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 the area of 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, Psychology 3313A/B; the former Psychology 3314F/G

3 lecture hours, 0.5 course

 

Unless you have either the requisites for this course or written special permission from your Dean to enrol in it, you may be removed from this course and it will be deleted from your record.  This decision may not be appealed.  You will receive no adjustment to your fees in the event that you are dropped from a course for failing to have the necessary prerequisites.

 

2.0    COURSE INFORMATION

Instructor:                                                           Dr. Peter Hoaken        

Office and Phone Number:                                  WH320            519-661-2111 x 813321

Office Hours:                                                      Tuesdays, 2-4pm

E-mail:                                                                phoaken@uwo.ca

Time and Location of Classes:                            Monday 7:00pm – 10:00pm,  NCB 101

 

T.A.      TBA     

T.A. Office Hours:  TBA                                      

T.A. Office:  WH

                                                                                   

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 (2017).  Forensic Psychology (5th Ed.)  Pearson/Prentice-Hall, Toronto.

4.0    COURSE OBJECTIVES

This course introduces students to a broad range of issues in the area of forensic psychology.  The objective of the course is to make students better consumers of information they may be exposed to (through media, for example) about crime, trials, punishment versus rehabilitation, incarceration, and so on,  A particular focus will be on the discrepancy between common lay-person beliefs about crime and what the empirical literature truly reveals.  That is to say, a particular emphasis will be placed on critical thinking, skepticism, argument, and confronting assumptions.  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.


   4.1    STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES 

This course is designed to assist students understand the intersection between psychology and the criminal justice system.  We will examine multiple topics to pursue this end, including factors that affect eyewitness accuracy; factors that contribute to false confessions; factors that contribute to criminality generally and violent crime specifically; and others.  This will be accomplished through 12 weeks of lectures, textbook readings, and readings from the contemporary literature.Evaluation will consist of two 75-item Multiple Choice Examinations. 

5.0     EVALUATION

Evaluation is based on two (2) exams.  The midterm exam covers the first half of the course, and is worth 50% of the final grade.  It will consist of 75 multiple choice questions selected from lecture, readings, and text material.  The final exam will cover lecture material, textbook readings and assigned readings since February 25th, is worth 50% of the final grade, and will consist of 75 multiple choice questions. 

 

Midterm Examination (50%)

Final Examination (50%) 

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 Western's 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


6.0  TEST AND EXAMINATION SCHEDULE

The Midterm Exam will be held in-class on February 25th, 2019 and will cover the lectures and Chapter Readings from January 7th to February 11th, inclusive (i.e., the first six classes).

 

The Final Exam will be during the final exam period, TBA, April 2019 and will cover course material from February 25th 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 7

1

Introduction – Welcome to Psychology of Crime & Corrections

 

Jan 14

2

Harder Than it Looks on TV:  History & Challenges of Forensic Psychology

Chapter 1

Jan 21

3

Know when to hold ‘em & know when to fold ‘em: Interrogations, Confessions & Deception Detection

Chapter 3, Chapter 4

 

Jan 28

4

Criminal Minds is Criminally Silly: Evaluation of Criminal Profiling

Chapter 3, Chapter 4

 

Reading: The Criminal Profiling Illusion: What’s Behind the Smoke and Mirrors?

Feb 4

5

The Usual Suspects:  Eyewitness Accuracy & Testimony

Chapter 5

Feb 11

 

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 18

 

Family Day

 

Feb 25

 

MIDTERM EXAM

 

 

March 4

7

Welcome to the Joint: Prisons & Sentencing

Chapter 9

March 11

8

Evil or Ill? Assessing Fitness & the Not Criminally Responsible designation

Chapter 8

 

Reading: The Effects of Prison Sentences on Recidivism

March 18

9

Predators Amongst Us: Understanding & Assessing Psychopathy

Chapter 11

 

Reading: Psychopathy as Clinical & Empirical Construct

March 25

10

Balancing Right to Liberty vs. Public Safety: Intro to Risk Assessment

Chapter 10

April 1

11

TBA

 

TBA

April 8

12

TBA     

 

 

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://westerncalendar.uwo.ca/PolicyPages.cfm?Command=showCategory&PolicyCategoryID=1&SelectedCalendar=Live&ArchiveID=#Page_12 

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
- 2018 Calendar References

No electronic devices, including cell phones and smart watches, will be allowed during exams.