Instruction may include:
- lectures
- group-discussion
- video/audio presentations
- classroom exercises.
Psychology and Law Overview
- Mental health law.
- Roles of forensic psychologists.
Criminal Court
- Eyewitness identification and memory issues.
- Studying juries and jury behaviour.
- Mental state at time of offence (and findings of not criminally responsible).
- Fitness/competency to stand trial.
Family/Civil Court
- Child custody.
- Mediation.
- Assessing psychological/personal injury.
Law Enforcement
- Fitness for duty.
- Police use of discretion.
- Psychological selection and evaluation.
- False confessions.
- Assessing deception and malingering in investigations.
Corrections
- The forensic psychologist as a clinician.
- Offender rehabilitation.
Special Populations in the Legal System.
- Mentally disordered offenders.
- Children & juveniles.
- Aboriginals.
Violence and Criminal Behaviour
- Psychological treatment of violent, sexual, and homicidal offenders, and psychopaths.
- Risk assessments.
Victims of Crime
- Psychological assessment and treatment.
Upon successful completion of the course the learner will be able to:
- Describe the relationship between psychology and the law.
- Describe the various roles of forensic psychologists.
- Understand the limitations of eyewitness identification from the perspective of psychological research.
- Understand the role of the psychologist in trial consultation.
- Identify psychological factors in jury behaviour (i.e. bias and group decision making).
- Explain assessment of mental state at time of offence from the perspective of a psychologist.
- Explain what it means to be competent to stand trial and how psychologists assess fitness.
- Understand the role of the psychologist in legal disputes (e.g. divorce, psychological injury).
- Discuss the psychological factors in child custody evaluations.
- Describe psychological assessment methods for selecting and evaluating law enforcement officers.
- Outline the mental health needs of police and how they may be assessed and supported.
- Identify the methods of assessing deception and the faking of psychological symptoms.
- Outline the role of the psychologist providing services in prisons and jails.
- Describe the methods of treatment of mentally disordered offenders and limitations of various treatments.
- Identify the special needs for psychological assessment and treatment of juveniles and Aboriginals in the criminal justice system.
- Describe methods and limitations of psychological treatment of violent offenders.
- Explain psychological assessments of risk.
- Identify the psychological needs of and treatments for victims of crime.
The course evaluation will be in accordance with Douglas College and Psychology Department policies. Evaluations will be based on the course objectives. The specific evaluation criteria will be provided by the instructor at the beginning of the semester.
An example of a possible evaluation scheme would be:
Two midterm exams (20% each) 40%
Final exam 20%
APA Paper 20%
Group Presentation 10%
Two pop quizzes (5% each) 10%
Total 100%
Textbooks and Materials to be Purchased by Students
Textbook(s) such as the following, the list to be updated periodically:
Roesch, R., Zapf, P.A., & Hart, S.D. (2009). Forensic psychology and the law. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley
Pozzulo, J., Bennell, C., & Forth, A. (2012). Forensic psychology (3rd ed.). Toronto, Canada: Pearson/Prentice
Hall.
Wrightsman, L.S., & Porter, S. (2006). Forensic psychology (1st Canadian ed.). Toronto, Canada: Thomas
Nelson.