Psychology with Criminology

In this module, you are introduced to the principles of research design, and to basic techniques of qualitative and quantitative data analysis. Key conceptual and historical issues relating to the philosophy of science are addressed, and ethical issues are covered. Students will carry out practical investigations in small groups to develop key skills in research design, data collection, analysis, and report writing. In these practical sessions, you will be required to collect, interpret and communicate quantitative and quantitative data across a variety of methods. Students are also encouraged to see how data analysis relates to research design, and hence to understand and value the insights that can be gained by a competent knowledge of quantitative and qualitative analysis techniques. The practical investigations are selected to illustrate particular aspects of design or analysis, with a progression towards more complex designs and more emphasis on theoretical issues.

This module introduces students to the main sub-disciplines of psychology: biological psychology, cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, individual differences, and social psychology, as outlined in the British Psychological Society’s required curriculum. You will look at core topics within each of these sub-discipline areas, gaining an understanding of how psychology (and its sub-disciplines) developed over time and an understanding of key conceptual and historical issues that are relevant to the discipline as a whole. Seminars will further develop this understanding by fostering discussion and debate on key concepts and studies, helping you to better understand the relationship between theory and research.

This module aims to help students to develop and improve the key academic skills expected from psychology students during their studies, and to understand the transferability of these into the workplace, using the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) Benchmark for Psychology as a foundation. You will have the opportunity to develop reflective skills, cognitive flexibility, communication skills and resilience. In addition, you will be provided with a greater awareness of your strengths, values and areas for personal development that will help inform a more holistic and self-based understanding of potential future career paths. You will engage with psychological literature related to identity, learning and careers, and will be helped to reflect on this literature in relation to your own personal development and career aspirations.

Criminology is considered as a ‘rendezvous’ but specialist discipline; a study of crime and criminal activity that serves as a meeting point for Social Science disciplines. This module introduces and explores the various disciplinary approaches to the study of crime. However, it will have as its starting point an exploration of common-sense and everyday perceptions and the social construction of crime, as well as the representation of crime and the criminal justice system. The module will also begin to introduce and explore the range and scope of issues and topics examined by the specialist discipline of Criminology.

Victims play a vital role within the criminal justice system with the ‘state’ often taking the role of representative of the victim within formal justice processes. Victims hold a number of different statuses within society – from the ‘ideal victim’ to the victim who ‘asked’ for what has happened to them. Social, legal and political motivations underpin how victims are both treated and portrayed.

This module seeks to explore, appreciate and understand what role victims have within justice systems, how they are represented by both themselves and stakeholders and what challenges and issues are involved with such roles. Through engagement with academic literature, media reporting and political documentation, students will explore the many facets of ‘victimhood’.

This module aims to introduce students to both developmental theory and developmental methods. Developmental psychology covers a considerable number of historical and conceptual issues and current theories, as well as applied issues. The focus is on the child's/adolescent from a wide perspective, including among others social, cognitive, biological and cultural perspectives. Typical and atypical development across the lifespan (childhood, adolescence) will be considered in areas such as attachment, social relations, cognition, language, moral and cultural development. Students will also gain critical understanding and practical experience of the observation research methods applied to an aspect of child development.

This module aims to help you to evolve your career goals and aspired professional identities, to encourage active career exploration, and to develop tangible career tools (e.g. employability audit, Personal Action Plan). You will also be prepared for conducting independent psychological research, through developing a proposal for an appropriate empirical research project that you can pursue at Level 6. You will gain an awareness of the Psychology related career pathways available to you upon graduation, and will be encouraged to reflect on how your final year project subject area can align to your career aims.

The aim of this module is to introduce students to qualitative research methods in psychology, building on knowledge and experience gained at Level 4. The module will cover the historical development of qualitative methods, key conceptual debates (e.g. the philosophy of science), theoretical approaches to qualitative research, qualitative research designs and procedures, qualitative data collection methods (e.g. interviews and focus groups, qualitative surveys, vignettes and story completion tasks) and qualitative analytic methods (e.g. thematic analysis, interpretative phenomenological analysis and discourse analysis). Students will be given a chance to collect and analyse qualitative data, and write these up in a report. The module will emphasise the acquisition of practical research skills (in relation to key methods of data collection and analysis) as well as the development of critical analytic skills and a broad awareness of ethical issues relating to qualitative research methods in psychology.

