Encyclopedia of Psychology and Law

the applicant holds the Certificate of Professional

Qualification issued by the ASPPB or if the applicant

is registered with the National Register of Health

Service Providers in Psychology.

The applicant must have accumulated at least 1,000

hours of qualifying experience in forensic psychology

over a minimum of 4 years of practice. An earned law

degree may be substituted for 2 of these 4 years, and

successful completion of a qualifying formal postdoc-

toral fellowship may be substituted for 3 of these 4

years, as long as the 1,000-hour experience require-

ment has been met. The applicant also must have

received 100 hours of qualifying specialized training

in forensic psychology. This training may consist of

direct supervision by a qualified forensic professional,

continuing education attendance, or relevant class-

room activities at the graduate or postgraduate level.

The written examination consists of 200 multiple-

choice questions that focus primarily on the following

eight areas of forensic psychological research and

practice: (1) ethics, guidelines, and professional issues;

(2) law, precedents, court rules, and civil and criminal

procedure; (3) testing and assessment, judgment and

bias, and examination issues; (4) individual rights

and liberties, civil competence; (5) juvenile, parenting,

and family/matrimonial matters; (6) personal injury,

civil damages, disability, and workers’ compensation;

(7) criminal competence; and (8) criminal responsibil-

ity. The ABFP provides the applicant with a periodi-

cally updated reading list that identifies key legal

cases, books, and book chapters for each topic area.

The applicant who passes the written examination

is admitted to formal candidacy and is invited to sub-

mit two practice samples of his or her forensic

psychological work. These practice samples must rep-

resent two distinct and separate areas of forensic

endeavor; for example, one acceptable practice sam-

ple could address mental state at the time of the

offense, while the other could address trial compe-

tency; however, it would not be acceptable for one

practice sample to address parenting capacity involv-

ing a relocation issue if the other addressed parenting

capacity involving allegations of sexual abuse. To

ensure a sufficiently current professional review, the

forensic work forming the basis of each practice sam-

ple must have been generated no more than 2 years

prior to the date on which the candidate’s original

application was accepted.

Typically, practice samples consist primarily of eval-

uative reports; however, with prior agreement of the

ABFP, and for good cause, an alternative submission,

solely authored by the candidate, may be substituted for

one of the two practice samples. Examples of potentially

acceptable alternative submissions include a forensic

psychological book chapter, a forensic psychological

article accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed jour-

nal, a forensic psychological test manual, or a forensic

psychological treatment program or treatment protocol.

Practice samples are reviewed by an appointed faculty

of Diplomates in Forensic Psychology. The purpose of

this review is to ensure that the candidate possesses a

high level of professional competence and maturity,

with the ability to articulate a coherent rationale for his

or her work in forensic psychology.

The submission of two acceptable practice samples

qualifies the candidate to proceed to the oral examina-

tion, which is designed to determine the quality of his or

her practice and forensic knowledge in areas exempli-

fied by the practice samples as well as to determine the

candidate’s understanding and application of ethical

standards, in particular the current version of the

APA’s Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of

Conduct and the Specialty Guidelines for Forensic

Psychologists, promulgated in part by the American

Psychology-Law Society. The oral examination lasts for

approximately 3 hours, conducted by a panel of three

diplomates in forensic psychology. Panelists are

instructed to bear in mind that one implication of their

recommendation to award certification is that they would

also feel comfortable in referring the candidate to persons

soliciting the expertise in question. The panel’s recom-

mendation is reviewed and voted on by the ABFP, after

which the ABPP informs the candidate of the results.

Currently, there are approximately 240 diplomates

in forensic psychology, serving in a wide variety of

treatment, assessment, teaching, and research settings.

All diplomates in forensic psychology are also

designated as fellows of the American Academy of

Forensic Psychology, a member organization that

maintains an online directory and a Listserv on pro-

fessional issues, operates a continuing education pro-

gram in forensic psychology, and confers awards in

recognition of outstanding professional contributions

and promising graduate student research.

Eric York Drogin

See alsoDoctoral Programs in Psychology and Law; Ethical

Guidelines and Principles; Expert Psychological

Testimony; Postdoctoral Residencies in Forensic

Psychology; Trial Consulting

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