Drugs and Crime
Code: 100467 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Criminology | OB | 3 |
Contact
- Name:
- Yolanda Pardo Cladellas
- Email:
- yolanda.pardo@uab.cat
Teachers
- Lidia Gimenez Llort
- Constanza Denisse Daigre Blanco
- Anastasiya Ivanova Serokhvostova
- Yolanda Pardo Cladellas
- Beatriz Molinuevo Alonso
Teaching groups languages
You can view this information at the end of this document.
Prerequisites
English reading: moderate level.
The teaching of the subject will be taught taking into account the perspective of the Sustainable Development Goals.
The language for both theory classes and seminars will be Spanish.
Objectives and Contextualisation
The aims of the course are:
- to provide an overview of the current state of substance use according to several observatories and reports at national, European and global levels; as well as under the age and sex/gender perspectives
- to introduce basic concepts related to drugs and substance-related disorders (intoxication, tolerance, withdrawal, and so on);
- to provide a biopsychosocial view on the various mechanisms involved in the addictive behavior, with particular emphasis on the most relevant scientific findings from basic and applied perspectives;
- to know the effects of the main drugs on various body systems and their emotional, cognitive and behaviour effects;
- to know methodologies and evaluation tools that allow to have a global vision of the history and the current situation of drug dependence of the person;
- to introduce the existing outpatient therapeutic alternatives and the most relevant current pharmacological treatments;
- to study the relationship between addictive behavior to drugs and criminal behavior, and to learn various theoretical approaches and types of crimes associated.
The formative aims of this course will correspond to:
“The use of methodologies of the research area to analyze the information in a specific context and to evaluate the results so that the application of these methodologies allows to carry out specialized studies at master’s and doctoral level.”
“The transmission to the specialized public and society in general the contributions to solve situations in the area of drug addiction with the goal of prevention and social integration”.
Competences
- Ability to analyse and summarise.
- Accessing and interpreting sources of crime data.
- Analysing the conflict and criminology by using the criminological theories and their psychological and sociological foundations.
- Designing a criminological research and identifying the appropriate methodological strategy to the proposed goals.
- Drawing up an academic text.
- Identifying existing social resources to intervene in the conflict and criminality.
- Respectfully interacting with other people.
- Using the evaluation techniques of criminogenic risk and needs of a person in order to decide an intervention proposal.
- Verbally transmitting ideas to an audience.
- Working autonomously.
- Working in teams and networking.
Learning Outcomes
- Ability to analyse and summarise.
- Analysing with scientific criteria the information obtained in criminological databases.
- Applying the scientific criminological knowledge to the delinquency analysis.
- Appropriately choosing the social resource for each professional intervention case.
- Drawing up an academic text.
- Inferring the intervention models in accordance with a previous needs assessment.
- Respectfully interacting with other people.
- Using the appropriate research methodology in accordance with the suggested criminological research.
- Verbally transmitting ideas to an audience.
- Working autonomously.
- Working in teams and networking.
Content
LECTURES
Section 1. Conceptual basis
Drugs: definition and concepts related. Current status of alcohol and drugs consumption, under age and sex/gender perspectives (Subject 1)
Section 2. Mechanisms explaining drug addiction
Psychological and social aspects in drug addiction (Subject 2)
Drug addiction: learning and conditioning (Subject 3)
Neurobiology of drugs and drug addiction (Subject 4)
Section 3. Different levels of actuation in drug addiction
Prevention, assessment, diagnosis and therapeutic options, rehabilitation and reintegration (Subject 5)
Section 4. History, mechanisms of action and effects
Alcohol (Subject 7)
Cannabinoids (Subject 8)
Psychostimulants (Subject 9)
Opioids (Subject 10)
Drug Design and toxicological drug analysis (Subject 12)
Section 5. Criminological aspects
Association between drugs and crime (Subject 5)
Association between drugs and aggressive behavior (Subject 11)
SEMINARS
These lectures will be supported by the following seminars:
Seminar 1. Work with CBL methodology (Challenge-based learning) I: Presentation of the challenge. The explanation of the CBL methodology and how the solution to the challenge will be organized will be made.
Seminar2. Work with CBL II methodology: Start of the preparation of a proposal for a solution to the challenge. Assignment of tasks and responsibilities to the members of the group.
