Legal Psychology: Prevention, Examination, Support

The competencies of a Legal Psychologist are required for those who are concerned with the development of legal awareness, social responsibility and the prevention of deviant behaviour.

A special challenge for psychologists is the need to act as a specialist or expert in juvenile court or to participate in the questioning of children and adolescents whose testimony raises questions. This requires special knowledge and skills in order to navigate the legal context, respect legal interests and provide legal professionals with the necessary psychological information.

In addition to possessing special knowledge and practical skills, the psychologist working in this new field must be a researcher capable of developing and implementing a scientific and practical project.

You can acquire all these competences in our Master's program!

Upon completion of the «Legal Psychology: Prevention, Examination, Support» program, you will be able to

• Develop research and scientific-practical projects in the field of legal psychology;
• Develop and implement psychological programs aimed at the best interests of children, youth;
• Provide psychological prevention of deviant behavior;
• Carry out social and psychological rehabilitation and psychological support of deviant behaviour and victims of violence and abuse together with specialists in related disciplines (lawyers, doctors, lecturers, social workers, etc.);
• Provide support in court (for defendants, victims, witnesses);
• Conduct expert psychological research, act as experts and specialists in juvenile court;
• To provide psychological counselling to children, adolescents and their families who find themselves in difficult legal situations.

Relevance of education: The demand for psychological services is due to the penetration of law in the life of society and the individual. The content of the Masters program is constantly being refined and adjusted in accordance with the employers' demand. The acquired research competences give the graduate a unique opportunity to develop preventive programs, to carry out forensic psychological expertise, to be a specialist in criminal and civil cases, to engage in psychodiagnostic staff selection to legal bodies and to provide psychological support.

The benefits of education. Graduates of our Master's program are:

• psychologists-researchers;
• psychologists-counsellors;
• psychologists-diagnosticians;
• psychological program developers;
• psychologist-experts.

The specific features of the educational process at VVSU:

• the study schedule is adapted for students combining work and study;
• leading lecturers of the Master's program are highly qualified specialists (doctors and candidates of sciences, practitioners), authors-compilers of unique education courses;
• during the whole period of education master's students take part in scientific-research work on actual psychological problems, in scientific-practical conferences of different levels, in Russian and foreign contests and grants;
• upon the recommendation of the leading lecturers of the master's program, master students have the opportunity to join the professional community of psychologists of Primorsky region (Primorsky Professional Psychologists Association) in order to broaden their professional experience and exchange their professional skills;
• in the process of the educational process at VVSU, active teaching methods and electronic technologies are widely used, allowing students to quickly learn new information, use time-management technologies, participate in teleconferences with leading researchers from Russian universities and the Institute of Psychology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, have access to the latest databases of world electronic libraries, as well as receive online consultation from lecturers;
• VVSU also offers master classes by leading psychologists in modern psychological practices.