Psychology and Law PhD Program - CUNY Graduate Center at John Jay

What Psychology and Law PhD Program - CUNY Graduate Center at John Jay does

The Psychology and Law PhD Program is a public doctoral training program housed at John Jay College of Criminal Justice within the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center system. It delivers a 63-credit research doctorate that prepares students as academicians and applied researchers able to provide professional psychological expertise to criminal and civil justice systems. The program draws on social, cognitive, developmental, and experimental psychology, decision and policy sciences, and evaluation research methods, with scholarly activity spanning jury decision-making, eyewitness identification, confession and interrogation science, juvenile justice, trauma and memory, and investigative psychology. Notable core products include the PhD training program itself plus three specialized research labs: Project Aletheia (interrogation science and practice, directed by Maria Hartwig), the Children and the Law Lab (forensic interviewing of child witnesses, led by Kelly McWilliams), and the Investigative Psychology Research Unit (behavioral crime scene analysis and offender profiling, directed by C. Gabrielle Salfati). Faculty include internationally recognized scholars such as Margaret Bull Kovera (Program Director), Saul Kassin, and Steven Penrod, several of whom hold joint JD/PhD credentials and have produced work cited in U.S. Supreme Court amicus briefs and DOJ advisories.

The program's business model is non-commercial and aligned with its public university parent: all admitted doctoral students receive full tuition remission plus a five-year annual stipend (with nominal-fee health insurance), funded through the program and Graduate Center. There is a $75 USD application fee. Primary customer segments are prospective doctoral students interested in research careers at the intersection of psychology and law, and applied stakeholders in criminal and civil justice systems. The program recruits via virtual open houses, virtual department tours, faculty publications, and the CUNY Graduate Online Application system, and markets through content on the CUNY Academic Commons website plus faculty media coverage in outlets including the New York Times, Washington Post, and MSNBC. Applied-research demand is anchored by partnerships with the NYPD (13+ years of de-escalation and crisis intervention training), the High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group, the FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit, the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, the Midwest Innocence Project, and the Department of Defense, alongside continuous federal research funding (>$2.8M cumulative from NSF and Bureau of Justice Assistance). Alumni place into academic positions across the U.S. and internationally (including University of Toronto, University of Gothenburg, University of Waikato) and into applied roles at trial consulting firms (NERA Economic Consulting, Persuasion Strategies, DOAR) and government agencies (NYC DHS, NC DPS, NYC DOC, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Everytown for Gun Safety).

Name

Psychology and Law PhD Program - CUNY Graduate Center at John Jay

Legal name

Psychology and Law PhD Program at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY Graduate Center

Website

https://jjaypsylaw.commons.gc.cuny.edu

Company type

Public

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Psychology and Law PhD Program at CUNY Graduate Center / John Jay College is a public doctoral training program that prepares researchers and academicians at the intersection of psychology and criminal/civil justice, supported by faculty whose work shapes federal law enforcement training and Supreme Court jurisprudence.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Doctoral Psychology Education

NAICS

Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (6113)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYEDAHAHAO

Management Research Institutes & Doctoral (PhD/DBA) Programs

Education/Higher Education (Colleges & Universities)/Business Schools & Management Institutes

SECONDARYEDAHAIAF

Specialty Law Schools (e.g., Tax, IP, International, Trial Advocacy)

Education/Higher Education (Colleges & Universities)/Law Schools

SECONDARYEDAOAMAA

Law Enforcement & Police Academy Training

Education/Vocational, Technical & Trade Education/Protective Services & Public Safety Training

Keywords

• Doctoral psychology training
• Psychology and law research
• Forensic psychology program
• Legal psychology education
• Criminal justice research

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Doctoral Student Funding: All admitted students receive full tuition remission and a yearly stipend for five years. Students are eligible for health insurance for a nominal fee. This is funded through the program and Graduate Center.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The program delivers a fully funded 63-credit doctoral training curriculum in Psychology and Law, including Statistics I & II, Research Methods & Design I & II, Experimental Psychology & Law, and Ethics, culminating in a dissertation. It prepares students as academicians and applied researchers who can provide professional psychological expertise to criminal and civil justice systems, with research orientations in social, cognitive, developmental, policy, and decision sciences.

