Speaker: Ms Stephanie Chan, Psychologist, MSc in Forensic Psychology. Director: Dr A Majeed B A Khander, concurrently Deputy Director of Police

Transcription

1 Home Team Behavioural Sciences Centre (HTBSC) Speaker: Ms Stephanie Chan, Psychologist, MSc in Forensic Psychology Guests: Penelope, Jane HTBSC Director: Dr A Majeed B A Khander, concurrently Deputy Director of Police Psychological Services Division Reports directly to Permanent Secretary of MHA, and provides research and training support for the broad areas of law enforcement Based at Home Team Academy, the training institute for the various Home Team Departments (i.e. Police Training Command, ICA Training School, Prison Staff Training School) Focus o Long-term perspective o Improving current systems, regulations, programmes o Research, training,: to enhance the operational effectiveness of Home Team officers through behavioural sciences o A research & training hub, a young department which started in 2006 Crime, Investigation and Forensic Psychology Branch o Explores relevant areas of behavioural science relating to crime, investigative psychology, and forensic psychology o Research Areas

2 Crimes: e.g. crime profiling (crimes and reasons for particular criminal behaviour differs from country to country) Organized crimes: e.g. unlicensed money lending (UML) Drug offences: e.g. drug mules (transporters/carriers/middlemen) Immigration related crimes: how deception takes place at checkpoints, illegal immigrants Detection of deception o Training for officers Operations and Leadership Psychology Branch o Assist in scholarship assessment o Leadership assessment and development: o 360 feedback for HT leaders o Research Areas Best method to train officers (methodology) Command leadership Crisis leadership Disaster and critical incident psychology research o Training: humans in command and crisis workshop (training officers to be better leaders in times of crisis) Resilience, Safety and Security Psychology Branch o Explores relevant areas of behavioural science relating to resilience, safety psychology, and terrorism o Research Areas

3 Terrorism psychology Psychology of social change Cultures and adaption psychology Levels of resilience: e.g. individual, organizational, community, national o Training: terrorism/resilience seminars for officers Careers with HTBSC Opportunities and exposure o Overseas business visits o Conferences: one might have the opportunity to present their research findings o Exposure to various fields of psychology and different aspects of law enforcement through the project one undertakes o Opportunity to interact with law enforcement officers and criminals o Research findings have real-life application Research Project-Based o One typically undertakes one research project per year and would have the opportunity to sit in and participate in branch projects for increased exposure o Daily schedule revolves around the current project one undertakes. Hence, one learns various skills and obtains a better understanding of various ministries over time

4 o Publication might be difficult as some research contains sensitive content and/or might be too specific to Singapore to be beneficial to the field of Psychology on the whole Requirements o Bachelor s Degree with Honours: HTBSC do offer positions for graduates who would most likely be sponsored for their Master s in the near future o Master s Degree: HTSBC welcomes those who are training in various fields of psychology provided that they possess the relevant knowledge and skills that would assist them in fulfilling the duties required of their position Interested applicants should Mr Jeffery Chin: Jeffery_CHIN@mha.gov.sg or MHA Interns Requirements o Good writing and speaking skills to assist them in the preparation of reports and presentations o Consistent workers who can handle various topics competently o Open to undergraduates and Polytechnic students Job Scope o Each intern will be assigned a research topic o One will be expected to complete a report and to present his/her findings to Home Team officers

5 Duration o Full-time o May Jul Deadline: 14 Feb Weeks Full-time o December: 5 weeks Part-time internships are also available on an ad-hoc basis based on project availability Interested applicants should Mr Stephanie Chan: Stephanie_CHAN@mha.gov.sg Needed Documents o Application form o CV o Transcript o Written samples of work from past psychology modules Master s Degree Possible Considerations: Singapore, Australia, US, UK Course Structure: lectures, seminars by practitioners, placements with affiliated organisations MSc in Forensic Psychology: examples of topics covered o Investigative psychology o Psychology, law enforcement and criminal justice

6 o Courts and psychology o Psychology and the understanding of crime o Assessments of risk and reoffending / Assessment of offenders and victims