If you are interested in studying forensic psychology, either as a graduate or post-graduate student, this resource will be perfect for you! This article was written by Berenike Waubert de Puiseau and updated by the EAPL-S representative for Germany: Elsa Gewehr.
Psychology and Law in Germany
Psychology and Law in Germany
The German educational system has adopted the international System of Bachelor- and Master’s-degrees in the course oft the European Bologna Process in 2010. Most of the German universities are public und used to be free of tuition. Within the last decade however, the majority started to charge fees of 200 – 400 € per semester. Since this development is constant subject to change, the current fees of the universities should be looked up at their individual homepages.
Besides the public universities, there is a growing number of private universities, which over different types of degrees. Additionally, there are numerous external research institutes including those organized in the renowned Max Planck and Helmholtz Societies.
The official language in most of the universities is German. However, many universities also offer some of their classes in English. Most Germans, especially within universities, understand and speak at least some English. Fore more information about studying in Germany visit http://www.studying-in-germany.org/
Empirical research in the area of psychology & law is mostly located in psychological – as opposed to law – departments (there are a few exceptions). Although there is not a big tradition of specific Psychology and Law study programs or university departments in Germany, there have been some developments within the last few years, resulting in a small number of novel Psych. & Law study programs, mainly on a post-graduate level (see below for details). Additionally, there are a number of excellent researchers who conduct research on Psychology and Law in different psychological departments at their universities.
In the following lists provide an overview of current Psychology & Law Master’s Programs, Departments/Institutes and senior researchers. Note that the described research foci are by no means comprehensive – they serve to give you an idea of the research conducted in these labs. For more detailed information, you should visit the department websites.
If you have any questions or comments regarding this summary, please contact Elsa Gewehr: elsa.gewehr@uni-flensburg.de
Master’s programs in Psychology and Law
Psychologische Hochschule Berlin (PHB)
Master of Forensic Psychology (M.Sc.)
This 2-year post-graduate Master’s program is designed for psychologists who have already completed a Master’s degree in Psychology. It is a part-time program; seminars take place on weekends only. The program prepares for a position as a scientist-practitioner in the field of Psychology and Law, especially for working as an expert witness (e.g. credibility assessment, risk assessment, child custody evaluations) or within the treatment of criminal offenders. The university is private and tuition fees apply (currently (2019): 465 € per month). The homepage of the university lists different options of financial support or scholarships. All classes are held in German.
https://www.psychologische-hochschule.de/studium-ausbildung/studien-und-ausbildungsangebot/rechtspsychologie/ (German only)
Medical School Berlin (MSB)
Master of Psychology with a Focus on Forensic Psychology (M.Sc.)
The Medical School Berlin offers two Master’s programs of Psychology within their faculty of Natural Sciences – one focusing on Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy and one focusing on Forensic Psychology. Both are full-time programs, held in German and tuition fees currently (2019) amount to 650 € per month. Students who hold a Bachelors degree can combine both Master’s programs to obtain a dual degree (Clinical and Forensic Psychology) within three years. By itself, the Master focusing on Forensic Psychology lasts two years. Main topics covered in the Forensic domain are the treatment of criminal offenders and the methodological and practical skills needed to work as an expert witness (e.g. credibility assessment, risk assessment, child custody evaluations). Particular emphasis is placed on understanding interdisciplinary cooperation with other professional groups.
https://www.medicalschool-berlin.de/en/studiengaenge/fakultaet-naturwissenschaften-universitaet/masterstudiengaenge/forensic-psychology/ (German and English)
University of Bonn
Master of Legal Psychology (M.Sc.)
This graduate program is designed for students who have already completed a Bachelors or a Master’s degree in Psychology and have acquired at least one year of job experience. It is scientifically based, but oriented towards practical professions within the field of Psychology and Law. The program is completed part-time, within two years for holders of a Bachelor- and within three years for holders of a Master degree. It is hosted by the psychology department of the public University of Bonn, all classes are held in German and tuition fees apply (currently (2019) around 5.000 € per year).
https://master-rechtspsychologie.de/ (German only)
Medical School Hamburg
Master of Psychology with a Focus on Forensic Psychology (M.Sc.)
The Medical School Berlin offers two Master’s programs of Psychology within their faculty of Life Sciences – one focusing on Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy and one focusing on Forensic Psychology. Both are full-time programs, held in German and tuition fees currently (2019) amount to 695 € per month. Students who hold a Bachelors degree can combine both Master’s programs to obtain a dual degree (Clinical and Forensic Psychology) within three years. By itself, the Master focusing on Forensic Psychology lasts two years. Main topics covered in the Forensic domain are the treatment of criminal offenders and the methodological and practical skills needed to work as an expert witness (e.g. credibility assessment, risk assessment, child custody evaluations). Particular emphasis is placed on interdisciplinary cooperation with other professional.
https://www.medicalschool-hamburg.de/en/courses/faculty-of-life-sciences/master-degrees/forensic-psychology/ (German and English)
University of Applied Sciences of Heidelberg SRH
Master of Psychology with a focus on Forensic Psychology (M.Sc.)
