This is an interateneo course of study between the University of Padua and the IMT Alti Studi School of Lucca.
Classes in the first semester of the first year will be held at the Lucca campus.
A course that provides advanced theoretical and practical knowledge to train graduates with skills in the fields of psychology, law, forensics, science, criminology, and victim support.
Those obtaining a master's degree in this course can pursue careers across the judicial sectors. Working as an office technical consultant in civil proceedings, an expert in criminal proceedings or for the Juvenile Court, extrajudicial, as a consultant in the assessment of psychic and existential damage in the insurance field or the support administration and other areas or as a technical consultant in civil and criminal proceedings. Graduates will also be prepared to carry out research activities in an academic setting.
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Characteristics and objectives
Pursuant to Law no. 163 of November 8, 2021 and subsequent implementation decrees, the holders of a Master's degree in Forensic Psychology and Clinical Criminology are qualified to work as professional psychologists in Italy.
The Master degree is interuniversity between the University of Padova and the Scuola IMT High School Lucca: students will spend the first semester of the first year in Lucca, and the other three semesters in Padova.
The second cycle degree course (Master's degree) in Forensic Psychology and Clinical Criminology is characterized by a strong transdisciplinary approach and allows students to acquire advanced theoretical knowledge and practical skills characterizing the different areas of forensic psychology and clinical criminology. The course will also prepare students to master the specific methods of the field. The graduates are expected to acquire the following skills: 1) psychological (in-depth knowledge of cognitive psychology, clinical neuropsychology and clinical psychology); 2) legal (general notions related to civil and criminal law and civil and criminal procedure, with particular reference to the issues peculiar to forensic psychology: e.g. family law, compensation for damages, child testimony, insanity evaluation); 3) forensic (conducting expert Consultations -for the judge, for the defense or for the prosecutor- as well as writing the corresponding Expert Reports, both in the Civil -e.g. parenting, psychic damage- and Criminal -e.g. insanity evaluation, suitability to testify- listening to minors in cases of abuse and mistreatment); 4) criminological and victimology (skills to work in the field of victim support); 5) scientific (conducting scientific research on the topic of forensic psychology).
Occupational opportunities
The second cycle degree course in Forensic Psychology and Clinical Criminology trains professionals to work in judicial context, where the client is the judicial authority (e.g. court-appointed technical consultant in civil proceedings, expert witness in criminal proceedings, Court-appointed Technical Consultant -CTU- or expert witness for the juvenile court), as well as in extrajudicial contexts (e.g. assessment of psychological and existential damage in the insurance field; technical advice on various issues-such as support administration- preliminary to civil proceedings; assessment of fitness to drive). Furthermore, the students will also be trained to run psychodiagnostics consultations and assessments and to work as Honorary Judge at the Supervisory Court; Expert and Honorary Judge at the juvenile Court; consultants for the assessment of the defendant's capacity to stand trial; psychologists in Anti-Violence Centres; psychologists in jail (Italian ex art. 80 expert). The graduates will also be prepared to work in academia by conducting scientific research in the field.