Criminal Psychology

Course Details

This programme is designed for anyone interested in the psychology of crime and  learning more about the use of psychology in crime, its detection and prevention. The course will enables learners to: (1) Recognise how different research methods can help us research criminal behaviours, (2) Understand how psychology can help us to understand why some people turn to crime, (3) Appreciate how criminal psychology can be useful to criminal investigations, (4) Understand how criminal psychology can be useful in prosecutions, and (5) Recognise how criminal psychology can be help convicted criminals.

Your Tutor will support you throughout the duration of the course. You complete the course by undertaking activities and assignments. You will receive the course manual, assignments and study guide plus tutor support. Our student support team are also available for any other queries that you may have whilst completing your course. You can be assured that support is available for your course, so there is no need to feel isolated during your studies.

Topics Covered in this Course

Unit 1 : Introduction

Defining criminal psychology

Scope of criminal psychology

Roles of the criminal psychologist

Unit 2: Researching Criminal Behaviours

The scientific method of psychological research

Ethical considerations of psychological research

Designing a research study/experiment

Unit 3: How Criminal Psychological can be used to Understand Crime

Factors that influence the incidence of criminal activity

The major perspectives that try to explain causes of criminal behaviour

Developmental theories

Unit 4: How Criminal Psychology can be used in Criminal Investigations

Investigating a crime

Witness reliability

Factors that affect memory acquisition

Factors that affect memory retention

Factors that affect memory retrieval

Interviewing witnesses

Interviewing suspects

Detecting lies

Detecting false confessions

Offender profiling

Geographic profiling

Unit 5: How Criminal Psychology can be used in Prosecutions

An overview of courtroom procedures

How witnesses can affect a jury’s decision

How child witnesses can affect a jury’s decision

How expert witnesses can affect a jury’s decision

How the judicial system can affect a jury’s decision

How the juror reaches a decision

Group decision making

Group behaviour

Unit 6: How Criminal Psychology can be used with Convicted Criminals

A Brief history of punishments

The range of punishments

Imprisonment

Problems inmates encounter in prison

Support available in prisons

Alternatives to imprisonment

Rehabilitating prisoners

Offender behaviour programmes

Who should complete this course?

Anyone interested in criminology and learning more about crime and its causes.

Members of the Gardai Siochana or support services.

People who work in the security and crime prevention industry.

Those involved in working with young people in supporting youth crime prevention.

Entry Requirements / Prerequisites

None.

Assessment

This course is assessed through a series of tutor marked assignments. There is no exam with this course.