Dr Michael Shiner OLD.2.34

This course is available on the BSc in Social Policy, BSc in Social Policy and Economics, BSc in Social Policy and Sociology and BSc in Social Policy with Government. This course is available as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit and to General Course students.

The course examines the contribution that psychology has made to our understanding of crime and criminal justice. It explores what psychological theory and research have to tell us about the causes of crime and the ways in which we respond to such behaviour.

Particular attention is paid to the development of individual criminality and criminal careers; drug and alcohol related crime; varieties of criminal behaviour including violence, sexual crime and stalking; mental disorder and crime; victims and victimisation; public attitudes towards punishment; public confidence in the criminal justice system; prejudice and discrimination; organisational dynamics and institutional change; offender profiling and criminal investigation; eye witness testimony and legal decision making; rehabilitation and imprisonment.

10 hours of lectures and 10 hours of classes in the MT. 10 hours of lectures and 10 hours of classes in the LT.

There will be a reading week in the MT and LT. In addition one revision class will take place in the ST.

One essay per term (MT and LT) will be required. 

J.R. Adler and J.M.Gray, Forensic Psychology: Concepts, Debates and Practice, 2010; PB Ainsworth, Psychology and Crime: Myths and Reality, 2000; J.Brown and E.Campbell, The Cambridge Handbook of Forensic Psychology, 2010; C.R. Hollin, Psychology and Crime: An Introduction to Criminological Psychology, 2013; J McGuire, Understanding Psychology and Crime, 2004 F. Pakes and J. Winstone, Psychology and Crime: Understanding and Tackling Offending Behaviour, 2007.

Exam (100%, duration: 3 hours) in the summer exam period.