Psychology 2032B-001
The Psychology of Crime and Corrections
If there is a discrepancy between the outline posted below and the outline posted on the OWL course website, the latter shall prevail.
1.0 CALENDAR DESCRIPTION
This course introduces students to a broad range of issues in forensic psychology. Topics include detecting deception, eyewitness testimony, investigative interviewing, roles and responsibilities, offender profiling, correctional psychology, risk assessment, victims of crime, and fitness to stand trial. A focus will be on critical thinking, skepticism, argument, and confronting assumptions.
Antirequisites: Psychology 2031A/B, 3313A/B, 3314F/G, Psychology 3390G if taken in 2008, 2011 or 2012
Antirequisites are courses that overlap sufficiently in content that only one can be taken for credit. So if you take a course that is an antirequisite to a course previously taken, you will lose credit for the earlier course, regardless of the grade achieved in the most recent course.
3 lecture hours, 0.5 course
2.0 COURSE INFORMATION
Instructor: Dr. John Campbell
Office and Phone Number: SSC
Office Hours: Fridays 10:30am – 11:30am or by appointment
Email: jcampb7@uwo.ca
Teaching Assistant: Gloria Cho
Office:
Office Hours: TBA
Email: hcho88@uwo.ca
Time and Location of Classes: Mondays, 2:30 – 5:30pm; HSB – 40
If you or someone you know is experiencing distress, there are several resources here at Western to assist you. Please visit: http://www.uwo.ca/uwocom/mentalhealth/ for more information on these resources and on mental health.
Please contact the course instructor if you require material in an alternate format or if you require any other arrangements to make this course more accessible to you. You may also wish to contact Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) at 519-661-2111 ext 82147 for any specific question regarding an accommodation.
3.0 TEXTBOOK
Pozzulo, Bennell, & Forth (2014). Forensic Psychology (4th Ed.) Pearson/Prentice-Hall, Toronto.
4.0 COURSE OBJECTIVES
The purposes of Psychology 2032A are:
1. To challenge student’s pre-conceived notions about the role of psychology within the criminal justice system;
2. To provide students with knowledge of the basic vocabulary, research findings, and generally accepted concepts in the field of psychology and law;
3. To heighten students’ awareness of the problems and advances in the study of issues in psychological research in legal contexts;
4. To introduce students to the applications of psychological research in shaping public policy.
4.1 STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Recognize the different structures of the law, criminal behavior, and psychology and how they interact.
2. Know how research findings have shaped our criminal justice system over the years.
3. Identify how we as human beings, engage in and perceive criminal activities.
4. Critique journal articles, and interpret the findings as they relate to forensic psychology.
5.0 EVALUATION
Although the Psychology Department does not require instructors to adjust their course grades to conform to specific targets, the expectation is that course marks will be distributed around the following averages:
70% 1000-level and 2000-level courses
72% 2190-2990 level courses
75% 3000-level courses
80% 4000-level courses
The Psychology Department follows the University of Western Ontario grading guidelines, which are as follows (see http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/general/grades_undergrad.pdf ):
A+ 90-100 One could scarcely expect better from a student at this level
A 80-89 Superior work that is clearly above average
B 70-79 Good work, meeting all requirements, and eminently satisfactory
C 60-69 Competent work, meeting requirements
D 50-59 Fair work, minimally acceptable
F below 50 Fail
Midterm Examination (50%) Final Examination (50%)
6.0 TEST AND EXAMINATION SCHEDULE
The Midterm Exam will be held in-class on February 27th, 2017 and will cover the lectures and Chapter
Readings from the first seven classes.
The Final Exam will be during the final exam period, TBA, Arpil 2017 and will cover course material from midterm exam to the end of the semester.
MAKE-UP EXAMINATIONS: Please see section 8.0 for policy regarding make-up examinations.
