Criminal Psychology

This Course is Taught By:
Iona Lister

Her Background: Licentiate, Speech and Language Therapy, UK, Diploma in Advanced Counselling Skills.

She has been a clinician and manager of health services for fifteen years, and a trainer for UK-based medical charities, focusing on psychosocial issues, mental health disorders, and also the promotion of communication skills for people in helping roles. As a freelance writer, she contributes articles for magazines, has written four published books, and has written course material on coaching and counselling related fields.



Develop your understanding of criminal psychology and how psychology is used in law enforcement and crime prevention.

Learn criminal psychology in this unqiue course
Understand your clients with issues with crime and behaviour
Understand aggression
Build your understanding of people
Save money and time, study at home

Who should study this?

Welfare officers
Youth workers
Counsellors
Psychologists
Support workers
Advocates
Legal employees

Lesson Structure: Criminal Psychology BPS309

There are 10 lessons in this course:

Introduction to Criminal Psychology
Definitions of Crime
Consensus View of what Crime is
Conflict View of Crime
Interactionist View of Crime
Scope of Criminal Psychology
What Criminal Psychologists do
Case Study
Profiling
Courts
Correctional System
Psychological approaches to understanding crime
Biological explanations of Crime
Phrenology
Eugenics
XYY Chromosome Model
Genetics
Twin Studies
Adoption Studies
Nature, Nurture
Environmental Explanations of Crime
Family Influence
Agency Explanations
Rational Choice Theory
Psychology and understanding serious crimes
Aggression
Types of Aggression
Terminology
Drive Theories
Freudian Theories
Social Learning Theories
Biological and Evolutionary Theories
Types of Aggression
Aggression an against Outsiders
Aggression in Species
Aggression in Humans
Environmental Influences on Human Aggression
Imitation or Modelling
Familiarity
Reinforcement
Aggression and Culture
Other Factors in Aggression: Alcohol, Pain, Frustration
Murder
Sexual Assault
Stalking
Pursuit Behaviour
False Stalking Syndrome
Mental disorder and crime 1 ...Learning disabilities and crime
Meaning of Learning Disabilities
IQ Testing
Crime and Intelligence
Modern Intelligence Testing
Learning Disabilities and Crime
Sex Offences and People with Learning Disabilities
Courts
Mental Disorder and Crime 2 (Psychopathy)
Scope and Nature of Psychopathology
Personality Disorder
Psychopath
Heartlessness
Emotionless
How do People become Psychopaths
Treatment
Gender and Crime
Scope and Nature of Gender and Crime studies
Rates of Crime
Murder and Violence
Prostitution
Case Study ... Women Offenders
Victims
Murder
Domestic Violence
Sexual Abuse
Youth and Crime
Age of Criminal Responsibility
Risk Factors
Mental Health Risk
Conduct Disorders
ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder)
Cumulative Affect of Risk Factors
Prevalence and Offending
Case Studies
Young People as Victims
Psychology and the Police
Social Construction of Reported Crime
Eyewitness Testimony
Early Research
Schemas and EWT
Police Line Ups
Every day Uses of Psychology by Police
Psychology in the Courtroom
Social Cognition
Behaviour
Appearance
Expectations
The Primacy Effect
Attribution
Schemas and Social Perception
Central Traits
Stereotypes
Social Inference and Decision Making
Psychology and the Law
Guilt Bias
Media Effect
Defendant Attributes
Attorney Attributes
Psychology and Crime Prevention
Punishment
Types of Punishment
History of Punishment
Reasons for Punishment
Deterrents
Punishment and Impartiality

Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.
Learning Goals: Criminal Psychology BPS309

Define crime and criminal psychology.
Discuss psychological theories and approaches to understanding crime.
Define serious crimes and explain the involvement of psychology.
Discuss the relationship between a person having a learning disability and committing crime.
Define psychopathy and discuss psychological theories relating to psychopathy.
Discuss gender differences associated with crime.
Discuss the psychological theories relating to youth and crime.
Discuss how psychology is used by the police.
Discuss how psychology is used in the court room.
Discuss the use of psychology in crime prevention.


This course is accredited by ACCPH and allows you to join as a professional member after completion. Membership allows you to add the letters MACCPH after your name (post-nominals).