Overview

Module Content: (1) introductory lecture; (2) early theories of criminal behaviour, (3) psychological assessments and offender profiling, (4) deception in clinical forensic psychology, (5) victimology and offending behaviour, (6) suicide and self-injury in prisons, (7) sexual and violent offending behaviour, (8) mental health and offending behaviour, (9) interpersonal violence, and (10) terrorism.

Assessment Strategy

-threshold -Shows a poor coverage of the topic area. Has poor clarity of argument and expression. Demonstrates a weak insight into theoretical issues. Shows limited background reading and study. A poorly focused answer that is unstructured and not written in the required academic/APA manner/style. Many grammatical and punctuation errors. Fails to show any original thought, interpretation and deliberation. Fails to evaluate the evidence base presented, it is just a shallow over-view without any depth of understanding or meaning. Has a weak evidence base (Grade level: C+ to C-).

-good -Reasonable coverage of the topic area. Shows a reasonable level of clarity of argument and expression. Demonstrates a reasonable level of depth of insight into theoretical issues. Shows a reasonable level of background reading and study. A reasonably focused answer that is reasonably structured and written in the required academic/APA manner/style. Some grammatical and punctuation errors. Shows some level of original thought, interpretation and deliberation. Shows some evaluation of the evidence base presented, rather than just being a shallow over-view. Has a reasonable evidence base (Grade level: B- to B+).

-excellent -Shows a comprehensive and accurate coverage of the topic area. Shows good clarity of argument and expression. Demonstrates depth of insight into theoretical issues. Shows extensive background reading and study. A highly focused answer that is well structured and written in the required academic/APA manner/style. Few grammatical and punctuation errors. Shows original thought, interpretation and deliberation. Evaluates the evidence base presented, rather than being a shallow over-view without any depth of understanding. Has a good evidence base (Grade level: A- to A*).

Learning Outcomes

• To be able to critically evaluate and synthesize the evidence base for different interventions which are designed to treat and rehabilitate criminal offenders.

• To be able to understand how scientific and research methodologies are employed in Forensic Psychology.

• To be able to understand, evaluate and critically review the main psychological theories related to the occurrence of criminal behaviour.

• To understand, know and be able to evaluate the main concepts of Forensic Psychology.