Forensic Mental Health - MSc

This module will allow you to consider forensic mental health in its broadest context through a critical evaluation of contemporary theory and practice. This consideration will be heavily influenced by psychological perspectives but will also explore other perspectives. You will gain a critical appreciation of legal contexts, the effects of rehabilitation, and the development, delivery and evaluation of interventions with forensic populations. You will also have the opportunity to explore issues relating to the analysis and treatment of individuals diagnosed with psychological disorders. Different theoretical perspectives will be examined, explored and applied in a variety of settings to highlight differences in approaches to dealing with these issues.

The context of practice in forensic psychology is considered in this module. You'll be provided with a critical introduction to a range of conceptual accounts of crime, criminal behaviour and victimology. Ethics, diversity issues, reflective-practitioner and the science-practitioner model will also be core to this module.

This module will provide a conceptual basis for understanding crime, criminal behaviour and victimisation, and will provide the evidence and theoretical basis for more applied modules such as Assessment, Formulation and Treatment and Professional Forensic Practice. In brief this module will cover the philosophical, historical and social meaning of crime, as well as methodological shortcomings associate with measuring crime. A range of theoretical explanations of criminal behaviour and victimisation will be critically reviewed, including psychological models associated with adults, children, violent and sexual offending. In addition, you'll gain a depth of knowledge and begin to develop your professional identity through the opportunity to investigate individually chosen psychological explanations of criminal behaviour and victimisations in greater detail.

This module will consider the components of good practice for the conduct of psychological research in clinical settings, as well as offering you the opportunity to experience some research methods that might be used within that context. The responsibilities of psychological researchers will be explored in relation to key governance issues such as ethics, data protection, risk management etc. There will be a consideration of the differences between research and other service areas that use research methods; for example, auditing, service evaluation, and development. The module will therefore encourage you to explore the key opportunities and challenges faced when conducting research in real-world clinical settings, and will inspire creative approaches to designing and implementing clinically relevant research activities.

This module will introduce you to a range of key research and research dissemination skills necessary for the pursuit of an academic or professional career in psychology. The main aim of the module will be to ensure that you are capable of planning, carrying out, and seeking funding for ethically sound, independent research projects in a psychological setting, and that you are able to present the results of that research in a variety of media for both professional and non-professional audiences. The module will also focus on the development of skills to enhance employability and ensure you are equipped to best present yourself to prospective employers both within and outside of psychology.

This module explores a number of advanced contemporary topics or ‘mini-modules’ in psychological well-being and mental health. The specific module topics change periodically in the spirit of the title ‘Contemporary Issues in…’ and will reflect cutting edge issues in research and practice. Each mini-module has its own set of aims, which will normally be one or more of the following:

• To provide a detailed and critical exploration of one or more contemporary issues which are currently pertinent to a specific aspect of psychological well-being or mental health.
• To critically explore contemporary debates relevant to specified topics within psychological well-being or mental health.
• To critically consider the practice based implications of theoretical understandings of specified contemporary issues within mental health.

In addition the module aims to:

• Critically consider overarching contemporary issues that draw across mini-modules.
• Consolidate learning from across mini-modules, allowing critical comparisons and synergistic conclusions to be drawn.

This module will provide you with four mini-modules led by different members of staff who have specific and appropriate areas of expertise within psychological well-being and mental health. One mini-module will always address ‘Contemporary legal issues in mental health’ however the other three mini-modules will change from year to year depending on the contemporary mental health landscape and the teaching expertise of provisioning staff. Examples of such topics of expertise include:

• Psychoses
• Coping
• Psychological responses to traumatic events
• Addiction
• Work-life balance
• Aging and dementia
• Anti-social behaviour
• Positive psychology

In addition overarching module content is likely to include:

• Competing theoretical perspectives on topics (for example, biological, cultural, environmental, interactionist perspectives).
• Critical evaluation of both research and practitioner literatures.
• Overarching philosophical debates in the areas of psychological well-being and mental health.
• Ethical, definitional and measurement issues relating to specific diagnoses.

You'll be introduced to key theories underpinning research and practice in mental health and illness, including both traditional and more contemporary perspectives. Theories will be examined against their own socio-historic context and the contemporary context, facilitating a critical and comparative evaluation of relevant theories. In addition, you'll be introduced to methodological limitations and implications of these traditional and contemporary theories.

You'll then be provided with the opportunity to critically apply your theoretical understanding to 'real world' experiences and problems situated within mental health contexts. You will be able to work in teams developing a useful skill set for use in practice and employment settings. Tasks provided will enable you to understand how psychological knowledge interacts with knowledge from other disciplines to form holistic critical understandings useful in applied contexts

The theoretical strand of the module will provide an introduction to pertinent theories in mental health. This will include a consideration of models such as the medical model, categorisation models (e.g. the rise of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual), bio-psychosocial model and constructivist models. You will develop a breadth of general knowledge related to explanatory theories of mental health and illness, in addition to critical approaches to these theories. This will give you a firm grounding relating to theories in this area enabling you to then apply these to real world situations.

The application strand of the module will use enquiry-based learning methods to give you an experience of professional project work across a range of applied areas of interest for mental health. You'll receive an enquiry-task from a set of professional vignettes which originate from real mental health related organisations but are re-framed by the module team to work appropriately as teaching materials and as the basis for the assessment.

This will synthesise the theoretical and evidentiary literatures that have been drawn upon in order to address the identified learning issues. The presentation will also contain recommendations of how this theory and evidence can be applied within, and have a meaningful impact for, the organisation that supplied their particular vignette. The scenarios are open-ended and may be addressed using the in-depth knowledge and understanding encountered earlier in the course, not only from this module but form other modules on the course (e.g. from methods, theory, practice oriented modules); or by using novel critical understandings (researched and developed by the project team).

This module provides students with the opportunity to comprehensively explore an area of interest in depth, within either Psychological Well-being, Mental Health or Forensic Psychology under the supervision of a member of staff who has expertise within that field. Students will be supervised through the small group tutorial programme and will have opportunities to discuss their progress with tutors and peers. The module aims to provide an opportunity for students to:

• Critically examine and have a critical awareness of current psychology theory and research related to Psychological Well-being, Mental Health or Forensic Psychology.
• Develop critical thinking and analytical skills relevant for the integration and understanding of psychological issues and constructs in a particular area of Psychological Well-being, Mental Health or Forensic Psychology.

You'll need to select a topic which focuses on critical examination of a specific area within Psychological Well-being, Mental Health or Forensic Psychology. The particular area will be determined by your individual interests but might consider a specific area of empirical research, philosophical or methodological underpinnings, or might take a more applied focus. Final specific essay titles will be agreed in negotiation between you and your supervisor.

Under the supervision of a research active member of staff, this module enables you to comprehensively demonstrate your research abilities through a chosen topic.