Law and Psychology, PhD
Behavioral Health, Behavioral Psychology, Court, Criminal Justice, Human Behavior, Justice, Legal, Mental Health, Psychology, crime, forensic, law
Laws are written to maintain order among people in society while psychology studies why people do what they do. This program melds the two fields to help explain how human behavior interacts with and is impacted by the legal system.
The PhD program in law and psychology takes a broad interdisciplinary approach to train a new generation of scholars. The program combines rigorous training in the law and psychology field with training in advanced research methodology and statistics, criminological theory, and contextual training in other subfields of psychology.
The goal is for students to use this knowledge to tackle the many important but understudied areas within the legal system which are in desperate need of empirical psychological research.
- College/school:
New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences
- Location: Downtown Phoenix, West Valley
84 credit hours, a written comprehensive exam, an oral comprehensive exam, a prospectus and a dissertation
Required Core (21 credit hours) Required Professional Development (3 credit hours) Electives (33 credit hours) Required Research (15 credit hours) Culminating Experience (12 credit hours) Additional Curriculum Information When approved by the student's supervisory committee and Graduate College, this program allows 30 credit hours from a previously awarded master's degree to be used for this degree. If students do not have a previously awarded master's degree, the 30 hours of coursework is made up of electives and research.
PSY 515 Quantitative Analysis I (3)
PSY 516 Quantitative Analysis II (3)
PSY 517 Quantitative Analysis III (3)
PSY 544 Advanced Psychology of Criminal Investigation (3)
PSY 545 Advanced Legal Psychology (3)
PSY 546 Advanced Forensic Psychology (3)
PSY 550 Advanced Social Psychology (3)
PSY 591 Seminar: Professional Issues in Law and Psychology (3)
PSY 500 Research Methods (3)
PSY 792 Research (12)
PSY 799 Dissertation (12)
Students are required to take 15 credit hours of research coursework and 36 credit hours of elective coursework.
Applicants must fulfill the requirements of both the Graduate College and the New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences.
Applicants are eligible to apply to the program if they have earned a bachelor's or master's degree in psychology, criminal justice, social science, or a closely related field from a regionally accredited institution.
Applicants must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.00 (scale is 4.00 = "A") in the last 60 hours of their first bachelor's degree program, or applicants must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.00 (scale is 4.00 = "A") in an applicable master's degree program.
All applicants must submit:
- graduate admission application and application fee
- official transcripts
- GRE scores
- three letters of recommendation
- proof of English proficiency
Additional Application Information
An applicant whose native language is not English must provide proof of English proficiency regardless of their current residency.
ASU does not accept the GRE® General Test at home edition.
| Session | Modality | Deadline | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Session A/C | In Person | 12/15 | Final |
Graduates are sought-after for their unique skill sets melding the complexities of law and justice with human behavior. Careers can be pursued in government, academia or private enterprise.
Career examples include:
- academic researcher or instructor as a college or university professor
- criminal justice data analyst
- government or nonprofit researcher and evaluator
- legal policy researcher and evaluator
- legal or trial consultant
- mental health policy analyst or consultant
- postdoctoral research fellow
School of Interdisciplinary Forensics
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FAB N101
ncgradadvising@asu.edu
602-543-3000
Admission deadlines
3 year programs
These programs allow students to fast-track their studies after admission and earn a bachelor's degree in three years or fewer while participating in the same high-quality educational experience of a 4-year option. Students should talk to their academic advisor to get started.
Accelerated master's
These programs allow students to accelerate their studies to earn a bachelor's plus a master's degree in as few as five years (for some programs).
Each program has requirements students must meet to be eligible for consideration. Acceptance to the graduate program requires a separate application. Students typically receive approval to pursue the accelerated master’s during the junior year of their bachelor's degree program. Interested students can learn about eligibility requirements and how to apply.
