Department of Behavioural Sciences and Law Enforcement

The specialised group for Criminal Psychology within the Department of Criminal Investigation was established in 1971. The next few years served as the period of laying the foundations. Dr. Péter Popper, Candidate of psychological sciences, who initially worked as the head of the specialised group for Criminal Psychology, played a significant role in the history of the Department of Psychology. From 1982 to 1998 police colonel Dr Géza Kis was the head of the organisational unit named the Department of Pedagogy and Psychology, and later the Department and Laboratory of Psychology. Between 1998 and 2013 the head of this Department (renamed in 2012 as Department of Behavioural Sciences) was associate professor Dr Ágnes Póth Csernyikné, followed by Dr Judit Hegedűs, the present head of the Department, which, in September 2015, evolved into an institute named the Department of Behavioural Sciences and Methodology. In 2019 it received its current name, the Department of Behavioural Sciences and Law Enforcement.

The aim of the Department is to conduct research into and manage the methodology of fields related to police science such as psychology, folk psychology, crowd psychology, pedagogy, education and ethics. From another aspect, our objective is to establish a nationally and internationally acknowledged centre at the Faculty of Law Enforcement of the University of Public Service to be a hub for behavioural education and research related to law enforcement work to provide a sense of security in society. In 2019 the Department undertook the task of measuring and developing the students’ competences. We deliver subjects such as General Psychology, Law Enforcement Ethics, Pedagogy and Communication and our teachers also conduct research in these fields.

Head of Department of Behavioural Sciences and Law Enforcement

Dr. Judit Hegedűs, the head of the Department, after studying history and pedagogy at the Eötvös Loránd University, worked as a teacher at its Faculty of Pedagogy and Psychology from 2001 to 2008 and became the head of the Department of Behavioural Sciences and Law Enforcement at the Faculty of Law Enforcement, NUPS in 2013. Her fields of research are prison pedagogy, criminal pedagogy, law enforcement higher education pedagogy, competence development and child protection.

Contact Information:

Department of Behavioural Sciences and Law Enforcement

Postal address: 1441 Bp. Pf. 60. (P.O. Box)

Office: 1083. Budapest, Üllői út 82. University of Public Service Educational Centre, Room Nr. 219.

E-mail: rtk.rmi@uni-nke.hu

Telephone: 00 36 1 432 9070

Head of Department: Dr. Judit Hegedűs, associate professor

Secretariat: Andrea Matlári, senior desk officer