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2020/2021

Criminal Psychology

Code: 100449 ECTS Credits: 6
Degree Type Year Semester
2500257 Criminology FB 1 2
The proposed teaching and assessment methodology that appear in the guide may be subject to changes as a result of the restrictions to face-to-face class attendance imposed by the health authorities.

Contact

Name:
Elena Garrido Gaitan
Email:
Elena.Garrido@uab.cat

Use of Languages

Principal working language:
catalan (cat)
Some groups entirely in English:
No
Some groups entirely in Catalan:
Yes
Some groups entirely in Spanish:
No

Other comments on languages

In case the course is attended by students who don't understand the catalan language, lectures and 1 seminar will be in Spanish, altough some of the material may be provided in Catalan

Teachers

Manuel Casado Gomez
Maria Ines Lovelle Iglesias

Prerequisites

Reading comprehension in English

 

Objectives and Contextualisation

The main goals of the subject assume some of the primary objectives of the degree, such as knowing the psychological basis of criminology and introducing the lexicon of the Criminal and Forensic Psychology. Specifically, students will have to understand the psychological processes and personality factors related to the criminological study from a psychological point of view.

Students will learn the the most important psychological processes and personality factors, in order to understand the criminal behaviour.

Competences

  • Ability to analyse and summarise.
  • Drawing up an academic text.
  • Properly using the legal, psychological, pedagogical and sociological language.
  • Students must demonstrate they comprehend the criminological theories.
  • Students must demonstrate they know the psychological and sociological concepts and foundations of criminology.
  • Using research methods in social sciences in order to diagnose criminality problems.
  • Working autonomously.
  • Working in teams and networking.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Ability to analyse and summarise.
  2. Applying the vocabulary of legal psychology.
  3. Drawing up an academic text.
  4. Effectively interpreting theoretical written texts in English.
  5. Laying the foundations for the psychological foundations of criminology.
  6. Using research methods in those psychological fields related with criminology.
  7. Working autonomously.
  8. Working in teams and networking.

Content

 BASIC PSYCHOLOGY SECTION 
  1. Basis of Psychology Applied to the Criminal Context
  2. Models and Theories of Psychology applied in the criminological field
  3. Applications of Psychology to the Crime Study
  4. Relevance of the Psychological basis in the study of crime.
  5. Basic psychological principles (Motivation and Emotion, Thought and Language, Development and Learning)
 PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSONALITY SECTION 
  1. History of Psychology of personality in criminology. Basic concepts
  2. Dispositional, biological and learning basis in Personality Perspectives
  3. Assessment of personality and personality disorder
  4. Personality and crime. Prevention and prediction of criminal behavior

NOTE: Students will be able to consult a calendar of sessions and a schedule with deluvery dates through the "Moodle" Virtual Campus at the beginning of the course.

Methodology

Teaching and assessment methods may be submitted to change in case health authorities impose restrictions to access to campus.

In lecture classes, students will receive theoretical and technical information. In the seminar sessions (practice), they will recieve tools to assume the theoretical concepts in a more applied way. Finally, under supervision, students will have to write the course essays.

Activities

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Assessment 5 0.2 2, 5, 4, 3, 1, 7, 8, 6
Lectures 19.5 0.78 2, 5, 1
Seminar 19.5 0.78 2, 5, 4, 1, 8
Type: Supervised      
Group Workshop 30 1.2 2, 5, 4, 1, 7, 8, 6
Type: Autonomous      
Deduction / Discussion Papers 30 1.2 5, 4, 3, 1, 7, 6
Group Paper (Final Paper) 25 1 2, 5, 4, 3, 1, 7, 8, 6
Reading Documents and Writing papers 21 0.84 2, 5, 4, 3, 1, 7, 6

Assessment

The approach we propose aims to bring different marks on participation in the course in a continuous assessment of students. Therefore we will create discussion tasks in which we will be assessing the students. A continuous assessment, measured through practice, written comments and a final exam it will be held.

Requirements to pass de course

To pass the course students will have pass with at least a mark of 5 each of the tasks evaluated:

 a) Essays on readings (30% of final mark)

This work will be requested during the semester and will focus on answering questions about two papers (Available on Moodle), and/or in the assessment of the seminar contents.

 b) 1 group essay (30% of final mark)

Students will analyze a case / conference proposed at the beginning of the course. According to this, students will develop some aspects throughout the semester.

 c) 1 final exam (40% of final mark)

Focused on the theoretical content taught in the course.

d) Attendance (minimum: 80%)

Attendance is mandatory 100% (Grade regulations). There will be a control system. If a student does not attend at least 80% of the teaching activities cannot be evaluated. Justified absences will not be considered negatively and the student will be provided with the opportunity to do an alternative work to compensate the absence. A justified absence must be documented. Justified absences can only be derived from illness or similar situations. In case classes may not be provided due to students or teachers strike, students shall be required to prepare the content on their own and will be assessed. Teachers can provide students with specific material to prepare the content that had been discussed in the lecture class. (Students-Teachers Commissions, June 2012).

 Resit

Those who fail in the continuous assessment, will have the chance to pass the course in the final weeks of the course. The maximum grade at the reassessment exam (in case any student had failed the first one) will be 7.

 Fraudulent conduct

If during an exam, any student is detected cheating from another student or from any other material, automatically will fail the course without the option of resit at the end of the semester. In case of plagiarism in a paper, each case will be analyzed, and the student could eventually fail the entire course without the option of resit. According to papers, in the event that a plagiarism behavior is detected, the paper will be failed (0) and the student will be notified. If the behavior persists, the course will be suspended without an option for resit.

Universitat a l'abast

Because of their special status in this course, we beg the students of the Universitat a l'Abast to contact the head of the subject at the beginning of the course to set targets for evaluation.

Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Deduction / discussion papers 30% 0 0 2, 5, 4, 3, 1, 7, 6
Exam 40% 0 0 2, 5, 4, 1, 7, 6
Group Paper (Final Paper) 30% 0 0 2, 5, 4, 3, 1, 7, 8, 6

Bibliography

In the virtual platform, students will find the compulsory reading material for this course. For each topic, we will analyze texts from the following bibliographical sources.

Casal, G. (coord.) (2006). Psicología Forense: manual de técnicas y aplicaciones. Madrid: Biblioteca Nueva.

Garrido, E; Masip, J. & Herrero, M.C. (coords.) (2006). Psicología Jurídica. Madrid: Pearson Educación.

Garrido, V. (2005). ¿Qué es la psicología criminológica? Madrid: Biblioteca Nueva

Rodríguez, C. & Ávila, A. (1999) Evaluación, psicopatología y tratamiento en Psicología Forense. Madrid: Fundación Universidad.

Soria, M.A. (coord.) (2005). Manual de Psicología Jurídica e investigación criminal. Madrid: Pirámide.

Soria, M.A. & Sáiz, D. (coords.) (2006): Psicología Criminal. Madrid: Pearson Educación.

Urra, J. (Comp.) (2002). Tratado de Psicología Forense. Madrid: Siglo XXI.