Forensic Psychology (level 3 Diploma), A Home Study, Distance Learning Course

Forensic Psychology (Level 3 Diploma)

The NCFE Level 3 Forensic Psychology course is divided into fifteen comprehensive modules:

Module 1 Introducing Research Methods
- To understand the importance of research design
- To have an understanding of the differences between exploratory, descriptive and explanatory research projects
- To understand why it is necessary to standardise the experiment
- To have an awareness of different research methods and instruments

Module 2 -Introduction to Basic Statistics
- To have a basic understanding of probability
- To understand what is meant by the independent variable
- To understand what is meant by the dependent variable
- To have a basic understanding of relative frequency
- To be able to construct a simple Likert scale
- To be able to construct a simple histogram
- To understand what is meant by the terms random sample and population

Module 3 -Psychology and Violent Crime
- To have an awareness that perceptions of mental disorder as a cause of violent crime are distorted
- To have an awareness that research suggests serious violent behaviour is not frequent among people with schizophrenia
- To have an awareness of the personality traits that characterise the psychopath
- To have an awareness of the emotional aspects of violence
- To conduct research into a possible psychological cause of violent behaviour.

Module 4 -Serial Killers
- Understand that there is no single definition of a serial killer
- Understand the difference between serial murder, mass murder and spree killing
- Understand that there are a number of urban myths about serial killers
- Conduct research and produce a report that tends to prove or disprove these urban myths

Module 5 -Crime and Substance Abuse
- Understand that not all drugs are illegal
- Understand that abuse of legal substances can have high social and economic costs
- Recognise the links between crime and substance abuse
- Have a basic understanding of government approaches to the reduction of crime resulting from substance abuse.

Module 6 -Child Abuse
- To have a basic understanding of the different types of child abuse
- To have a basic understanding of the signs of child abuse
- To have a basic understanding of the effects of child abuse
- To have an awareness of some of the explanations of sexual offending and their incomplete nature.

Module 7 -The Evidence of Children
- Have an awareness of the factors considered to make a child's evidence unreliable
- Have an awareness of the flaws in the concerns about the reliability of a child's testimony.
- Have an awareness of the current arrangements for the giving of evidence by children
- Have an awareness of the defects in the current arrangements for children to give evidence in court.

Module 8 -Criminal Responsibility and Psychiatric Defences
- Have a basic understanding of the role of the psychologist/psychiatrist in cases involving mentally disordered offenders
- Have a basic understanding of what is meant by mental disorder
- Have a basic knowledge of the insanity defence

Module 9 -Mental Disorder as a Defence
- To have a basic understanding of dissociative identity disorder
- To have a basic understanding of dissociative amnesia
- To have a basic understanding of post-traumatic stress disorder
- To have a basic understanding of what is meant by dangerous people with severe personality disorder
- To be able to conduct research into dissociative identity disorder.

Module 10 -Eyewitness Testimony
- To recognise that eyewitness memory is highly fallible
- To recognise that memories are considered a product of conceptual systems
- To have a basic understanding of some of the research into perception, memory and eyewitness testimony
- To examine and report on personal perception and memory.

Module 11 -Psychology in a Correctional Setting
- To have a basic understanding of the effects of imprisonment on the psychological and physical health of offenders
- To have an awareness of the psychological effects of imprisonment on female offenders
- To have an awareness of the psychological effects of imprisonment on young offenders
- To have an awareness of re-offending risk assessment and its purpose
- To conduct research into psychology in a correctional setting.

Module 12 -Psychology and Police Selection, Recruitment and Training
- To have a basic understanding of the issues involved in the recruitment, selection, training and retention of police officers
- Understand the advances that have been made in police training
- Recognise the links between relevant and continuous training and the promotion process
- Understand why such major changes in training within the police service were necessary.

Module -13 Police Stress
- Have an awareness of what is meant by stress
- Have an awareness of some of the contributory factors of stress
- Have an awareness of some of the research around stress
- Have an awareness of the contributory factors of stress in your own work place or a familiar work place.

Module 14 -The Decision to Assist
- Understand what is meant by an unresponsive bystander
- Understand what is meant by an impulsive bystander
- Understand how various models have been constructed to explain bystander behaviour
- Conduct own research into how the behaviour of the authorities might affect bystander behaviour

Module 15 -The Research Proposal and the Research Project Report
- Understand what is meant by a research proposal
- Produce a research proposal
- Understand what is meant by a research project report
- Produce a research project report.

Course Duration

We recommended you spend approximately 200 hours of your time studying for the course name. The pace of study is completely up to you. You have the freedom to start the course at any time and continue your studies at your own pace for a period of up to 12 months from initial registration with full tutor support.

Our aim is to provide you with the best deal available, therefore any registration fee, certification fee and full tutor support is included in the course price for you. The enrolment fee for the Forensic Psychology home study course is £437.50, though for a limited time we are offering you the opportunity to pay only £350 which is a 20% discount if you enrol online and pay in full.

You can also opt for our Easy Payment Plan and enrol online today by paying a deposit of £87.50 and then 4 equal payments of £87.50 per month. The first instalment is paid about a month after you receive your course.

We have three options for this course and their price are:

Online Version - £350
Paper Version - £370
Online & Paper Version - £400