Professor David Canter coined the term Investigative Psychology in discussion with Detective Constable Rupert Heritage, sometime in early 1990 at the University of Surrey. It grew out of the recognition that there were many ways in which psychology could contribute to criminal and other investigations. The earliest studies in this area focused upon sexual assault (Canter & Heritage, 1990), partly as a response to David and Rupert's collaboration on the now frequently cited 'Railway Rapist' case (see Canter, 1994 for a detailed discussion of the nature of this collaboration). The spirit of co-operation between practitioner and academic remains as crucial, if not more so, today, over a decade later but the field has grown very significantly since those early studies.

In deliberating on these matters it became clear to Prof. Canter that a new field of applied psychology was emerging. This field posed many challenges to conventional research methodology demanding a special approach able to cope with the muddiness and patchiness of its central data. Canter's very significant contribution to this activity lies in the wisdom of involving those who work with the problems at the 'coal face' in the academic questions. Whilst early studies tended to focus on what the offender did, increasingly it has become apparent that attention to what the police do is also of great academic and practical interest. Thus, increased attention has, in recent years, begun to explore the significance of decision making, problem solving and interviewing alongside exploring the psychological significance of how offenders operate.

Since the course started in the early 90's police forces around the world have become aware of how they can become more effective if they make use of developments in Psychology and Information Technology. This has occurred alongside developments in IP, not entirely as a direct result of it. The course, its staff and graduates can claim some significant role in many of these developments. For example, graduates of the MSc in Investigative Psychology are very highly regarded for analyst positions and, currently, many of the central positions in Law Enforcement Agencies in the UK, are occupied by previous students of our course. These include Senior Analysts in major constabularies, behavioural investigative advisors and analysts who work within the Serious Crime Analysis Section of the National Crime Faculty. Many other students have gone on to work in major industry, with consultancy firms and a smaller percentage have gone on to work within prisons and special hospitals. Overseas, the opportunities have been more limited but, gradually, changes and opportunities are emerging in Australia, Japan, South Africa, the US, Canada, Norway and Finland (to name but a few).

We have become increasingly aware also of how the general approach to applied problem solving which is at the heart of Investigative Psychology has very wide applications in many professional areas. We therefore try to keep our courses broad based as is compatible with the declared focus on crime and criminals. This breadth does without doubt open up many job opportunities for graduates and is therefore something that we will be maintaining.

Further developments have come in the form of publications and contributions to major enquiries. As well as the series of edited books by Canter & Alison and the many papers published by staff at the Centre. A number of papers are emerging in internationally recognised journals and, in many cases, current or previous students of the course have authored them. For example, you will see work by Craig Bennell, Louise Porter, Brent Snook, Alasdair Goodwill, Gabrielle Salfati, Donna Youngs and many other postgraduate students who were recently, or currently are PhD or postgraduate students. Moreover, many MSc students have been able to publish their work within a year or so of completing their dissertation (e.g, Bohm, O'Keeffe, Mokros, Stein etc) so very significant contributions have come from students. Further details of alumni can be found on our website. There, you will find a brief resume of a study conducted a couple of years ago that was designed to follow up where previous students were and where they had been successful at finding employment.

Advances & Developments

The MSc course had its first intake of students in 1992. In 1994 the course moved from the University of Surrey to the University of Liverpool. It now runs at the University of Liverpool, within the Psychology Department, as an intensive 12-month full-time course that is intended, in the main, for people with (a) psychology degrees, or related social/behavioural science degrees and (b) some experience relevant to the field, either as part of the legal/investigative process or as part of related welfare/custodial activities, or in some related area of research. People who have only one of these qualifications will be considered on their merits. Those who are taken on to the course without a relevant first degree will be required to complete essays or small projects as part of their application and may also be required to take extra courses during the degree.

The main advances in recent years include the following:

(i) An increased awareness of the limits of offender profiling.

(ii) Establishing different foci of academic and practical interest.

(iii) Developing the study of police decision making as a key area of research.

(iv) Significant developments in geographic profiling and IT systems to facilitate this process.

(v) Developments in linking offences.

(vi) Theoretical developments to assist in explaining models of offender behaviour - especially with regard to sex offending.

(vii) Increases in the number of publications - in particular PhD, postgraduate and MSc publications.

(viii) Increased contacts and co-operation with police forces in Britain and overseas.

(ix) A larger corpus of data collected from police forces worldwide and other agencies.

(x) Increased financial support from research grants.

(xi) Increases in the number of alumni employed in professional positions.

(xii) Broadening research methodologies We are therefore on the verge of a new and exciting set of developments in IP. In our view, the next five years in particular will present us with fascinating intellectual and practical challenges as policing evolves and changes and so too does the field of Investigative Psychology.

back to top

back to faq