Good morning all,
The sub-specialty within forensic psychology I choose is Military. I choose military because I am currently enlisted in the US Air Force. This topic interests me professional and personally because the military has been a part of my life for the last 23 years. Throughout the years, I have learned the military judicial system as well as civilian jurisdiction is similar in many ways. Only difference may be the codes within the UCMJ and statutes. As military police, I have dealt with many service members that have committed crimes from shoplifting to spousal abuse. When we think of military courts, we may assume the criminal behavior is violent, but things such as deserting your place of work without authorization or fraternization is criminal acts in the military and specialized military courts or court martials handle those type of cases. The member may not see jail time always, they may have to pay a fine, reduction of rank or discharged from the military (Bartol &Bartol, 2022).
I am interested in being a victims advocate because there are members in the military that has been victimized including myself. There are sexual assault survivors as well as physical assault survivors. When I first joined, there were not many resources to assist with these survivors and happy that has changed over the years. There are many job opportunities I have found was focused on the victim specialist field. The first job opportunity is Victim Advocate for the Department of the Navy. They assist people who are victims of sexual assault. Another I have found was Victims Advocate for the Department of the Army. They also assist with victims of sexual assault. The final job opportunity is Sexual Assault Advocate for the Central Intelligence Agency. They also assist with victims of sexual assault. Seeing all of these job opportunities is a great thing because victims do not have to suffer alone.
References
Bartol, C. R., & Bartol, A. M. (2022). Introduction to forensic psychology: Research and application (6th ed.). SAGE Publications
USAJOBS – Job AnnouncementLinks to an external site.