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Mentally Disordered Offenders and Crime

Code: 100447 ECTS Credits: 6
2024/2025
Degree Type Year
2500257 Criminology OT 4

Contact

Name:
Francisco Collazos Sanchez
Email:
francisco.collazos@uab.cat

Teachers

Amanda Rodriguez Urrutia
Lara Grau Lopez
Raquel Vidal
Maria Pilar Lusilla Palacios
José Antonio Navarro Sanchís
Jose Antonio Ramos Quiroga
Gemma Parramon Puig
Marc Ferrer Vinardell
Jose Salavert Jimenez
Laura Gisbert Gustemps

Teaching groups languages

You can view this information at the end of this document.


Prerequisites

Lessons are taught in Spanish


Objectives and Contextualisation

This subject belongs to  fourth year curriculum of the Criminology Degree program, in the specialization of sentencing enforcement. It aims to give students an overview of major mental disorders, as well as their relation to the comission of crimes. Additionally, aspects related to the management and protocols of such offenders are considered from the perspective of forensic psychiatry.  

At the end of this course students will:

•          Know and be able to differentiate the most important psychiatric disorders and their relation to criminal matters

•          Demonstrate a basic theoretical basis of forensic psychiatry

•          Have the ability to act competently in the field of psychiatry

•          Correctly interpret different types of clinical and forensic psychiatric documents


Competences

  • Ability to analyse and summarise.
  • Drawing up an academic text.
  • Properly using the legal, psychological, pedagogical and sociological language.
  • 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. Laying the foundations for the psychological foundations of criminology.
  5. Using research methods in those psychological fields related with criminology.
  6. Working autonomously.
  7. Working in teams and networking.

Content

Introduction

This course comprises 6 credits of the ECTS model. Each of these credits includes 39 hours of teaching, which makes a total of 150 hours, distributed as follows:

− 13 classroom sessions, 3 hours each: 39 hours (19,5 theory and 19,5 seminars)

− Hours of external student work: 106 hours

- Tutorships: 5 hour

 In-Class sessions: 13

The sessions will be held during the first quarter of the 2024-25 course (beginning on September 13, 2024 and ending on December 20, 2024). They will be held on Fridays, from 12:00pm to 3:15pm (12.00-15.15) and will include a half hour break. Within the concentration, this class is the first part of theoretical exposition and the second part of the practical seminar.

Program

1. September 13, 2024

Forensic Psychiatry I: Introduction, general concepts. Dr. Francisco Collazos

Psychopathology and Delictogenesis in Minors. Dr. Josep Salavert

2. September 20, 2024
Forensic Psychiatry II: The psychological expertise
Dr. Francisco Collazos

3. September 27, 2024
History of Psychiatry
General Psychopathology and Psychopathological Exploration
Dr. Amanda Rodríguez

4. October 4, 2024
Psychological evaluation: cognitive, emotional, behavioral, personality
Dr. Raquel Vidal

In the second module of classes those psychiatric disorders with a greater legal repercussion are addressed. A clinical approach is carried out in the first part of these face-to-face classes and then, taking advantage of the seminars, a psychiatric-legal one for each of them.

5. October 11, 2024

Organic mental disorders and dementias. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in the Adult.
Dr. Josep Antoni Ramos-Quiroga

6. October 18, 2024

Substance-related disorders
Dra. Lara Grau

7. October 25, 2024

Psychotic disorders.
Dr. Gemma Parramón

8. November 8, 2024


Autism Spectrum Disorders. Fetal alcoholic syndrome.
Dr. Laura Gisbert

9. November 15, 2024
Personality disorders.
Dr. Marc Ferrer

10. November 22, 2024

Affective Disorders and Anxiety Disorders. Suicidal behavior.
Dr. Pilar Lusilla

11. November 29, 2024

Paraphilias.
Dr. JoséAntonio Navarro

12. December 13, 2024


The simulation
Dr. Francisco Collazos

13. December 20, 2024

Presentation Groupal Works


Activities and Methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Lectures 19.5 0.78 2, 4, 5
Seminars 19.5 0.78 1, 4, 7
Type: Supervised      
Assessment 5 0.2 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Type: Autonomous      
Elaboration of a paper about some of the subjects of the subject and an oral presentation in the seminars: 25 1 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Preparation for the classroom sessions (5 hours of study for each of the 13 face-to-face sessions) 65 2.6 2, 4, 5, 6
Preparation of a psychopathological expertise 16 0.64 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7

Methodology of the course

Throughout the course the theoretical part will be developed in the first part of each of the classroom classes. These classes are distributed in three modules. The first establishes the theoretical bases on which the subject is based. The bulk of the subject is developed in the second module, which alternates the eminently clinical classes, where the main psychiatric disorders with legal and forensic implications are presented, with those sessions in which the relationship between these disorders and the commission of crimes.

