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Criminal Research

Code: 103551 ECTS Credits: 6
2024/2025
Degree Type Year
2500257 Criminology OT 4

Contact

Name:
Alex Albert Garcia Soteras
Email:
alexalbert.garcia@uab.cat

Teaching groups languages

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


Prerequisites

The course (luctures and seminar) is taught in Spanish

The subject will be taught taking into account the perspective of the Sustainable Development Goals.


Objectives and Contextualisation

General aims:

1. To obtain knowledge about criminal investigation in professional practice.

2. To transfer knowledge to practitioners and society about the use of criminal investigation to solve problems.

Specific aims:

1.1. To know the methods of risk assessment used in private and public security.

1.2. Applying crime prevention methods in the field of private and public security.

2.1. Understanding technical inspection reports in the field of private and public security.


Competences

  • Ability to analyse and summarise.
  • Accessing and interpreting sources of crime data.
  • Applying a crime prevention program at a community level.
  • Carrying out the criminological intervention on the basis of the values of pacification, social integration and prevention of further conflicts.
  • Designing a crime prevention program.
  • Drawing up an academic text.
  • Identifying existing social resources to intervene in the conflict and criminality.
  • Students must demonstrate a comprehension of the best crime prevention and intervention models for each specific problem.
  • Students must demonstrate they know a variety of criminal policies in order to face criminality and its different foundations.
  • Students must demonstrate they know the legal framework and operating model of the crime control agents.
  • Using research methods in social sciences in order to diagnose criminality problems.
  • Verbally transmitting ideas to an audience.
  • Working autonomously.
  • Working in teams and networking.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Ability to analyse and summarise.
  2. Acting in a professional way in the criminological field for pacifying, social integration and delinquency-prevention purposes.
  3. Appropriately applying social resources to criminality.
  4. Appropriately managing a security or prevention team.
  5. Correctly describing in the criminological field the legal-penal framework and crime control agents.
  6. Demonstrating they know the means and scientific procedures of crime prevention.
  7. Developing a security plan in the private field.
  8. Drawing up a delinquency prevention program.
  9. Drawing up an academic text.
  10. Effectively developing a delinquency prevention program in the community area.
  11. Interpreting crime-related police reports.
  12. Intervening in the criminological field for pacifying, conciliatory and crime-prevention purposes.
  13. Knowing the structural prevention strategy of delinquency.
  14. Properly using the criminological prevention and intervention programs.
  15. Students must be capable of carrying out a security audit in the private field.
  16. Students must be capable of carrying out a security audit in the public field.
  17. Understanding and summarising the basic ideas of the technical-police inspection reports.
  18. Using the police analysis methodologies of crime investigation.
  19. Verbally transmitting ideas to an audience.
  20. Working autonomously.
  21. Working in teams and networking.

Content

PRELIMINARY NOTE

The content of the program include three types of contents: conceptual, procedure and attitudes.

The contents will be developed both in lectures and seminars, in which the concepts will be related with the professional practice of criminal investigation.

PROGRAM

Block 1: Prevention

  1. - Criminal investigation using risk analysis 
  2. - Open and Closed Information Sources
  3. - Sources: IMINT, SIGINT, HUMINT and OSINT
  4. - Analysis
  5. - Results
  6. - Conclusions and reports
  7. - The intelligence cycle
  8. - Public and private agencies
  9. - Technology applied in crime prevention - Security of citizens and properties
  10. - Passive, active and logical security
  11. - Security of properties
  12. - Analysis of risk
  13. - Mechanical systems
  14. - Electronic systems
  15. - Security audit

Block 2: Forensic criminology

  1. - Anthropological
  2. - Injuries, necrology and toxicology
  3. - Lofoscopia
  4. - ID
  5. - Profiling
  6. - Ballistics and weapons
  7. - Handwriting and document examination
  8. - Fires and explosives
  9. - Crime Lab

Activities and Methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
PBL 39 1.56 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21
Type: Autonomous      
Case method 24 0.96 1, 3, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21
Collaborative learning 82 3.28 1, 9, 19, 20, 21

The methodology of the course is based on the Problem-Based Learning model (PBL), cooperative learning and the case method.

The work sessions can be lectures, practical or mixed.

Lectures will be based on oral presentations by the teacher complemented with audiovisual teaching resources (PWP, videos, etc.), new technologies (ICT), as well as advice with basic bibliography.

Seminars will consist of monitoring real cases of crime and devising methods of prevention.  Students will be asked to make proposals to intervene in these cases. Students will be provided with a guide to do these exercises.

During the seminars a variety of methods will be used: group dynamics, plenaries, and cooperative groups.

Individual work of the students will benefit from the use of the virtual campus.

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
Case study 30 1 0.04 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21
Briefcase 50 3 0.12 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20
PBA 20 1 0.04 1, 19, 20, 21

1. Model of evaluation

The grading system is based on continuous assessment. Attendance is compulsory as it will allow students to be assessed with respect to the specific skills they acquire during the module. Participation in class, the capacity of students to link concepts to practice as well as the consideration to the ethical values of the profession will be rewarded. A high participation increases the final grade by 0.5 points, while a medium participation increases the final grade by 0.25 points.

2. Items of the evaluation

Assessment of the module will consist of three scores:

- Portfolio: 50%

- Final work of the course: 30%. The content of this work will be agreed between students and professor.

- PBL: 20%

To get through the course, the student must have successfully passed the three activities.

