Forensic Psychology – (M.Sc.)

Contents

Modules Legal methodology

This module provides the necessary grounding to study law effectively. It teaches the core skills required with emphasis placed on research and legal reasoning. You examine the court system and legal professions and we introduce the Human Rights Act of 1998.

Criminal litigation

Criminal litigation is essentially the steps required to take a criminal case to trial. This module examines the initial stages of an investigation.

You examine

* police powers
* the processing of crime scenes
* the importance of continuity of evidence and establishing a chain of custody
* the general principles of criminal law required to ensure that charges are understood and correctly drafted
* the law on confessions and inferences from silence
* the law concerning taking samples from suspects
* the initial stages of a criminal prosecution with emphasis on how they are significant to expert witnesses

Law of evidence

This follows on from the criminal litigation module and progresses the investigative process from the initial court hearings through to the completion of the trial.

It addresses subjects including

* rules and principles on expert testimony
* the burden of proof
* the significance of disclosure and pre trial hearings for expert witnesses
* the rules governing advocacy and trials
* salient rules of evidence, such as hearsay

You also examine recent miscarriages of justice involving expert witnesses to identify how error arose and how to eliminate repetition.

Forensic psychology in context

You examine the main theoretical research and ethical perspectives which form the foundations of forensic psychology. You also develop knowledge of probability and statistics with reference to psychological profiling and investigation.

Investigative psychology

You learn to develop a problem solving approach to how psychology can be used to aid criminal investigations.

Psychology of criminal behaviour

This module introduces you to biological, social, personality, learning and cognitive explanations of criminal behaviour. You develop an in depth understanding of how key theoretical approaches to psychology can be applied to forensic psychological issues.

Research project

This module allows you to demonstrate researcher skills at masters level. You produce a persuasively argued piece of writing that demonstrates knowledge and skills, researcher competence and the ability to work independently.