Product overview

The Psychology and Law PhD Training Program is the primary educational product - a doctoral program that provides research and applied training in psychology and law. The program is structured around the core PhD training program (63 credits with dissertation), supplemented by specialized research labs including the Children and the Law Lab (focused on child witnesses and forensic interviewing), the Investigative Psychology Research Unit (focused on offender profiling and crime scene analysis), and Project Aletheia (focused on interrogation science). The program prepares graduates for careers in academia, research institutions, and applied settings within the justice system.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Psychology and Law PhD Training Program A 63-credit doctoral training program at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the CUNY Graduate Center preparing students as academicians and applied researchers able to provide professional psychological expertise within criminal and civil justice systems. The curriculum emphasizes research training drawing on social, cognitive, developmental, and experimental psychology, decision and policy sciences, and evaluation research methods, culminating in a dissertation. All admitted students receive full tuition remission and a yearly stipend for five years.
• Project Aletheia A knowledge hub at John Jay College of Criminal Justice directed by Professor Maria Hartwig, aimed at improving the science and practice of interrogation and bridging the gap between research and practice. The initiative informs strategic interrogation techniques used by the High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group and federal, state, and local law enforcement training programs.
• Children and the Law Lab A research laboratory led by Dr. Kelly McWilliams focusing on children's experiences in the legal system, including the identification of legal and forensic practices misaligned with children's cognitive and social development and the development of empirically-based forensic interviewing techniques and child testimony research.
• Investigative Psychology Research Unit A research unit directed by Dr. C. Gabrielle Salfati focused on behavioral crime scene analysis, offender profiling, and linking serial crimes, conducted in collaboration with law enforcement agencies internationally. The unit also provides positive psychology resilience training for law enforcement.

Quantifiable outcome

• Graduates obtain academic positions at universities nationwide and internationally
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• NYPD (New York Police Department)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOver the past 13 years, Professor Fondacaro helped develop and implement training programs for the NYPD on managing situations involving emotionally disturbed persons including scenario-based training with new recruits, newly promoted Sergeants, Lieutenants, and Captains, the Emergency Services Unit, and the elite Hostage Negotiation Team. Also developed a Crisis Intervention Training Program for police officers on patrol aimed at de-escalating conflict.
• High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group (HIG)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMaria Hartwig's work on strategic interrogation techniques is incorporated in the training programs of the HIG, within federal law enforcement training programs, and in practice on state and local levels.
• FBI Behavioral Analysis UnitcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTirza Ben Ari completed her Master's thesis in collaboration with the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit Lab, focused on the crime scene behaviors of sexual murderers.
• Los Angeles Sheriff's DepartmentmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJennifer Jones collaborated with the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department to elucidate the dangers of showups and improve their eyewitness identification procedures.
• Los Angeles Probation DepartmentmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration to evaluate the Juvenile Competency Remediation Program.
• Midwest Innocence ProjectmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEllie Aronson is collaborating with the Midwest Innocence Project to investigate racial disparities in cases involving eyewitness misidentifications. Stacie Keck is also working on an archival analysis project in conjunction with the Midwestern Innocence Project.
• Arizona State UniversitymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNSF-funded collaboration to explore social influence in double-blind lineup administrations. Also collaboration on social influence in eyewitness identification procedures.

Scale indicators4 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• University of Wisconsin-Madison - Psychology and Law: Established doctoral program in psychology and law with shared faculty lineage (Penrod previously on faculty). Comparable training in legal decision-making and forensic psychology.
• Simon Fraser University - Psychology and Law: Well-known psychology and law graduate program with similar doctoral training focus and substantive overlap in eyewitness ID, jury decision-making, and investigative psychology research.
• University of Minnesota - Legal Psychology Program: Long-established psychology and law doctoral training program with overlapping faculty networks (Penrod previously on faculty). Comparable research focus on legal decision-making, eyewitness evidence, and jury studies.
• University of British Columbia - Psychology and Law: Leading Canadian psychology and law doctoral program with overlapping research themes in eyewitness identification and confession science, providing a comparable academic training model for legal psychology researchers.
• University of Nebraska-Lincoln - Psychology and Law Program: Directly comparable doctoral program in psychology and law with a similar research focus on jury decision-making and eyewitness identification. Several John Jay faculty (e.g., Steven Penrod) previously held positions there, indicating closely aligned research orientation.
• Florida International University - Legal Psychology: Doctoral program in legal psychology with substantive research overlap in criminal justice psychology, eyewitness identification, and jury decision-making, recruiting from a similar national applicant pool.
• University of Arizona - Psychology and Law: Doctoral program in psychology and law with overlapping themes in forensic interviewing, child witnesses, and legal decision-making, comparable in scale and research orientation to the John Jay program.

Broad incumbents

• CUNY Graduate Center - Clinical Psychology Program: Sibling doctoral program within the same CUNY Graduate Center department, sharing faculty and infrastructure. While focused on clinical rather than psychology-and-law research, it competes for the same graduate applicant pool and institutional resources.

Others

• American Psychology-Law Society (AP-LS): Professional society that confers the discipline's major awards referenced in the program's faculty achievements and provides the primary conference and grant ecosystem for psychology-and-law research. Functions as the institutional and reputational infrastructure underpinning the field.

Emerging players

• Maastricht University - Forensic Psychology: European forensic psychology doctoral program with shared research themes in eyewitness testimony and investigative psychology. Functions as a comparable international training pipeline with broader geographic scope.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/katzmanjackie
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/psychology-and-law-phd-program-at-city-university-of-new-york-cuny

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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