This module aims to build on the coverage of social psychology at Level 4 by exploring some of the key approaches and topics in Social Psychology in greater depth. Students will be introduced to key conceptual and historical issues and debates in social psychology, as well as some of the traditional areas of the discipline such as social identity, the self, social cognition and prejudice. The module will  examine both ‘classic’ studies and theories, as well as contemporary treatments of these topics. The module will also cover critical approaches to social psychology and traditions emerging from these, such as social constructionism and discursive psychology. 

This module introduces you to quantitative approaches to psychological research methods. It will comprise weekly statistics lectures and workshops, in which you will go through a number of set work questions using a statistical software package (SPSS). The module will emphasise the acquisition of practical research skills (in relation to key methods of data collection, management, and analysis), critical skills (e.g. through evaluating research papers and methods), and a broad awareness of issues concerning ethics in quantitative methods in psychology and conceptual and historical development of research methods (e.g., philosophy of science).

This module aims to extend your understanding of the spectrum of individual differences and draws on content from a range of areas of psychology. This module covers key issues of contemporary significance using core areas of individual difference psychology such as personality, motivation, emotion & well-being. Topics are focused on in-depth within the module by examining different theoretical approaches to these concepts which allows you to understand how conceptual and historical issues inform our understanding and application of individual differences. The application of individual difference theory and research will be considered within the module in a number of contexts, for example clinical, educational or organisational contexts.

What constitutes ‘justice’ and how is this ‘delivered’? How did we come to contemporary concepts of “just punishment”? You will be introduced to the most important philosophical interpretations of the concept of punishment, and will discover the birth, evolution and socio-criminological characteristics of the main form of punishment (prison) and its alternatives.  Finally, contemporary penological approaches to the punishment of offenders will be analysed, from community penalties to restorative justice. You will be invited to practice and maintain a critical approach to the subject, in order to understand that theory and reality in criminal justice practice may be two different things, and to identify where some change in the policies could be needed.

Violent crime often triggers social outcry and political response when targeted towards particular vulnerable groups within society. However, the notion of violent crime moves beyond the obvious offending into areas such chastisement of children, violence in social disorder and domestic violence/abuse. The aim of this module is to explore the range of violent offending currently criminalised within the criminal justice system, the social and political responses to such offending and the treatment of violent offenders.

Drawing on theoretical considerations from sociological, penological and psychological fields of knowledge alongside political, social and media reactions, the module offers a multi-disciplinary view on this particular form of offending.

This module provides students with the opportunity to conduct an independent empirical investigation in a psychological topic area, following on from the research proposal produced at the end of Level 5. The psychology project is a substantial piece of research and involves the collection of original empirical data from participants using quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods. Students will be supported by their supervisors to develop and demonstrate a range of research skills including planning, considering and resolving ethical issues, data analysis, and dissemination of findings through a scientific poster presentation and a project report. Additionally, the module facilitates future employability through one-to-one tutorials where supervisors provide individualised support in relation to students’ post graduate aims and specific job searches.

This module provides you with an insight into the biological basis of human and non-human behaviour, including comparative and evolutionary psychology, typical and atypical neuropsychology, neuroscience, behavioural genetics, and the effect of hormones on behaviour. You will learn how our conceptual models of biological psychology have developed through history as new methods of investigation were developed. You will also gain critical understanding and practical experience of research methods used by biological psychologists.

This module provides you with a broad overview of fundamental topics in Cognitive Psychology, such as sensation and perception, attention, language, learning, memory, thinking, problem solving, decision making, metacognition, consciousness and cognitive neuropsychology. Conceptual and historical issues relevant to cognitive psychology are also covered. You will gain critical understanding and practical experience of research methods used by cognitive psychologists.

• Advanced Issues in Developmental Psychology 15 credits
• Advanced Statistics and Applied Statistics 15 credits
• Psychology, Crime and the Criminal Justice System 15 credits
• Psychology in the Workplace 15 credits
• Eyewitness Psychology 15 credits
• Health Psychology 15 credits
• Advanced Critical Thinking for Psychologists 15 credits
• Topics in Mental Health 15 credits
• Volunteering for Psychology 15 credits
• Organised Crime 15 credits
• Policing Society 15 credits
• Criminal Bodies 15 credits
• Crime and Humanity 15 credits
• Behaviour Change 15 credits
• Drugs and Alcohol: Use and Control 15 credits
• Psychology Placement 15 credits
• Advanced Social Psychology 15 credits
• Critical and Applied Research Design - 15 credits
• Desistance from Crime: From Theory to Practice - 15 Credits