Adam graduated from the MSc in Applied Forensic Psychology with Placement in 2021. Since then, he has gained insight into a variety of roles in the criminal justice system and is now working towards achieving a Doctorate in Forensic Psychology. We caught up with him to find out more about his experience on the course and how it has shaped his career.

Why forensic psychology?

I really enjoyed undertaking A-level psychology and decided to continue studying it at university. After graduating with a BSc degree, I wasn’t sure which area of psychology to focus on, so I spent a year working as a cleaner and decided to gain some voluntary experience in the forensic sector on the side.

Specifically, I volunteered as a mentor for the Youth Offending Team, which mostly included supporting a teenage boy through social activities. Even as a small cog of the multi-disciplinary teams supporting this young man, I was able to see the value of my work in helping him to learn pro-social skills, and my enthusiasm to support similar individuals was cemented.

‘Forensic’ is basically another word for crime. So forensic psychology is the study of people who commit criminal behaviours or behaviours that are against the law. These are generally seen to be antisocial, challenging, and sometimes dangerous or violent.

My voluntary experience opened my eyes to the traumas faced by many individuals in the UK and the factors that influence offending behaviour from childhood. This made me more empathetic towards people who have offended or at risk of causing harm to others, and guided my decision to support this population.

Why Bath?

Location was an important factor in my decision. Bath is located fairly centrally within England, so I could visit most family and friends within just a few hours of driving. Additionally, Bath is stunning and full of historic and cultural value.

When I compared the available MSc options, this one stood out the most. Bath is highly ranked for psychology; and having undertaken the course, I can see why. I was actually on the very first cohort on this course. I joined while the degree was still pending accreditation from the British Psychological Society (which it went on to do), and the gamble really paid off for me.

The department was highly knowledgeable and delivered excellent lectures. Additionally, many of the lectures were delivered by external staff with specialist expertise. We could really see the quality of what we were learning and there was a strong focus on understanding the links between psychological theory and practice.

Furthermore, the modules and assignments were focussed on helping us to develop skills that we could use in our own practice. We then had the opportunity to practise these skills in the placement year, which provided an advantage for getting our foot in the door of a very competitive field.

Notably, everyone at the department was really friendly and approachable, and there was a massive focus in supporting us students. I felt that I developed very good relationships with the staff.

Going on placement

Despite the COVID-19 lockdown, we still managed to make the most of our placement. We had lots of support throughout the placement, and the department had connections to a variety of institutions and tried to match us according to our preferences. Most of the options were around Bristol and Bath, but also in other areas of the country, for people who might have wanted to go elsewhere – I believe one placement option was even in Calais in France.

I worked for a service called Forensic Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (FCAMHS), which supports professionals who work with children at risk of causing harm to others by offering consultancy and advice. This included attending multi-disciplinary meetings with a lot of different professions (e.g., youth offending team, the mental health services, outreach services, the police, etc.) and sometimes parents and the young person themselves.

These meetings were integral for bringing services together and building a shared approach to support young people. This placement was unlike anything I had done before and provided valuable experience that I could draw from in applications to other roles; mainly my ability to communicate sensitive information to professionals – one of the core roles of forensic psychology.

What can a career in the forensic field look like?

As I was finishing off my master's, I began building experience in forensic and mental health settings. I first became a mental health transport assistant. This involved transporting mental health patients to and from locations, such as from their home to the hospital or between prisons and hospitals. It was more of a security related job, but it was something I really enjoyed and that helped me to develop invaluable skills. Notably, I improved my ability to communicate with people with mental health needs and de-escalate them when their emotions are heightened. In turn, this improved my emotional resilience and ability to work in a team to support people with challenging behaviours.

After this role, I got involved working in police custody as a support time recovery worker in a liaison and diversion service. When people get arrested and detained into police custody, I would look at their records to see if they had any mental health or substance use needs that the police should be aware of. I would then speak to the detainees, signpost them to support services, and feedback my interactions to the police.

Following the police custody role, I was offered a position as a recovery coordinator for a substance use service in a prison. It was definitely a new environment to get used to, but when you managed to build a relationship or a rapport with these individuals, it felt really positive to hopefully make a difference in their life. This job gave me skills in delivering interventions with forensic service users and helped me to land my first assistant psychologist post in a prison.

As an assistant psychologist, I was involved in research-based activities, socially creative activities to help service users develop pro-social skills, and I was occasionally involved in 1:1 therapeutic interventions. Since then, I have secured a position on the Doctorate of Forensic Psychology and my current role as a trainee forensic psychologist.

Making a difference for the future

As a doctoral student, I spend four days a week working in a prison for people on very prolonged or life sentences, specifically with the Offender Personality Disorder Service. I support people who have had very traumatic childhoods and presented significant behavioural problems from a young age.

One of the services supports the most violent people in the prison to reduce their violent tendencies. Oftentimes, these people have limited social skills, poor or no social relationships, and difficulties communicating to have their needs met from staff. As such, we have to tailor our communication styles well to build rapport. This can be challenging and time-consuming, but highly rewarding. The work we do with them can help them to develop skills to cope in individual and group therapeutic interventions.

For my dissertation, I’m looking at ways to reduce the risk of people with paedophilia committing offences. Specifically, I am trying to compare the effectiveness of interventions in reducing stigma among clinicians of mental health and psychology, and increasing their motivation to work with people with paedophilia.

At the moment, people with paedophilia may struggle to access mental health support, and if they struggle to access that support then they may be more likely to commit offence. I hope that by facilitating access to support, we can reduce the risk of people with paedophilia from escalating to child sexual abuse.

My advice for future students on the course:

This master’s provided academic and vocational experience in a really interesting field. The assignments and placement helped me to develop written and practice-based skills which supported me to pursue a career in forensic psychology.

Before enrolling with this course, I would encourage students to consider how to finance themselves. While the course is amazing, placements in the sector tend to be unfunded, and two years of full-time education without a salary can be very challenging. However, if you are confident that you have the financial resources to manage this, I highly recommend this course.

Be sure to enjoy your learning and your placement. Sometimes, the role you have may feel small, but it is probably really helpful to the service you work with. Additionally, everything you learn will develop your skill sets and ability to pursue a career in forensic psychology.