MSc in Psychology: Legal and Criminological

The Psychology: Legal and Criminological course provides a set of modules that will enhance specialist subject knowledge and key skills for working in the criminal justice system, all delivered by subject specialists. It is designed to build on your existing learning experiences and offers flexible learning opportunities to improve your career prospects.

The main aim of the course is to provide students with the opportunity to develop comprehensive knowledge and understanding of a broad range of topics in criminological and legal psychology. Theoretical and practical issues pertinent to those working in legal settings will be examined critically. All MSc Psychology: Legal and Criminological learners will be required to have undertaken the following core modules: Research Skills and Methods (20 credits), Professional Values and Ethics (20 credits) Negotiated Learning (20 credits), and a Dissertation (60 credits). You will also be required to complete three compulsory modules: Interpersonal Violence and Abuse (20 credits), Criminal Psychology, Offending Behaviour and the Criminal Justice System (20 credits), and Working with Specialist Populations in Forensic Psychology Settings (20 credits).

Modules

Research Skills and Methods

Introduction to a range of qualitative and quantitative methodologies. You will be trained in the methods required to design and execute an empirical study, ways to keep the methodology scientific and other research design issues.

Criminal Psychology, Offending Behaviour and the Criminal Justice System

Develop your knowledge and understanding of the UK justice and prison services, including the roles and functions of the courts, police, probation, and secure NHS services.

Working with Specialist Populations in Forensic Psychology Settings

Gain a comprehensive and detailed knowledge and understanding of working with adults, children and young people within specialist populations.

Professional Values and Ethics

Engage in a series of critical debates; providing you with a knowledge and understanding of a number of ethical and practice issues that you may face within the workplace.

Interpersonal Violence and Abuse

Learn to distinguish between differing forms of interpersonal violence, to critically assess theories of violence produced within Cultural Studies, Criminology, Political Science, Philosophy and Psychology to help improve our understanding of the impact of violence and abuse.

Negotiated learning

Undertake an independent piece of work to develop your specialist knowledge and expertise in an area that is pertinent to your chosen pathway.

Dissertation

An independent project that provides the opportunity to demonstrate your competence in critically reviewing, synthesising and drawing conclusions from the literature and research.

Teaching and Learning Methods

Teaching and learning methods will include discourse, discussion, debate, small group work, seminar presentations, reflection-on and in-practice, context-based learning (also referred to as problem-based learning), and flexible, distributed learning (FDL) using Blackboard. Each module will facilitate the further development of literacy and I.T. skills, as well as the development of other key lifelong learning skills, and both tutors and students will monitor and evaluate this development via a Personal and Professional Development Profile (PPDP) encouraging the use of Pebblepad.

How You Will Be Assessed

A full range of assessment methods has been selected in order to enhance student learning and to help students demonstrate the extent to which they have achieved all the module learning outcomes, and, overall, the programme aims. Each module’s learning outcomes relate to the module assessment item(s). Students have an opportunity across the programme to self-reflect on their progression and their development. These self-reflections contribute to and are evidenced in assessments through a variety of means.

Types and methods of assessment will include group seminars and presentations; essays; a portfolio of evidence (achievement of clinical competencies and written evidence); viva, examination; OSCE/practical skills assessments; map of patient/client experience; reflective essay; community health profile; reflective incident recording; poster presentation; dissertation.

Modules use formative and summative assessment so that students progress through a module in a structured and constructive way and build knowledge for practice in a coherent and logical way. Formative assessments are designed so that feedback on the individual student’s performance is provided prior to the submission of the final, summative assessment – though this does not contribute to the final module mark or the credit awarded. The wordage – or equivalent – for both formative and summative assessments is counted towards the whole module assessment wordage.

On This Course You Will...

• Be able to explore and apply psychological literature to current issues, contexts and experiences around legal and criminological settings
• Be given high-quality support and guidance by our lecturing team who are active in their research and practice
• Learn valuable transferrable skills in PG research, which are highly sought after by employers
• Have the opportunity to choose topics and areas that you want to learn more about to tailor your learning experience
• Have the opportunity to shape your MSc experience to your own interests and career goals, allowing our team to help you reach your ideal future career.

How You Will Learn

A variety of teaching and learning methods are used throughout the programme. Special consideration has been given to the Learning, Teaching and Assessment strategies of the future MSc candidates. Whilst we acknowledge their previous undergraduate experiences, these must be balanced against an entirely new subject area. The strategies used are designed to match the learning outcomes and to provide every student with some experience of methods best suited to their own learning style, encouraging independent learning and acknowledging previous studies. They are designed to:

• Be student-centred, flexible and modern whilst being challenging and stimulating
• Support different learners’ needs at different stages of development
• Be fully supported by, and integrated with, technological approaches such as the Blackboard virtual learning environment (VLE) and the electronic portfolio, PebblePad
• Actively ensure the linkage of theory with practice
• Explicitly consider, value and incorporate service user and carer perspectives, involving service users and carers directly, as per the Institute's strategy
• Impart academic rigour to the teaching and learning processes
• Further develop the student as independent and self-directed, inculcating the ethos of lifelong and reflective learning
• Develop the student’s abilities to learn effectively and progress academically, performing academically at level 7 in terms of achieving the programme aims and outcomes through a variety of assessments, including an in-depth evidence-based dissertation as well as leadership, change management and service innovation.