MSc Forensic Psychology
Attendance
Full-time, Part-time
Full-time one year
Part-time two years
Starts September
At a glance
About this course
This course builds on your knowledge of psychology at undergraduate level. You learn how to apply this knowledge to legal and criminal issues. You also study law and consider how law and psychology are linked together in the justice system.
In civil and criminal cases, forensic psychologists may contribute in various ways, such as providing expert testimony in courts or advising the police on effective interview strategies. During this course you study the theories of criminal behaviours and develop an understanding of why some individuals become criminals.
By studying forensic psychology in a legal context, you learn to understand how other disciplines and social factors influence its theory, research and development. This illustrates the strengths and limitations of psychology in a forensic context.
You study how psychological research can inform approaches to effectively detecting crimes and how criminals are convicted. And you learn to evaluate and use different research approaches from with forensic psychology.
The course is split into three main sections, each worth a third of the marks. One section is devoted to studying criminal law, one to studying criminal psychology and the final section is your dissertation or research project.
With the support and guidance of a tutor, you complete a self-designed research project using methods gained during the course. This allows you to bring the legal and psychological aspects of the course together.
We have chosen not to seek British Psychological Society (BPS) accreditation for our course as this allows us to teach a greater variety of topics and to explore legal contexts in more depth.
In comparison to most accredited courses, our course contains much more training in criminal law and its applications. We focus more on applying psychology to criminal investigations, rather than assessing and treating offenders.
If you already work within a criminal justice setting for example, youth offending teams, the Police Force, Probation Service or courts, the course equips you with valuable skills to inform professional activities. If you have studied psychology at undergraduate level and you want to expand your forensic psychology skills, this course gives you a good grounding.
Associated careers
You can find employment in criminal justice agencies, with offenders and the victims of crime, or in crime detection. You can also find careers in the police force itself or private firms who provide the judiciary with forensic psychological information. Many of our graduates go on to study PhDs within forensic psychology.
Course content
Modules
Legal methodology
This module provides the necessary grounding to study law effectively. It teaches the core skills required with emphasis placed on research and legal reasoning. You examine the court system and legal professions and we introduce the Human Rights Act of 1998.
Criminal litigation
Criminal litigation is essentially the steps required to take a criminal case to trial. This module examines the initial stages of an investigation.
police powers
criminal procedure rules
pre-trial hearings
the general principles of criminal law required to ensure that charges are understood and correctly drafted
the initial stages of a criminal prosecution with emphasis on how they are significant to expert witnesses
Law of evidence
This follows on from the criminal litigation module and progresses the investigative process from the initial court hearings through to the completion of the trial.
It addresses subjects including
rules and principles on expert testimony
the burden of proof
the significance of disclosure and pre trial hearings for expert witnesses
the rules governing advocacy and trials
salient rules of evidence, such as hearsay
You also examine recent miscarriages of justice involving expert witnesses to identify how error arose and how to eliminate repetition.
Forensic psychology in context
You examine the fundamentals of forensic psychology, and identify its strengths and its weaknesses. Discussions focus on how forensic psychology crosses over with associated disciplines such as sociology, criminology, law and politics when forensic issues are being examined.
You answer questions about what research methodologies can be employed to aid developing forensic psychology, and strategies to address the issue of 'dark' data within the discipline. The module equips you with a critical insight into forensic psychology and how it can best be employed to effectively address forensic issues.
Investigative psychology
This module introduces you to psychological issues which may effect police investigations. The module works via an interactive police simulation. As you investigate a series of criminal incidents you learn about the contribution of psychology to understanding the investigative process.
The module emphasises applying psychology to real world problems. The workshops involve you working in investigation teams on a series of criminal incidents, to allow you to experience the pressures and problems of the investigative process first hand. You learn to develop a problem solving approach to how psychology can be used to aid criminal investigations.
Psychology of criminal behaviour
This module introduces you to psychological theories and explanations of criminal behaviour, including biological, social, personality and cognitive. You develop an in depth understanding of how key theories and research perspectives can be applied to issues in forensic psychology and to understanding explanations of criminal behaviour.
You are introduced to the ways in which psychologists have attempted to understand and explain criminal behaviours such as partner violence, stalking, hostage taking and sexual offending.
Research project
This allows you to demonstrate researcher skills at masters level. You produce a persuasively argued piece of writing, having researched a key issue within forensic psychology, that demonstrates knowledge and skills, researcher competence and the ability to work independently. The assessment for this project is split into several parts allowing you to benefit from useful feedback on your project as it progresses.
Assessment
examinations essays short projects presentations producing posters
Entry requirements
Normally you need
at least a 2.2 in a single honours psychology degree or a joint honours degree with psychology comprising at least half your studies
two appropriate references
If English is not your first language you typically need an IELTS 6.5 score with a minimum of 5.5 in all skills or equivalent. If your English language skill is currently below IELTS 6.5 we recommend you consider a Sheffield Hallam University Pre-sessional English course which will enable you to achieve an equivalent English score.
Places are limited but there is no discrimination against any group or individual on the grounds of ethnic origin, nationality, gender, disability, marital status, sexuality, political or religious belief. International applicants, and applicants with disabilities are particularly welcomed on the course.
For all applicants a good level of English is essential. It is important that international applicants have the level of English required to cope with the demands of the course. If you are concerned, you can attend the TESOL centres pre-session induction course. This may be recommended or required.
We normally interview students before admissions are finalised. International students may be interviewed by telephone or e-mail.
Fees
Home and EU students
2013/14 academic year
Full-time typically £5,355
Part-time typically £1,935 for year one and £3,420 for year two
International students
2013/14 academic year
Typically £10.980 for the course
2014/15 academic year
Typically £11,250 for the course
How to apply
Complete the application form available at www.shu.ac.uk/study/form