Seminar 3: Search for articles in scientific databases and bibliometric indicators (EVALUABLE ACTIVITY)
Seminar 4. Cineforum: Biological and environmental variables of addictive behavior (EVALUABLE ACTIVITY)
Seminar 5. Work with CBL III methodology: Application of research techniques for the development of the proposed solution for the work teams.
Seminar 6. Evaluation in addictions (EVALUABLE ACTIVITY)
Seminar 7. Conference of Anonymous Alcoholics.
Seminar 8. Debate on the legalization of cannabis. (EVALUABLE ACTIVITY)
Seminar 9. Work with CBL IV methodology: Evaluation and prototyping of the proposed solutions.
Seminar 10. External Conference rapporteur on intervention strategies.
Seminar 11. Work with CBL V methodology: presentation of proposals (I part)
Seminar 12. Work with CBL VI methodology: presentation of proposals (II part)
On the first day of class, a timetable of the various sessions will be provided.
Activities and Methodology
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Lectures | 19.5 | 0.78 | 3, 4, 6 |
| Specialized seminars (SESP) | 19.5 | 0.78 | 3, 4, 6, 5, 7, 1, 9, 10 |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Self-study hours, preparation of global works, readings | 106 | 4.24 | 3, 4, 6, 5, 1, 10, 11 |
Docent methodology
The contents of the subject are treated in theoretical classes that cover the most fundamental conceptual aspects and in seminars that affect the most practical aspects and where it works in a dynamic and interactive way.
Of the seminars, 4 of them will have associated an evaluable group activity that the students must deliver the week after the seminar. The group evaluable activities of the 4 seminars will be qualified as "suitable" and in case they are "not suitable" they will be returned so that they can be modified.
Other seminars are on the application of the challenge-based learning methodology (CBL) that involves a work that starts with a real challenge and will require teamwork with the challenge proposer and other expert agents in the territory to propose possible solutions. The challenge is developed in three phases: Link/Commitment, research/Prototyping and Implementation/Evaluation. The student, as a team, faces a specific problem of the territory and explores possible options for improvement, arriving to formulate a solution proposal.
Tutorials
The student can request individual or group tutoring about any of the aspects that configure its learning.
Punctuality and respectful attitude
Classes start on time. Class entry once it has started or exit before completion must be justified via moodle platform.
All students are obliged to have a respectful attitude towards the rest of the students. No offensive or discriminatory conduct (by reason of birth, race, sex, religion, opinion, or any other personal or social circumstance) will be admitted in the course of the classes.
Further infomation
All the information will be exhibited on the Moodle platform.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Global reports of the seminars | 20% 0.5 each seminar | 1.25 | 0.05 | 3, 4, 6, 5, 7, 1, 9, 10, 11 |
| Group presentation of proposed solution to the challenge | 30% | 1.25 | 0.05 | 2, 11, 8 |
| Objective evaluation writen test | 50% | 2.5 | 0.1 | 3, 4, 6, 1 |
Requirements to pass the course
Students must follow the course (minimum attendance of 80% of the theoretical classes and seminars) in order to pass the course. Absences can only be justified for reasons of sickness or others of force majeure and for academic reasons previously authorized by the teaching staff. Only if it follows but does not exceed the partial evaluations, could it recover the parts not passed in the recovery test.
To pass the subject, in addition to the minimum attendance of 80%, it is necessary to obtain a minimum grade of 5 in each of the two parts in which the course is structured (First part: block 1 and 2 and topic alcohol; Second part: from cannabinoids to block 5).
Students will be assessed as long as they have completed a set of activities whose weight is equivalent to a minimum of 2/3 of the total grade of the subject. If the value of the activities carried out does not reach this threshold, the teacher of the subject can consider the student as not evaluable.
Continuous assessment
During the course there will be two calls for partial evaluations of the subject. The dates will be communicated to the students on the first day of class. These evaluations, if they are passed, will serve to eliminate material from the final multiple choice exam. Each exam will lead to an independent note. Questions will be multiple choice items with five answer options and only one valid choice.
A correction will be applied to discard the random hits [Corrected score = (hits - (errors / 4))] that will be transformed into a note that can vary between 0 and 10.
After each examination, the students will have a period of 24 hours to send, through Moodle, comments or complaints about the questions, which will be analyzed by the faculty before publishing theprovisional list of grades. Subsequently, once the list has been published, students will have 2 days to contact the teaching staff to request a meeting to review the exam.
