University Master's Degree in Legal and Forensic Psychology

The university master's degree in Legal and Forensic Psychology aims to train psychology professionals in the skills needed to carry out their professional tasks as consultants and experts in one of the branches of psychology with a growing need of qualified professionals. The degree combines technical and legal knowledge with the fundamentals of psychology when applied to the legal system. Thus, the training provided will allow you to obtain an official university degree which also focuses on a real contact with applied legal practices. To do so, the master's degree includes academic training provided by lecturers, as well as relations with the professional world through the training provided by legal professionals.

This master’s degree forms part of the professional market’s needs for specialisation within the field of psychological assessment, both in the public sector (at local, regional and/or national levels) and in private centres. The recent creation of specialised court units, as well as specific training in this area, has made it much more common for courts to rely on psychological assessment when making decisions. Thus, legal teams themselves also incorporate psychologists and social workers, making this type of academic programme a means to guarantee the quality and professionalism of future consultants, as well as the need for qualified professionals in this field. It is worth highlighting that, in the past few years, employment opportunities have diversified to include working with victims of gender-violence, mediation, intervention with assailants, prison services, minors, etc. Therefore, professionals in Legal and Forensic Psychology not only focus on legal assessment, but also intervene in a wide range of areas.

The Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona is not new to this type of programme, since it has offered a UAB-specific master’s degree in this field for over 20 years. That is why the UAB offers students the high level of knowledge acquired with years of academic and professional experience, with highly specialised and qualified lecturers, and many future employment opportunities.

The academic contents included in the master’s degree in Legal and Forensic Psychology are made up of 60 compulsory credits, to be taken in one academic year (lectures take place in the afternoons and are mainly classroom-based), which allow students to acquire the legal and procedural foundations needed to work as a psychologist in the criminal, civil, family, and commercial sectors of the law, all of which are compulsory specialisations within the master’s degree. In addition, students will deal with diferent areas in which these specialisations are applied, with the help of theoretical sessions, external work placements, legal simulations and a Final Dissertation.

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Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

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