PSY 307 Forensic Psychology Latest Syllabus

BS (Honors) in Psychology 1
PSY 307: Forensic Psychology

Credit Hours: 4
Unit Contents
1. Introduction to Forensic Psychology
1.1 Forensic Psychology (Definition, Sub-fields, Historical Overview)
1.2 The Concept of Crime
1.3 Forensic Psychology vs. Criminal Psychology
1.4 Relationship between Psychology and Law
1.5 Roles of Forensic Psychologists
2. Explanation of Criminal Behavior
2.1 Levels of Explanation of Crime
2.2 Neuropsychology of Offending
2.3 Intelligence and Crime
2.4 Psychoanalysis and Crime
2.5 Addiction to Crime
2.6 The Social Construction of Crime
2.7 Eysenck’s Biological Theory of Crime
2.8 Social Learning Theory
2.9 Strain Theories of Crime
3. Victimology and Psychology of Violence
3.1 Violence, Victim, Victimology and Victimization
3.2 Theories of Victimization
3.3 Cycle of Violence or Cycle of Abuse
3.4 Family Forensics (Domestic Violence, Intimate Partner Violence)
3.5 Juvenile Delinquency (Adolescent Deviant Behaviour, Biological & Criminogenic
Factors in Childhood, Antisocial Behaviour in Childhood)
3.6 Sexual Assault
3.7 Childhood Abuse
3.8 Adult Victim as Childhood Abuse
3.9 Elder Abuse and Victims with Disabilities
3.10 Forensic Assessment of Victims
4. Techniques of Criminal Investigation
4.1 Interrogation and Interviewing, Verbal & Non-Verbal Cues
4.2 Detecting Dissimulation (F Scales, L Scales and, Inconsistency Scales)
4.3 Criminal Profiling: Behavioral Analysis
4.4 Understanding Criminal Personality- (Antisocial Personality, Psychopath, Sociopath)
4.5 Psychological Autopsy
4.6 Lie Detection (Ekman’s Theory; Polygraph Test)
4.7 Statement Validity Analysis
4.8 Geographical Offender Profiling or GOP
4.9 Social Network Forensics
5. Psychometric Assessment in Forensic Science
5.1 Forensic Criminological Assessments
5.2 Non-Forensic Tools: TAT, Rorschach, 16PF
5.3 Non-Forensic but Relevant Tools: MMPI, Psychopathy Hare Checklist-Revised (HPCL-
R), STAI Inventory, PTSD Inventory, Perceived Stress Scale, Scale for Suicidal Ideation,
Perceived Stress Scale, General Health Questionnaire
5.4 Pure Forensic Tools: Jail Screening Assessment, MacCAT-CA, Competence Assessment
for Mental Retardation
BS (Honors) in Psychology 2
6. Correctional Psychology
6.1 Prison as a Therapeutic Community
6.2 The Effectiveness of Prison
6.3 Dimensions of Psychology in Prison
6.4 Psychological Treatments in Prison (Treating Violent or High-Risk Offenders, Treating
Sexual Offenders, Anger Management)
7. Forensic Psychology in Court
7.1 Eyewitness Testimony (Accuracy and Importance), Vulnerable Witnesses, Children as
Witness (Challenges, Ways of Interviewing)
7.2 Competency to Stand Trial
7.3 Mental Illness and Judicial Forensics (Cases of Psychopaths and Insanity, Insanity Plea,
Not Guilt due to Insane)
7.4 False Confessions by Offenders
7.5 Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder as Defence Mechanism
7.6 Role of Forensic Psychologists as Experts in Court (Psychological Assessments as
Forensic Evidences: Personality Assessment, Intelligence Tests, Specific Forensic
Assessments including Risk Assessments, Malingering etc., Experiments on Offenders)
8. Recidivism, Revictimization and Risk Assessment
8.1 Recidivism and Revictimization
8.2 Revictimization in Sexual Violence, Intimate Partner Violence etc.
8.3 The Need Risk Assessment
8.4 The Risk Factors in Risk Assessments (Static Factors vs. Dynamic Factors)
8.5 Methods of Risk Assessments: Clinical Judgmental Methods, Statistical Assessments,
Investigation of Offence Paralleling Behaviour
Readings
Canter, D. (2010). Forensic Psychology: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press.
Gopalan, R. T. (2022). Victimology: A Comprehensive Approach to Forensic, Psychosocial and
Legal Perspectives. Springer.
Gordon, N. J. & Fleisher, W. L., (2011). Effective Interviewing and Interrogation Techniques (3rd
ed.). Academic Press.
Howitt, D. (2018). Introduction to Forensic and Criminal Psychology (6th ed.). Pearson.
Ramsland, K. (2018). The Psychology of Death Investigations: Behavioral Analysis for

Psychological Autopsy and Criminal Profiling. Taylor & Francis Group.
Reynolds, C. R., Robert A. Altmann, R. A., & Allen, D. N. (2021). Mastering Modern
Psychological Testing: Theory and Methods (2nd ed.). Springer.

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BS (Honors) in Psychology 1

PSY 307: Forensic Psychology

Ramsland, K. (2018). The Psychology of Death Investigations: Behavioral Analysis for

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