SOC5082 - Psychology and Policing

Objectives:

On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:

Demonstrate a knowledge of the historic relationship between psychology and police practice, including where psychological research and knowledge has had the greatest impact on policing

Articulate an understanding of how psychological research and knowledge can be applied to practical policing in the 'real world'.
Evaluate the contribution that psychology has made to policing (this far).

Demonstrate an ability to work as part of a team on a shared task, allocating roles, conducting collaborative research and meeting deadlines to pre-agreed standards.

Content:

This module explores the links between psychology and police practice exploring how psychological knowledge can be applied to routine policing. Topics covered will include; investigative interviewing, street psychology for police (e.g. detecting those giving personal false details), detecting deception, police decision making, using 'nudge psychology' to prevent crime, policing and psychological wellbeing, and how knowledge of criminal careers can be used to detect serious offenders (e.g. self-selection policing). In addition to the above the module will explore the various applications of Investigative Psychology focusing upon the contributions to criminal investigations.

Learning and Teaching Information:

Learning and teaching methods will be structured around interactive lectures which include student-led activities. Students will be supported by workshop activities, such as directed reading and writing, seminar debates, student-led presentations, and guidance and support for the critical skills and presentation techniques or tools to be employed. Feedback on student work and feed-forward guidance will be central to this module.

Seminars/workshops
Hours: 32
Intended Group Size: 30

Guided independent study
Hours: 168

Further details relating to assessment
Assessment 1 - The group presentation will involve developing a presentation outlining how a particluar theme of research can aid a contemporary policing problem.

Assessment 2 - Students will write a critical literature review examining the research that has been conducted to date regarding the various applications of psychology to policing.

Assessment:

001 Group presentation; 10 mins; mid-semester 1 50%
002 Literature review; 2,000word equiv; end of semester 1 50%

Fact File

Module Coordinator - Manjit Thandi
Level - 5
Credit Value - 20
Pre-Requisites - NONE
Semester(s) Offered - 5S1

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