Program Description
Students in the Chicago Campus' M.A. in Forensic Psychology Licensure Track program may choose a concentration in Corrections. This program affords students a broader perspective concerning public policy, legal issues, and the nuances of working with public offenders.
Specialized curriculum, such as courses in violence and risk assessments, trauma and crisis intervention, and substance abuse, will lend students the skills to effectively work with individuals within the corrections system.
Graduates of The Chicago School's Forensic master's program are equipped with the training needed to apply the art and science of psychology within the legal system and related fields. Chicago Campus students gain hands-on experience at The Chicago School Forensic Center, which provides high-quality forensic psychological services and programming (such as evidence-based interventions, policy advocacy, and program development) to improve the health and well-being of individuals within diverse communities.
Through a range of community partnerships, the center gives students powerful service-learning opportunities that prepare them to be competent and civically engaged forensic mental health practitioners. Internship placement rates typically exceed 95% for students enrolled in the Forensic program licensure track. The Chicago School offers students a wide range of applied forensic psychology learning experiences rarely available at other schools, such as providing expert witness testimony in front of practicing judges and attorneys during a realistic mock trial experience, participating in a hostage negotiation simulation, or providing Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) to families involved with the juvenile court system.
Students pursuing the forensic psychology master's degree may tailor their coursework to meet particular educational and professional goals. The program prepares licensure track students to sit for the professional counselor licensure exams in Illinois (LPC and LCPC).
Department
Forensic Psychology
Concentrations
Licensure
Prepares licensure track students to sit for the professional counselor licensure exams in Illinois (LPC and LCPC).
Total Credits
63
Fieldwork Requirements
Sample Courses
Forensic Psychology in Correctional Settings
Exposes students to the unique culture of working in a correctional environment (e.g., socialization, communication, gang activity). Students learn how to deal with ethical dilemmas, limits of confidentiality, safety concerns, and professional issues that may be encountered when working in this setting. Students are exposed to providing treatment with different types of offender populations (e.g., mentally ill, antisocial, adolescent offender) and culturally diverse groups (e.g., elderly offenders, female offenders, religious groups, ethnic groups, and transgender individuals).
Violence and Risk Assessment
Provides students with the fundamental aspects of conducting violence and risk assessment evaluations and the manner in which opinions are communicated. Students gain an understanding of empirically-based risk factors and assessment tools used to conduct violence and risk evaluations, as well as management strategies employed to ameliorate risk/risk conditions. Practical exercises drawn from actual cases are used to illustrate key concepts.
Trauma and Crisis Intervention
Explores theories, research, and treatment modalities related to various types of trauma (i.e., combat; childhood abuse and neglect; and exposure to violence, rape, and domestic violence). Through the coursework, students develop knowledge related to post-traumatic stress disorder and acute stress disorder. Students also acquire knowledge related to vicarious stress/secondary stress, and explore unique aspects of working with individuals that have experienced trauma.
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