7.0 CLASS SCHEDULE
|
Date |
Lecture |
Topic |
Reading |
|
Jan. 9th |
1 |
Welcome to Psychology of Crime & Corrections |
|
|
Jan. 16th |
2 |
Harder Than it Looks on TV: History & Challenges of Forensic Psychology |
Chapter 1 |
|
Jan. 23rd |
3 |
Know when to hold ‘em & know when to fold ‘em: Interrogations, Confessions & Deception Detection |
Chapter 3, Chapter 4 |
|
Jan. 30th |
4 |
Criminal Minds is Criminally Stupid: Evaluation of Criminal Profiling |
Chapter 3, Chapter 4 Reading: The Criminal Profiling Illusion: What’s Behind the Smoke and Mirrors? |
|
Feb. 6th |
5 |
The Usual Suspects: Eyewitness Accuracy & Testimony |
Chapter 5 |
|
Feb. 13th |
6 |
Not ‘the Better Angels of our Nature’: Homicide, Sexual Assault & the Psychology of Criminal Behaviour |
Chapter 11, Chapter 14
Reading: Violent Video Games and the Supreme Court |
|
Feb. 20th |
|
Reading Week |
|
|
Feb. 27th |
|
Midterm Exam |
|
|
Mar. 6th |
7 |
Welcome to the Joint: Prisons & Sentencing |
Chapter 9 |
|
Mar. 13th |
8 |
Evil or Ill? Assessing Fitness & the Not Criminally Responsible designation |
Chapter 8
Reading: The Effects of Prison Sentences on Recidivism |
|
Mar. 20th |
9 |
Predators Amongst Us: Understanding & Assessing Psychopathy |
Chapter 11
Reading: Psychopathy as Clinical & Empirical Construct |
|
Mar. 27th |
10 |
Balancing Right to Liberty vs. Public Safety: Intro to Risk Assessment |
Chapter 10 |
|
April 3rd |
11 |
Drugs, Executions, Abortions & Rationality – They Don’t Always Go Together But Today They Do (A Farewell) |
Reading: TBA |
|
|
|
|
|
8.0 STATEMENT ON ACADEMIC OFFENCES
Students are responsible for understanding the nature and avoiding the occurrence of plagiarism and other scholastic offenses. Plagiarism and cheating are considered very serious offenses because they undermine the integrity of research and education. Actions constituting a scholastic offense are described at the following link: http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/scholastic_discipline_undergrad.pdf
As of Sept. 1, 2009, the Department of Psychology will take the following steps to detect scholastic offenses. All multiple-choice tests and exams will be checked for similarities in the pattern of responses using reliable software, and records will be made of student seating locations in all tests and exams. All written assignments will be submitted to TurnItIn, a service designed to detect and deter plagiarism by comparing written material to over 5 billion pages of content located on the Internet or in TurnItIn’s databases. All papers submitted for such checking will be included as source documents in the reference database for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of papers subsequently submitted to the system. Use of the service is subject to the licensing agreement, currently between Western and Turnitin.com http://www.turnitin.com
Possible penalties for a scholastic offense include failure of the assignment, failure of the course, suspension from the University, and expulsion from the University.
9.0 POLICY ON ACCOMMODATION FOR MEDICAL ILLNESS
Western’s policy on Accommodation for Medical Illness can be found at:
http://www.westerncalendar.uwo.ca/2016/pg117.html
Students must see the Academic Counsellor and submit all required documentation in order to be approved for certain accommodation:
http://counselling.ssc.uwo.ca/procedures/medical_accommodation.html
10.0 OTHER INFORMATION
Office of the Registrar web site: http://registrar.uwo.ca
Student Development Services web site: http://www.sdc.uwo.ca
Please see the Psychology Undergraduate web site for information on the following:
http://psychology.uwo.ca/undergraduate/student_responsibilities/index.html
- Policy on Cheating and Academic Misconduct
- Procedures for Appealing Academic Evaluations
- Policy on Attendance
- Policy Regarding Makeup Exams and Extensions of Deadlines
- Policy for Assignments
- Short Absences
- Extended Absences
- Documentation
- Academic Concerns
- 2016 Calendar References
No electronic devices, including cell phones, will be allowed during exams.
