Forensic Psychology

No, not figuring out what dead people are thinking. Shawn can take the lead on that. I went to an informational meeting for the forensic psychology research initiative. In short, forensic psychology is the intersection between psychology and law.

• Psychological evaluations for civil and criminal cases
  "The job caused me psychological harm and I need 2 million dollars to feel better!" Oh really?
  "I'm incompetent for trial because I had a bad childhood!" We'll see about that.
  
• Developing and using screening tools for adult and juvenile cases
  "Let's see if this person would be better served by a mental health institution than a prison."
  
• Advocacy
  "You think you were screwed up before? Let's put you in close quarters with a bunch of other screwed up people for 20 years and see how psychologically healthy you are then."
• Research
  "Crunching fancy numbers on all the above is both exciting and fulfilling as a career!"
  
• And the one you've all head about... expert testimony.
  "Yes, your honor, it is scientifically documented that people with trichotillomania are compelled to pull their own hair out. Without help, they're unable to stop themselves."

Ehh... I'm not so focused on law applications of psychology, but the prof's very statistically-minded, so I think I'll join just to help her crunch numbers and glean from her knowledge. Who knows... maybe I'll fall in love with the field?