field as law and psychology don’t really intersect in India. I’ve had to make my peers understand again and again how psychology is indeed very deeply intertwined with law and the profound impact it can have on the legal system. How we do need to design and implement policies, keeping in mind their psychological impact as well. Sharing my passion for understanding human behaviour, mental health evaluations, and the application of psychological principles in the legal context was the first step towards fostering a collaborative environment between legal and psychological perspectives.
Challenges of Balancing Two Worlds
After navigating through the complexities of law school and deciding to pursue a specialization in forensic psychology, I realized that this change is not without its own set of challenges. Both the fields are in tandem with each other in every sense. After working with independent advocates all throughout my law school and specializing in criminal and civil litigation, I shifted to the field of psychology and started working for Karma. It was a big shock to my internal system. It took me a while to understand how things actually work in the field of psychology and I am still in that process of learning and unlearning certain things that I was conditioned to believe in the last 5 years of law school. There are still moments when my heart is torn between my passion for law and my desire to delve deeper into the human mind.
Emotional Availability and the Unspoken Struggles
In my pursuit of this change, I went through a lot of emotional upheaval and I am still in the process of dealing with a lot of things on a day to day basis. After I completed my law school, I was personally very unclear about my goals and aspirations because I had spent 5 years of my life doing something and then suddenly, I was unsure about how things would work out. My slow but gradually increasing interest in the area of forensic psychology and the feeling of not getting a sense of satisfaction once I started practicing, took a while to deal with. Once I decided to go ahead with my degree in psychology, I still from time to time look at my peers from law school working at law firms and starting their own independent practice, having this constant fear that I’m missing out on something and that I will somehow fall behind my peers.
In this unique blend of law and psychology, it is essential for law students interested in exploring forensic psychology to pause, reconnect with themselves, and embrace the fascinating yet challenging journey they’ve chosen to embark on.
Whether we are navigating through legal complexities or unraveling the complexities of the human mind, the pursuit of forensic psychology as a law student is an adventure that opens new horizons and enriches our understanding of the world around us. As we embrace the unspoken struggles and celebrate the triumphs, we find ourselves better equipped to make a meaningful impact in the lives of individuals and the legal system together, as a whole.