The Academy of Behavioral Profiling, or ABP for short, is a professional academy filled with practitioners and students that study and use evidence-based criminal profiling techniques through legal venues and investigations. The ABP currently has more than a hundred members around the world, and while it is a small organization, it is growing. Becoming a member of the ABP can be beneficial for people who are in many different professions in the field, including forensic psychologists. Once you start looking into the membership options for the ABP, you’ll notice that the society accepts members from many different disciplines including homicide detectives, forensic examiners, criminologists, and more.

Visiting the ABP website and learning more about all of the different membership options for the different disciplines is going to be helpful. They have different requirements and different levels of membership based on experience, discipline, and education. Those who are forensic psychologists or psychiatrists will want to apply for membership under the Behavioral Category.

What is the Behavioral Category?

The behavioral category is for professionals who use behavioral profiling when they are accessing suspects, individuals, and crime scenes. They may work through the local, state, or federal law enforcement agencies, or through the private sector.

A forensic psychologist who wants to join the ABP at the affiliate level will need a PhD in Psychology from a resident program at an accredited school. They will also need at least 1000 hours of patient contact in a forensic setting. It’s also possible for a psychologist to become a member if he or she has earned the status of Diplomate in Forensic Psychology from the American Board of Professional Psychology. The cost of an affiliate membership is $25 for the application fee and annual dues of $30 per year.

Psychologists hoping to become provisional members will have to meet all of the requirements of an affiliate member, and they will need to have a passing grade on the Profiling General Knowledge Exam (PKGE). The application fee is $25, and the annual dues for the provisional membership are $40 per year. To become a full member, the psychologists will need to satisfy the requirements of the provisional status, and will need to submit two written profiles for peer review to the Academy. The application fee is $25, and membership dues are $40.

What are the Benefits of Membership?

As a member of the ABP, you will be part of a select group of profilers who will be able to take the PKGE. You will receive a membership card, and you will be able to participate in the private email discussion list. It’s also possible to attend the annual ABP meeting and other training courses that may be provided throughout the year. You will also receive The Journal of Behavioral Profiling.

Joining the ABP as a forensic psychologist can offer some great benefits in the area of networking as well. You will have access to professionals who work in many different fields and who have a common interest in behavioral profiling.

Please visit http://www.profiling.org/ for more information about the Academy of Behavioral Profiling (ABP).