- Academic Registry
Course & Unit Catalogues


PS30158: Forensic psychology

[Page last updated: 03 June 2024]

Academic Year: 2024/25
Owning Department/School: Department of Psychology
Credits: 6 [equivalent to 12 CATS credits]
Notional Study Hours: 120
Level: Honours (FHEQ level 6)
Period:
Semester 2
Assessment Summary: CWES 100%
Assessment Detail:
  • Essay (CWES 100%)
Supplementary Assessment:
Like-for-like reassessment (where allowed by programme regulations)
Requisites: Before taking this module you must take PS20107
Learning Outcomes: In completing this unit students would be expected to:� 
* Critically� evaluate psychological theories relevant to forensic investigative processes
* Gain a critical insight into the use of psychological theory and research in criminal investigations
* Critically evaluate research methodologies examining the investigative processes used by the criminal justice system
* Develop a critical approach to these key issues in Forensic Psychology.


Aims: The intention of this unit is to:
* Allow students to identify and understand psychological approaches in the investigative processes used by the criminal justice system;
* Show how psychological concepts are applied to forensic psychology;
* Show how psychological methods are applied in a forensic setting.

Skills:
* Comprehensive and scholarly written communication (e.g. essays)
* Concise, time-bound and effective written communication (e.g. briefings / exams)
* Ability to select, summarise and synthesise written information from multiple sources
* Ability to develop rigorous arguments through precise use of concepts and models
* Ability to apply theory into practice
* Ability to select and use appropriate ideas to produce a coherent response to a pre-set question
* Ability to produce work to agreed specifications and deadlines
* Ability to work independently, without close supervision of guidance.

Content: The following topics will be covered during the course:� 
* Eyewitness testimony: Memory and the accuracy of witness evidence, suggestibility, interviewing witnesses, enhancing eyewitness memory, identification methods, eyewitness evidence in court.
* Miscarriages of justice: Mistaken identifications, recovered and false memories and false confessions.
* Vulnerable populations: children, mental health issues, intellectual disability, autism and older populations.� 
* Offender interviewing: Interrogation and interview techniques and detecting deception
* Theories of offending and treatment of offenders.

Course availability:

PS30158 is Optional on the following courses:

Department of Psychology

Notes:

  • This unit catalogue is applicable for the 2024/25 academic year only. Students continuing their studies into 2025/26 and beyond should not assume that this unit will be available in future years in the format displayed here for 2024/25.
  • Courses and units are subject to change in accordance with normal University procedures.
  • Availability of units will be subject to constraints such as staff availability, minimum and maximum group sizes, and timetabling factors as well as a student's ability to meet any pre-requisite rules.
  • Find out more about these and other important University terms and conditions here.