This 2 years master’s program is accessible for all students who hold a Bachelors degree in Psychology. It is a full-time program with tuition fees of 690 € per month (2019). Classes are held in German and cover topics from the areas of forensic diagnostics, witness expertise and forensic evaluation. A focus lies on the practical application of skills, as such one semester is spend in practice and there are various excursions to visit different working areas of the forensic field.
https://www.hochschule-heidelberg.de/de/studium/masterstudium/psychologie/rechtspsychologie/ (German only)
University of Konstanz
Master of Psychology with a focus on Forensic Psychology (M.Sc.)
This Master of Psychology with a focus on Forensic Psychology is a post-graduate program for psychologists who already hold a master’s degree and have had at least one year of job experience. It specifically addresses those who already work within forensic fields. The overall duration is four semesters with two seminars each semester, held on weekends only and in German. The program covers topics such as forensic diagnostics, risk-assessment, statement validity assessment and therapy for the prevention of delinquency. Tuition fees currently (2019) amount to 2.500 € per semester.
https://www.psychologie.uni-konstanz.de/endrass/lehre/weiterbildungsmaster/ (German only)
Master’s programs in Criminology
While the Psychology and Law programs are fairly new, the University of Hamburg and the University of Bochum have offered programs in Criminology for a long time. In contrast to the three Master’s programs on Psychology and Law, the Criminology programs are more interdisciplinary, i.e., students with various study backgrounds are eligible for admission.
University of Hamburg
Master of Criminology (M.A.) & Master of International Criminology (M.A.)
The consecutive Master of Criminology (1,5 years, part-time) is held by the Social Science department and aims to train people for leading position that deal with delinquents. It constitutes of both distance and presence learning phases (“blended-learning“). Tuition fees are currently (2019) 3.370 € for the entire program.
https://www.zfw.uni-hamburg.de/weiterbildung/gesundheit-psychologie-kriminologie/kriminologie.html (German only)
The Master of International Criminology is a regular consecutive program held by the Social Science department (2 years, full-time), that focuses on topics relating to policing, international criminal and security policing, sentencing, and visual criminology. No specific tuition fees apply.
https://www.uni-hamburg.de/campuscenter/studienangebot/studiengang.html?1110292559 (German only)
University of Bochum
Master of Criminology and Police Sciences
The interdisciplinary 2 years Master’s program consists of both distance and presence learning phases (“blended-learning“) with most classes being taught online. Eligible are people who already hold a university degree in a related field and who have at least one year of job experience. A tuition fee of 4.400 € covers the entire program.
http://www.makrim.de/ (German only)
University Regensburg
Master of Criminology and violence research
The interdisciplinary 2 years Master’s program deals with the causes, manifestations and consequences of crime, violence and aggression. To this end, criminological theory and multidisciplinary perspectives and findings from current research on violence and aggression will be brought together in a multidisciplinary course. No specific tuition fees apply.
https://www.uni-regensburg.de/studium/studienangebot/studiengaenge-a-z/kriminologie-gewaltforschung-ma/index.html(German only; some courses are in English)
Professors with a research focus in Psychology and Law:
Prof. Dr. Rainer Banse: Professor of Social and Legal Psychology, University of Bonn
Research focus: (Implicit) Sexual attitudes, pedophilia, social groups, emotion processing, motivational psychology, satisfaction in marriages
Prof. Dr. Andreas Beelmann: Professor of Research Synthesis, Intervention and Evaluation, Director of ‚KomRex’(Centre for Research on Right-Wing Extremism, Democracy Education and Social Integration), University of Jena.
Research focus: Hatecrimes and radicalization, Antisocial Behavior and criminal development, Prevention of Prejudice and Promotion of Intergroup Relations, Meta-Analysis and Integrative Research
https://www.interventionevaluation.uni-jena.de/en/Staff/Professor.html
Prof. Dr. Thomas Bliesener: Professor of Interdisciplinary Criminological Research, University of Göttingen; Director of the Criminological Research Institute of Lower Saxony.
Research focus: Development of aggression, violence and delinquency, Prevention and intervention in cases of antisocial behavior, processes in institutions of criminal justice
https://www.uni-goettingen.de/en/511038.html
Prof. Dr. Rebecca Bondü: Professor of Developmental and Family Psychology, Psychologische Hochschule Berlin.