Students will have two opportunities to overcome each of the two parts: the first, in the continuous assessment and the second in the final multiple choice exam.
Resit Exam
Students who have not passed the subject by means of the continuous evaluation and who have fulfilled the minimum attendance of 80% or students who have opted for the single evaluation can be submitted to a resit exam. The date will be communicated on the first day of class. The test will consist of two parts: a) First partial of theory and seminaries; and b) Second partial of theory and seminaries. In the case of students with continuous evaluation, this should only be examined from the party that has not passed in the continued evaluations.
The characteristics of the exams as well as the formula for calculating the mark will be the same as those of the continuous evaluations.
After each exam, the student will have a 24-hour period to send, via Moodle, comments or claims on the questions, which will be analyzed by the teacher before publishing the provisional list of notes. After the list has been published, students will have two days to contact the teaching team to request a meeting to review the exam.
Students who have already passed the entire subject or part of the subject in the ongoing evaluations and who wish to submit to improve the note of one or more parts will be able to do so as long as they communicate it to the subject coordinator, through Moodle, at least three days in advance. Submission to an exam to improve the mark will not imply the renunciation of the mark obtained in the corresponding evaluation test.
Students who have not passed the subject through continuous or single evaluation and who do not present themselves on the day of the resit exam or exams of the unpasted parties will be rated as "unevaluable".
Normative anti-copy and anti-plagiarism
A student who copies or tries to copy to an exam will have a 0 in the subject and lose the right to re-evaluation. A learner who presents a practice where there are indications of plagiarism or who cannot justify the arguments of his or herpractice will get a 0 and receive a warning. In the event of a repetition of the behavior, the student will suspend the subject (0) and lose the right to recovery.
Final grade of the subject
The exam will represent 50% of the overall grade of the subject. Each of the four seminars with deliveries will account for 5% of the mark and the group work of the challenge solution proposal for 30% of the overall mark.
Final note= (mean partial exams or general theory exam * 0.5) + (seminar reports notes * 0.2) + (solution challenge proposal note* 0.3). This formula will only be applied in the case of the two exams of the subject or the exam of the single evaluation having been approved.
Students who have not attended a seminar in the continuous evaluation system will not be counted for participation in the work linked to the corresponding seminar.
Single Evaluation System
In this case, students will be assessed on the basis of a final test, in which the student must demonstrate that he has acquired the set of competences of the subject.
Seminar Reports: Students must submit a report on seminaries 1, 3, 4 and 7 based on the material they will receive (videos, articles, etc.) and on the elaboration and reflection on a series of questions and the bibliography consults in APA format. This part will have a weight of 5% per report, 20%, therefore, of the overall note.
Research work: the student will have to submit and orally defend a protocol to a research project in the field of addictions following the indications that it will receive on the variousparts of the protocol (antecedents, justification, hypotheses, objectives, methodology, expected impact of results and bibliography in APA format). This part will have a weight of 30% of the overall note.
Test-type examination: The content worked in theory and seminars will be evaluated from a test-type examination. Questions will be multiple choice items with five answer options and only one valid option. A correction will be applied to detach random hits [corrected Punishment= (rights -(errors/4))] which will be transformed into a note that can vary between 0 and 10. After the exam, the student will have a 24-hour period to send, through the Moodle, comments or claims on the questions, which will be analyzed by the teacher before publishing the provisional list of notes. After the list has been published, students will have two days to contact the teaching team to request a meeting to review the exam. A minimum mark of 5 is required in this part to approve the subject. This part will have a weight of 50% of the overall note. The final exam questions will be derived from the course notes found on the virtual campus as well as from the book: Goldstein, A. (2001). Adiction: from biology to drug policy (Second edition). Oxford University Press.
Bibliography
The bibliography and the links of interest indicated below allow to expand and obtain a more detailed knowledge of the contents studied in the lectures and seminars.
Among them, the most basic books for the follow-up of the subject are indicated with an asterisk *.
1. RECOMMENDED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Basic concepts in drug addiction
Fernández-Teruel, A. (2008) Farmacología de la conducta: De los psicofármacos a las terapias psicológicas. Servei de Publicacions de la UAB. (Capítulo 10: “Farmacología de la adicción y las sustancias de abuso”)
*Golstein, A. (1995). Adicción.Ediciones en Neurociencias.
