| CODE | CRM1004 | ||||||||
| TITLE | Biological and Psychological Theories of Crime | ||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 01 - Year 1 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | ||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | ||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Criminology | ||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This is an introductory study-unit in psychological explanations of criminal behaviour. It covers the main theoretical perspectives dealing with contributing factors and correlates of criminal behaviour and the view of crime as a function of individual differences in biological predisposition, personality correlates, social and cognitive processes. This study unit shall also introduce students to a branch of applied psychology; forensic psychology Study-unit Aims: The aim is to introduce students to the main psychological theories governing the area of crime and criminal behaviour. Students will be introduced to the nature of and basic psychological processes and the influence of these on criminal behaviours in a way that they will become familiar with these various perspectives and theories, and their importance in the explanation of criminal behaviour. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: • appreciate how psychology explains and views criminal behavior; • acquire an understanding of various psychological processes; • integrate knowledge on psychological processes to explain how these influence offenders and behavioral outcomes in the examination, analysis, interpretation of physical evidence; • discuss the role of the forensic psychologists through an understanding of this branch of psychology developed within the Criminal Justice System. 2. Skills By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: • understand how psychological processes influence offending behavior; • discuss how offenders and offending behavior in relation to various psychological correlates and processes, and explain the possible interaction of basic biological, psychological and criminal processes; • identify and describe the role of the forensic psychologists, describe the development of forensic psychology through its input within the Criminal Justice system. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: • Blackburn, R. (1997). The psychology of criminal conduct. New York: Wiley. • Feldman, P (1993). The psychology of crime. Cambridge University Press. • Gudjonsson, G.H & Haward, L.R.C. (1999). Forensic Psychology. A guide to practice. London: Routledge. • Howitt, D. (2006). Forensic and Criminal Psychology. London: Pearson / Prentice Hall. • Stephenson, G.M (2001). The psychology of criminal justice. Oxford: Blackwell. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Chantal Avellino |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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