3. Assessment conditions

Active participation in all classes and group work, including the completion of individual and group assignments, is compulsory.

4. Requirement to pass

Students must obtain a minimum grade of 5 in each of the three evaluation activities that make up the assessment.

5. Resit

According to the evaluative methodology used, based on exhibitions and theoretical-practical contents, if a student does not pass one of the three activities will have the possibility of repeating it.

6. Other aspects to consider:

- If the student fails the module, he/she will have to re-register for the module in the next edition of the course. In that case, the entire module will need to be repeated.

- Throughout the evaluation process the student will be informed of his/her progress with respect to assignments that need to be submitted.

- In accordance with UAB regulations, individual or group plagiarism or cheating in exams  will be penalized with a zero score (“0”) which means students will not have the possibility of repeating the assignment or test in the future (in the case of group plagiarism each student of the group will receive a zero score (“0”) for the assignment).

- Attendance at all sessions is compulsory. The student must attend at least 80% of all sessions; unless absences due to illness or other similar reasons. Not accomplishing with this rule will bring to a fail mark.

- Students will be given the results of the correction of the evaluative evidence within a maximum period of 30 days.

7. Punctuality

Classes start on time. Late arrival or leaving the calls befere the end is not admitted, provided there is not reasonable justification.

8. Condition to be assessed

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

9. Single assessment

However, the student may opt for a single evaluation system. The student who opts for this system will be evaluated on the basis of a finall multiple-choice  in which he or she must demonstrate that he or she has acquired the set of skills of the subject. This exam will consist of a multiple choice exam of between 20 and 40 questions with 4 response options for incorrect questions offset by 1/4 of a point. (that is, 0.25). The test will have a maximum duration of 60 minutes. The material to prepare the exam will be indicated at the beginning of the course.


Bibliography

REFERENCE BIBLIOGRAPHY

Anadón, M.J. (2010). Manual de Criminalística y ciencias forenses. E. Tébar.

Angoso, A. et al. (2012) Ciencias de la investigación Criminal. CISE.

Antón, F. (2005). Iniciación a la dactiloscopia y otras técnicas policiales. Tirant lo Blanch.

Barberá, A. (1998). Policía Científica. Tirant lo Blanch.

Bosquet, S. (2015). Criminalística forense. Tirant lo Blanch.

Buquet, A. ( 2011). Manuel de criminalistique moderne et de police scientifique. PUF.

Cornazo, M.P. et alt. (2017). Química Forense. U.N.E.D.

García, N. (2003). Libertad Vigilada: El espionaje de las comunicaciones. Ediciones B.

Giménez-salinas, A., González, J.L. (2015). Investigación Criminal: Principios, técnicas y aplicaciones. LID Editorial.

Graham, I. (1996). Investigación Criminal. Ed. Edelvives. 

Gutiérrez, A. , Lopez, C. (2018). Monográfico de Derecho Criminológico. SECCIF. 

M.A.P.F.R.E. (2005). Guía para las investigaciones sobre incendios y explosiones. M.A.P.F.R.E.

Moreno, F.X. y Aznar, M. (2020). Los rasgos biológicos no humanos en la escena del crimen. Anuario Internacional de Criminología y Ciencias Forenses, 5, 221-228.

Moreno, F.J. & Aznar, M. (2019). ¿Es posible contaminar con rastros biológicos la escena del crimen para inculpar un inocente? Quadernos de Criminología, 47, 30-37

Moreno, F.J. (2014). El hurto hormiga.  Revista VSXXI, 18, 18 - 19.

Moreno, F.J. (2014). Psicópatas. Revista VSXXI, 16, 15 – 19

Moreno, F.J. (2014). Cataluña, a la cabeza del femicidio. Revista VSXXI. 10, 17-20. 

Moreno, F.J. (2014) .Cuando los niños se convierten en un deseo sexual. Revista VSXXI, 8, 18-23. 

Moreno, F.J. (2014). El suicidio, una conducta en incremento. Revista VSXXI, 7,20-25.

Moreno, F.J. (2014). El perfil del violador. Revista VSXXI, 6, 23-28.  

Moreno, F.J. (2014). Drogas Emergentes. Revista VSXXI, 13, 44 – 46.

Moreno, F.J (2013). Burundanga la droga de los violadores. Revista VSXXI,  1, 12-17 

Moreno, F.J. (2013). Carteristas y su modus operandi.  Revista VSXXI, 3, 34 - 36.

Moreno, F.J. (2010). Reorientación actual en el consumo de sustancias psicotrópicas: la etnobotánica. Revista del Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos de Cataluña. 226, 18–22.

Moreno, F.J. (2006). Perfil psicológico de los pedófilos. Revista psicología jurídica.org., 54, 16-19 

Moreno, F.J. (2003). Psicópatas infantojuveniles.  Revista del Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos de Cataluña, 184, 15 – 20.

Owen, D. (2009). El libro de los forenses. Oceano.

Peña, A. (1970). Técnicas de la inspección ocular en el lugar del delito. Gráficas Valencia.

Rámila, J. (2010). La ciencia contra el crimen. Nowtilus.

Rodriguez, A  (coord.) (2013) La investigación policial y sus consecuencias jurídicas. Dykinson.

Sánchez, M. (2008). Manual para el director de seguridad. ETSA.


Software

There is no specific program.


Language list

Name Group Language Semester Turn
(TE) Theory 1 Spanish annual afternoon