10 Psychology And Law Careers (With Duties And Salaries)

Updated 25 March 2023

Psychology aims to understand the complexities of human behaviour, while the law applies this knowledge and understanding to frame laws, rules and regulations. It is common for law graduates to pursue an additional psychology degree and vice versa. Knowing the different career options in these two fields can help you pursue suitable academic qualifications. In this article, we discuss the benefits of pursuing a dual degree, different psychology and law careers and their duties and salaries.

What Are The Prospects For Psychology And Law Careers?

Law universities offer dual degrees to cater to an increasing demand from students and the market, particularly for psychology and law careers. Interested candidates can study law and psychology in an integrated 5-year LLB course. Alternatively, a student can complete a bachelor's degree in psychology and take up an additional 3-year bachelor's degree in law. A student who has a bachelor's degree in law can pursue a 2-years master's degree in psychology. The combination of these two majors is a popular choice for students aspiring to find work in psychology or law.

The advantage of dual degrees is that it helps lawyers guide their clients based on what their opponents may think or do next. Behavioural scientists and mental health professionals collaborate with lawyers and the legal system to identify the causes of criminal behaviour and to create legal policies and guidelines. Psychologists are an integral part of correctional facilities, which help criminals in reformation and rehabilitation. Lawyers use principles of psychology to verify eyewitness accounts and reduce the number of false testimonies. The combination of psychology and law can help them secure jobs in law and psychology streams, including:

Criminal law
Corporate law
Forensic science
Dispute resolution
Family counselling
Addiction counselling
Mediation
Arbitration
Mental health treatment
Policymaking

10 Popular Psychology And Law Careers

The purpose of the law is to enforce order, establish standards and protect liberties by regulating human behaviour. Psychology can help predict behaviour and an individual's response to laws. Combining these two subjects can offer several career choices for professionals with knowledge of both subjects. Some psychology and law careers to consider include:

1. Addiction Counsellor

National average salary: ₹16,108 per month

Primary duties: Addiction counsellors are mental health professionals who assist individuals going through phases of substance abuse and addiction. Their primary responsibilities include evaluating a patient's mental and physical behaviour, developing treatment and recovery plans and correcting behaviours that interfere with treatment. They manage a patient from entry to discharge, facilitate therapy sessions, monitor a patient's progress over time and guide caregivers in managing addiction-related behaviour. Addiction counsellors work in government and private clinics, hospitals, de-addiction centres and rehabilitation centres. They also work with central and state health departments to create policies revolving around addiction, rehabilitation and mental health.

2. Social Worker

National average salary: ₹16,223 per month

Primary duties: Social workers help individuals and families through challenging circumstances. A social worker's primary duties include meeting patients, evaluating their current requirements and creating and implementing care plans with medical or therapeutic support. They communicate regularly with patients and caregivers to work toward goals. They collaborate with healthcare professionals for patient care as and when necessary and adhere to mandated policies and regulations. Central and state governments, primary health centres and non-governmental organisations typically employ social workers. Large organisations employ social workers as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes to coordinate mandatory social welfare activities.

3. Probation Officer

National average salary: ₹33,238 per month

Primary duties: A court appoints a probation officer to supervise low-level criminals or first-time offenders for a period that a judge suggests. They also engage with the probationer and get information from them to assess their intention and willingness to reform. They provide adequate support to guide the rehabilitation and reformation of probationers. If necessary, a probation officer can take the help of local police to monitor a probationer. They constantly liaise with courts to safeguard the interest of a probationer. They can also request the court to make changes in terms of the probation based on the probationer's behaviour.

A probation officer's judgement is important, as their recommendations can limit or expand the probationer's freedom. Judges make further decisions on probation terms based on a probation officer's report.

4. Mediator

National average salary: ₹31,849 per month

Primary duties: A mediator negotiates and facilitates dispute resolution between two disputing parties. The parties decide the outcome of a mediation process and the role of the mediator is to encourage both parties to arrive at a compromise. They do not represent either of the disputing parties or appear in court on their behalf. Mediators contact the disputing parties and explain the arbitration process, and examine relevant documents and cross-question involved parties to understand the case in detail. Courts may appoint mediators for divorce and property disputes where parties may benefit from the experience and general counsel of a mediator.

5. Law Clerk

National average salary: ₹29,228 per month

Primary duties: Law clerks, or judicial clerks, assist judges and legal teams while making legal decisions. A law clerk may work in a courtroom or office setting. The primary responsibilities of this role include researching legal precedents and laws when guiding a decision, advising the judge about case facts, taking statements from witnesses and managing evidence as necessary, drafting legal documents like trial briefs and delivering subpoenas. There are two levels of law clerks in the Supreme Court for every judge and one level of law clerks for every judge at the High Court level.

6. Lawyer

National average salary: ₹20,359 per month

Primary duties: Lawyers represent clients in civil and criminal court cases. Lawyers often specialise in one field, like civil, criminal, personal injury, tax, intellectual property, labour or real estate laws. Common responsibilities include interpreting laws and rulings for clients, attending hearings and legal meetings with clients, scheduling and administering depositions of witnesses and experts and preparing legal documents on behalf of their clients. They also work with other legal and law enforcement professionals while preparing cases for trial or mediation. Lawyers register with their State Bar Council to practice in court.

7. Law Faculty

National average salary: ₹22,473 per month

Primary duties: A law professor teaches students at the collegiate level about the law. Their responsibilities include researching current events and news within the legal domain, giving lectures to students on various legal principles, creating course schedules and syllabi for classes, maintaining office hours for student support, assigning and grading student coursework, holding mock trials and advising students on how to improve their work. They can work in private, state and central government law colleges and universities.

8. Behavioural Specialist

National average salary: ₹45,898 per month

Primary duties: A behavioural specialist is a mental health professional who works with children and adults with special needs. Common responsibilities of a behavioural specialist include observing and assessing patient behaviour, developing treatment plans, and communicating with parents, teachers, caregivers and families when implementing plans. They continue supporting patients during treatment, conducting assessments of patients' progress, recording progress and collaborating with support organisations and other healthcare specialists during treatment.

9. Psychologist

National average salary: ₹19,067 per month

Primary duties: A psychologist is a mental health professional who specialises in diagnosing and treating mental health conditions. Psychologists may focus on different specialities, like forensic psychology, developmental psychology or counselling psychology. Duties may differ between the specialities, but the common responsibilities for this role include evaluating patients for diagnostic purposes, determining goals for psychotherapy, creating and implementing treatment plans and providing consultation to groups and patients. Psychologists work in private and government hospitals, educational institutions, health departments, investigative agencies, law offices, prisons and correctional facilities.

10. Judge

National average salary: ₹46,047 per month

Primary duties: A judge is a legal professional who decides the outcomes of criminal and civil cases. Judges preside at district, state and national level courts. Some of the common responsibilities of a judge include interpreting and applying laws or precedents when making judgments for cases, reading and evaluating information from documents like motions or records, presiding over hearings and hearing opposing arguments and recording decisions, instructions and opinions regarding cases.

Salary figures reflect data listed on Indeed Salaries at time of writing. Salaries may vary depending on the hiring organisation and a candidate's experience, academic background and location.