Research focus: Moral development and justice, aggressive behavior and bullying, aggressive fantasies, school shootings, rampages, leaking.
Prof. Dr. Klaus-Peter Dahle: Professor of Forensic Psychology, University of Heidelberg
Research focus: Delinquency, risk-assessment, recidivism, evaluation of forensic institutions
Prof. Dr. Jérôme Endrass: (Unscheduled) Professor, head of the working group Forensic Psychology, University of Konstanz.
Research focus: Risk assessment instruments, predicting recidivism, sexual offending, offender treatment
https://www.psychologie.uni-konstanz.de/endrass/personen/
Prof. Dr. Niels Habermann: Professor, coordinator of the study program Forensic Psychology, University of Applied Sciences of Heidelberg.
Research focus: Sexual delinquency, juvenile delinquency, risk-assessment instruments, evaluation of therapeutic programs for offenders.
https://www.hochschule-heidelberg.de/de/hochschule/hochschulteam/habermann-niels/
Prof. Dr. Daniela Hosser: Professor of Developmental, Personality and Forensic Psychology, Technical University of Braunschweig
Research focus: Delinquency, prevention of violence, prison evaluations, treatment of criminals, empathy and emotional regulation, deceptive behavior
https://www.tu-braunschweig.de/psychologie/abt/epf/mitarbeiter/hosser
Prof. Dr. Roland Imhoff: Professor of Social and Forensic Psychology, University of Mainz
Research focus: Conspiracy mentality, Prejudices, stigmatization and labeling-effects, implicit social cognition, automatic processes of sexual interest
https://www.soclegpsy.uni-mainz.de/prof-dr-roland-imhoff/
Prof. Dr. Denis Köhler: Professor of Psychology, University of Applied Sciences of Düsseldorf.
Research focus: Psychopathy, Personality, Personality Disorders, Risk Assessment, youth delinquency, offender behavior, offender treatment and recidivism
https://soz-kult.hs-duesseldorf.de/personen/koehler
Prof. Dr. Robert Lehmann: Professor of Forensic Psychology, Medical School Berlin.
Research focus: Risk-assessment, sexual deviance and delinquency, rehabilitation of criminal offenders, crime scene behavior
Prof. Dr. Anja Leue: Professor of Psychological Assessment, Differential and Personality Psychology, University of Kiel.
Research focus: Eyewitness testimony, EEG, conflicts, individual differences
http://www.diagnostik-diff.psychologie.uni-kiel.de/de/team/prof-dr-rer-nat-phil-habil-anja-leue
Prof. Dr. Andreas Mokros: Professor of Personality Psychology, Diagnostics and Consulting, FernUniversität (Distance-learning university) Hagen
Research focus: Psychopathy, sexual deviance and delinquency, Personality assessment and diagnostics, Antisocial personality disorder.
Prof. Dr. Renate Volbert: Professor of Forensic Psychology, Psychologische Hochschule Berlin.
Research focus: Credibility assessment, Suggestion, Secondary victimization, Confession behavior
https://www.psychologische-hochschule.de/forschung-lehre/professuren/prof-dr-renate-volbert/
Prof. Dr. Jelena Zumbach: Assistant Professor of Family Law Psychology, Psychologische Hochschule Berlin.
Research focus: Psychological diagnostics and predictors of psychological recommendations in family-law proceedings, development of children and adolescents in high-risk constellations.
https://www.psychologische-hochschule.de/forschung-lehre/professuren/prof-dr-jelena-zumbach/
External Institutes
In addition to research at universities, there are some research institutes that investigate forensic topics.
Centre for Criminology (Kriminologische Zentralstelle e.V.; KrimZ), Wiesbaden:
Central German research and documentation institute for criminological and forensic issues. Its main task lies in conducting empirical research projects and documenting research results. The current director is Psychologist and Criminologist Dr. Martin Rettenberger.
Criminological Research Institute of Lower Saxony (Kriminologisches Forschungsinstitut Niedersachsen; KFN), Hannover:
The KFN is an interdisciplinary research institute focusing on applied criminological research. Its current director is Prof. Dr. Thomas Bliesener
Max Plack Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law (MPICC), Freiburg:
The MPICC has two departments, one for criminology, headed by Prof. Dr. Dr. Jörg Albrecht, and the other for criminal law, headed by Prof. Dr. Dr. Ulrich Sieber. Researchers in the criminological department investigate prevalence and perceptions of crime, treatments of criminals, instances of the criminal legal system, and many other criminological topics.
https://www.mpicc.de/en/home.cfm