Program Overview

Forensic Psychology (with Foundation Year) BSc (Hons)

Overview

Unravel the minds behind crime. Delve into the psychology of criminal behaviour, applying your knowledge and theory to understanding psychological problems associated with criminal behaviour and the wider criminal justice system and the treatment of this behaviour.

Course Details

Foundation Year Core Modules

• Discovering the Social Sciences, Humanities and Law
  • Introduced to the historical and contemporary development of social science disciplines, exploring examples of theoretical challenges and ways in which research is practically applied in society.
  • Gain an understanding of both similarities and differences between disciplines, and how interdisciplinary research is fostered through collaboration.
  • Explore academic standards, ethical guidelines and research protocols, personal development, and both study and transferable skills relevant to your studies and career.
• Investigating Society and Culture: The Case of Crime
  • Taking a multidisciplinary approach, explore crime through history, politics, English and creative writing, criminology, sociology, psychology and education to investigate the problems within society and culture.
• Your Foundation Year Project
  • Identify and explore an area of interest related to your area of study through small-scale research using secondary data or desk-based research.
  • Analyse an appropriate area of focus for your project using academic support.
• Your Toolkit for University Success
  • Develop your personal and academic skills to help prepare you for searching and retrieving information, evaluating different types of evidence, critical thinking and reading skills, note-taking and summarising evidence, presentation skills, groupwork, digital literacy and employability.

Year 1 Core Modules

• Critical Thinking about Psychology
  • Develop essential skills to critically evaluate psychological theories and studies.
  • Learn to overcome widespread mistakes and construct logical, balanced and coherent arguments.
• Human Development and Social Psychology
  • Gain an understanding of two of the five core areas of study specified by the British Psychological Society (BPS): developmental psychology and social psychology.
  • Consider theoretical and empirical work within human development and social psychology and are introduced to ethics in psychology, psychological research skills and report writing.
• Psychobiology, Cognition and Individual Differences
  • Gain an understanding of three of the five core areas of study specified by the British Psychological Society (BPS): biological psychology, cognitive psychology and individual differences.
  • Consider theoretical and empirical work within biological and developmental psychology and individual differences and also develop psychological research skills and report writing in more depth.
• Psychological Research Design and Analysis 1
  • Providing a foundation in psychological research methods and analysis, covering a range of experimental and non-experimental methodological approaches.
  • Introduced to the Windows SPSS package for statistical analysis and graph drawing, and learn about simple qualitative research and data collection methods.
• Underpinning Forensic Psychology
  • Introduced to the key concepts involved in understanding forensic psychology, such as crime and victim interaction, criminal thinking patterns, explanations of criminal behaviour, testimony and courtroom psychology, and crime prevention.

Year 2 Core Modules

• Applied Research in Psychology
  • Continue to foster advanced research design and analysis, building on the Conducting Research in Psychology module.
  • Facilitate the further development of knowledge and skills in using advanced research designs, including the use of quantitative and qualitative analysis techniques.
• Biological and Social Psychology
  • Explore biological, neurological and social explanations for a series of identified psychological topics, as well as introducing the concept of evolutionary explanations for human behaviour and the scientific approach to the study of our social behaviour.
• Conducting Research in Psychology
  • Deal with advanced research design and analysis, building on the module Research Design and Analysis 1.
  • Facilitate the development of knowledge and skills in using advanced research designs, including the use of quantitative and qualitative analysis techniques.
• Development, Cognitive Processes and Disorders
  • Study competing perspectives, contemporary debates, historical perspectives and applied topics within developmental psychology using a lifespan perspective.
  • Discuss a range of cognitive processes in relation to both healthy and disordered functioning, drawing evidence from experimental psychology, neuropsychological case studies and cognitive neuroscience perspectives.
• Psychopathologies and Individual Differences
  • Develop a knowledge and understanding of psychopathologies and individual differences in psychology.
  • Develop skills in psychometric measurement and an in-depth knowledge of these areas along with the necessary skills to distinguish between theories and critically evaluate them.
• Theoretical Approaches to Forensic Psychology
  • Demonstrate the relevance of psychology to our understanding of crime, criminal behaviour, legal decision making and the investigative process.
  • Address key areas including theories of crime and criminality, the applications of psychology in the criminal justice system, detecting deception, witness testimony, the role of expert witnesses and applied interviewing techniques.

Final-Year Core Modules

• Applied Forensic Psychology
  • Focus on the application of psychological research and theory to practice in the criminal justice system.
  • Concerned with the contribution made by psychology to the investigation and prosecution of criminal offences.
• Dissertation
  • Provide an opportunity to apply your learning from earlier modules by conducting a self-initiated, substantial data driven research project in a specific area of interest.
  • Demonstrate your skills in data collection, analysis, interpretation and communication of findings of an empirical piece of research.
• Issues in Psychology
  • Introduce students to a number of debates in applied psychology.
  • Foster self-directed learning.

Entry Requirements

• A typical offer is 32-64 tariff points from at least two A levels, T level or equivalent, and GCSE grade 4 (grade C) or equivalent in English and maths.

Employability

• Although this is an academic course rather than a professional training course, on successful completion, with a 2.2 or above, you will be eligible to apply for Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC) status with the British Psychological Society (www/bps.org.uk).
• The unique skills and knowledge developed on this course are particularly suited to the postgraduate training you will need in order to become a Chartered Forensic Psychologist.

Tuition Fees

• Entry to academic year: September
• Fee for UK applicants: £9,535 a year
• Fee for international applicants: £17,000 a year

Professional Accreditation

• This course is accredited by the British Psychological Society.