Golstein, A. (2003). Adicción: de la biología a la política de drogas. Ars Mèdica.
Koob, G. F. (2006). Neurobiology of addiction. Elsevier Academic Press.
Lorenzo, P., Ladero, J.M., Leza, J.C. & Lizasoain, I. (2009). Drogodependencias. Farmacología, patología, psicología, legislación. Editorial Médica Panamericana.
Snyder, S. H. (1993). Drogas y Cerebro. Prensa Científica.
Explanatory mechanisms of drug use
Domjan, M. & Burkhard, B. (1994). Principios de Aprendizaje y Conducta. Debate.
*Graña, J.L. (1994). Conductas adictivas: teoría, evaluación y tratamiento. Debate.
Snyder, S. H. (1993). Drogas y Cerebro. Prensa Científica.
Characteristics and effects of various drugs
Golstein, A. (1995). Adicción. Ediciones en Neurociencias.
Feldman, R.S., Meyer, J.S., & Quenzer, L.F. (1997). Principles of neuropsychopharmacology. Sinauer Associates, Inc.
*Lorenzo, P., Ladero, J.M., Leza, J.C., & Lizasoain, I. (2009). Drogodependencias. Farmacología, patología, psicología, legislación. Editorial Médica Panamericana.
Publicacions of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) (https://www.drugabuse.gov/es/informacion-sobre-drogas)
Levels of action: Prevention, evaluation, diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation and reintegration
Díaz-Morán, S. & Fernández-Teruel, A. (2013). Integración e interacciones entre los tratamientos farmacológicos y psicológicos de las adicciones: una revisión. Anales de Psicología, 29 (1): 54-65.
Garrido, V. (1993). Técnicas de tratamiento para delincuentes. Centro de Estudios Ramón Areces.
Graña, J.L. (1994). Conductas adictivas: teoría, evaluación y tratamiento. Debate.
Manuals and guides of Socidrogalcohol (http://www.socidrogalcohol.org/manuales-y-guias-clinicas-de-socidrogalcohol.html)
Criminological aspects
Bennett, T. & Holloway, K. (2005). Understanding drugs, alcohol and crime. Open University Press.
Carrasco, J.J. & Maza, J.M. (2008). Manual de Psiquiatría Legal y Forense. La Ley-Actualidad, S.A.
Cohen, P. J. (2004). Drugs, addiction, and the law: policy, politics, and public health. Carolina Academic Press.
Fuertes, J.C. & Cabrera, J. (2007). La salud mental en los tribunales. Arán Ediciones.
Garrido, V., Stangeland, P., & Redondo, S. (2023). Principios de criminología (5ª ed.) Editorial Tirant lo Blanch.
2. LINKS OF INTEREST
http://www.aspb.es/quefem/atenciodroga.htm (Agència de Salut Pública. Pla d’acció sobre drogues de Barcelona)
http://www.socidrogalcohol.org/ (Sociedad Científica Española de estudios sobre el alcohol, el alcoholismo y las otras toxicomanías)
http://www.pnsd.msc.es/ (Plan Nacional sobre Drogas)
http://www.who.int/es/ (Organización Mundial de la Salud)
http://www.nida.nih.gov/ (National Institute on Drug Abuse)
http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/ (EuropeanMonitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction)
http://www.criminologia.net/ (Sociedad Española de Investigación Criminológica)
http://www.unodc.org/unodc/index.html (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime)
http://www.irefrea.org/ (Institut Europeo de Estudios en Prevención)
http://www.incb.org/ (International Narcotics Control Board)
Software
There is no need of specific programs.
Groups and Languages
Please note that this information is provisional until 30 November 2025. You can check it through this link. To consult the language you will need to enter the CODE of the subject.
| Name | Group | Language | Semester | Turn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (SEM30) Seminaris (30 estudiants per grup) | 11 | Spanish | second semester | morning-mixed |
| (SEM30) Seminaris (30 estudiants per grup) | 12 | Spanish | second semester | morning-mixed |
| (SEM30) Seminaris (30 estudiants per grup) | 13 | Spanish | second semester | morning-mixed |
| (TE) Theory | 1 | Spanish | second semester | morning-mixed |