The seminars are reserved to clarify, from a more practical perspective those aspects that allow a better understanding of the subject. In these seminars we will try to illustrate, with practical examples, the theoretical content of the classroom classes. The seminars will be held in the second part  of the classroom classes. In addition, in these teaching spaces, students should make presentations with a practical focus on the topics that have been developed in the theoretical part and that should have expanded with work outside the classroom.

External activities of the student

To reach the competences of the subject, students must complete 106 hours of external work:

- Preparation of the classroom classes (5 hours of study for each of the 12 classroom classes): 65 hours.

- Elaboration of a writing work based on any of the topics of the subject and its oral presentation in the seminars: 25 hours.

 -Elaboration of a writing forensic rapport: 16 hours

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.


Assessment

Continous Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Attendance and participation 20 0 0 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Exam 50 0 0 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7
Group presentation (20%) and psychopathological expertise (10%) 30 0 0 3

System of evaluation

Students may opt for a single assessment or a continuous assessment.

Continuous assessment system

  • Attendance Is mandatory for the classroom sessions. To pass the subject to it is necessary to attend a minimum of 80% of the classroom sessions. Classes start on time and entry is not allowed once they have started, except reasonable justification.
  • Presentation of works, or practical cases, in the different seminars. The content of these papers will be on some of the topics covered throughout the course and will be supervised by the responsible teacher.
  • Exam.

Items of assessment

a) Classroom attendance (25% of the total grade)

b) Execution of works (25% of the total of the qualification)

c) Examination (50% of the total of the qualification)

Resit

Students will have the opportunity to repeat exercises or exams in case of a fail mark.

Fraudulent conduct

Cheating in the exam will conduct to a fail mark (0), losing the right of reassessment. Plagiarism in essays will conduct to a fail mark (0). Most serious cases will conduct to a fail mark (0), losing the right of reassessment.

Grade dissertation

Professors of the subject will offer the possibility of performing two dissertations. One of them will be a research project and the other a work of practical intervention.

Not assesable students

Students will be assessable as long as they have completed a set of activities whose weight is equivalent to a minimum of 2/3 of the subject's total grade. If the value of the activities carried out does not reach this threshold, the subject teacher may consider the student as not assessable.

Single assessment system

Regarding the single assessment system, it is mandatory to take the 50-question multiple choice exam at the end of the course. The qualification of this exam will mean 50% of the final mark .Students who opt for this single assessment system will also have to defend a psychopathological expert opinion (25% of the grade) and carry out an individualized interviewwith the coordinator of the subject in which the degree of acquisition of skillswill be assessed (25%).

In order to prepare the different single assessment tests, students must consult the PDF material corresponding to the classes and which will be available on the Virtual Campus.In addition, the bibliography that appears at the end of this teaching guide is advisable reading.

In case of failing students will have the right to resit.


Bibliography

Mandatory readings

Each theory class will be accompanied by a Power Point presentation the contents of which can be considered to the reference text and provide the basis for the knowledge necessary and sufficient to pass the exam. Its reading is, therefore, obligatory.

Reccomended biblliography

Attached is a list of recommended readings. It is strongly advised to read them to complement the theoretical content of the classroom sessions. All texts cited are available to students in the Psychiatry 

Abernhe T. (1997). Criminologie et psychiatrie. Ed. Ellipses.
American Psychiatric Association. (2000).  Manual diagnóstico y estadístico de los trastornos mentales DSM-IV-TR (4th ed., text rev.). Masson.
American Psychiatric Association (2002). Manual diagnóstico y estadístico de los trastornos mentales Texto revisado. Masson.
Appelbaum, P., & Gutheil, T. G. (1991). Clinical handbook of psychiatry and the law (2nd ed.). Williams & Wilkins.
Blugrass, R., & Bowden, P. (Eds.). (1990). Principles and practice of forensic psychiatry. Churchill Livingstone.
Carrasco, J. J., & Martín, J. M. (2010). Tratado de Psiquiatría Legal y Forense (4th ed.) Wolters Kluwer
Fuertes Rocañín J. C., Cabrera Forneiro J., & de la Gándara Martín J. J. (2004). La Salud mental en los tribunales. Arán.
Gelder, M. G., López-Ibor, J. J., & Andreasen, Nancy. (2003). Tratado de psiquiatría. Oxford University Press.
Gunn J & Taylor Pamela. (1993). Forensic psychiatry: clinical, legal and ethical issues. Butterworth/Heinemann.
Kaplan, H., & Sadock, B. (Eds.). (2000). The comprehensive textbook of psychiatry (7th ed.). Williams & Wilkins.
Simon, R. L. (1992). Clinical psychiatry and the law (2nd ed.). American Psychiatry Press.
Vallejo, J. (Ed.). (2002). Introducción a la psicopatología y a la psiquiatría (5th ed.), (pp.651-679). Masson.
Vallejo, J., & Leal, Carmen (Eds.). (2010). Tratado de psiquiatría.  Ars Medica
Volavka, J. (1995). Neurobiology of Violence. American Psychiatric Press.


Software

The course does not use any specific computer program


Language list

Name Group Language Semester Turn
(TE) Theory 1 Spanish first semester morning-mixed