This research team is dedicated to studying factors influencing deviant and criminal behavior. If you are looking for other research experiences with a focus in eye witness and child victim memory, legal psychology, crime analysis, assessments in forensic settings, and others, please visit the faculty profiles located here http://cpla.fit.edu/psych/faculty.php.
Additionally, this site does not discuss the clinical practica in the program, such as competency evaluations with the Court Assessment Team, practicum at the Jail, forensic evaluations through the Treasure Coast Forensic Treatment Center, or Circles of Care Inpatient Psychiatric Facility. If you are a Psy.D. student looking for information on practicums sites within the forensic arena, please visit: https://www.fit.edu/programs/clinical-psychology-psyd/
If you are looking for additional information regarding forensic classes in the Psy.D. program or undergraduate forensic psychology degree please visit the following links.
Undergraduate: http://web2.fit.edu/programs/7146/ba-forensic-psychology
Areas of Focus for this Research Team
This team addresses a variety of psychological phenomenon and their role in legal arenas. Within psychological interventions, we are interested in therapeutic treatment approaches with violent offenders and the mentally ill, reduction of academic dishonesty through adaptive authority styles in the classroom, and integrated programs addressing violence in many environments. Theoretically, Dr. Costopoulos is interested in psychoanalytic understanding of the personality behind deviant behaviors and the internal processes that enable particularly aggressive crimes. The role of psychological factors in legal proceedings is apparent in competency and sanity statute. Another interest is the influence of legal status on behavior of the defendant and methods to assess aggravating/mitigating factors and risk for sentencing.