Academic Development in Forensic Psychology

Module title	Academic Development in Forensic Psychology
Module code	PSYM242Z
Academic year	2025/6
Credits	30
Module staff

Duration: Term	1	2	3
Duration: Weeks	12	12	12

Number students taking module (anticipated)	14

Module description

This module is part of the Forensic Specialist Academic modules of the Doctor of Forensic Psychology (DForenPsy). Combined with the applied academic, clinical and research components these form the basis for the knowledge, skills, values and competences required to practise as a Forensic Psychologist, to meet the requirements for the award of DForenPsy and to be eligible for registration with the Health and Care Professions Council as a Forensic Psychologist.

The module will build on skills developed in PSYM244Z Academic Skills in Forensic Psychology and will provide opportunities to develop and demonstrate intermediate competencies in core roles including conducting psychological applications and interventions, communicating psychological knowledge and advice to other professionals, law enforcement and the criminal justice system, and training others in psychological knowledge and skills.

Module aims - intentions of the module

The module aims to develop awareness of standards in equality, equity, anti-discrimination and inclusion. Based on these principles it aims to provide trainees with opportunities to develop and demonstrate intermediate competencies in the core roles of forensic psychology. Some core questions that may be addressed include:

How do you conduct and evaluate risk assessments and work with risks in an evidence based way?
How do you plan and develop evidence based interventions using synthesis of multiple sources of evidence?
What is important for your development to work better between agencies, and with people within organizations and teams, and to establish and main complex relationships with clients and services?
How to develop your ability to support and train others in delivering psychological interventions?

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

1. Complete complex assessments with clients with forensic / high risk histories utilising both clinical interview and psychometric testing, and train others to do so, to an excellent level
2. Provide sophisticated complex formulation of offending behaviour / clinical presentation and an understanding of appropriate interventions, drawing on a variety of theoretical models, including forensic models, for example, Good Lives and Risk Need Responsivity, to an excellent level
3. Demonstrating knowledge of complex therapy and interventions used with clients with forensic/high risk histories to forensic practice, using a critical approach to synthesise and evaluate the evidence base to inform an excellent quality of practice.
4. Recognise and critically apply in practice evidence-based knowledge of the complexities around group and individual work with clients that have an offending background and apply this knowledge in forensic practice, to an excellent standard
5. Demonstrate an excellent level of confidence in co/delivering programmes for those with a history of violent/sexual offending.
6. Discuss in depth the links between mental health, learning disabilities and offending behavior, and to have sophisticated knowledge of a range of client group needs including mental health and learning disabilities, synthesizing and evaluating for use in practice the current evidence base, to an excellent level
7. Provide comprehensive risk assessments for forensic clients including using actuarial and structural professional judgements, for example, HCR-20, RSVP, SAPROF, evaluating their appropriate use for different forensic settings, and communicating relevant information to professionals and clients to an excellent standard

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

8. Synthesize complex information and use this to formulate clear rationale for the requirements for, and benefits of, applications and interventions in forensic settings, to an excellent level
9. Critically plan sophisticated applications and interventions in a systematic way, drawing on appropriate literature, methods, techniques or instruments, to an excellent level
10. Describe in-depth processes within the legal and criminal justice contexts relevant to forensic psychology, to an excellent level
11. Discuss in detail a range of forensic models of offending for a variety of client groups and critically evaluate their use in different forensic contexts, to an excellent level
12. Recognise and utilize in a sophisticated way, supervision of practice, to an excellent standard
13. Critically synthesize and evaluate substantive current knowledge, theory and evidence base relevant to forensic psychology, to an excellent level

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

14. Synthesise in-depth broader professional issues and evaluate ethical dilemmas in a sophisticated manner when working with forensic populations, to an excellent standard.
15. Establish, develop and maintain working relationships with clients and other professionals or organizations, considering issues including diversity, to an excellent standard.
16. Communicate effectively with colleagues, research supervisors, and a wider audience, to an excellent standard.
17. Reflect on own strengths and areas for development using effectively a range of reflective models to improve own practice, to an excellent standard.
18. Interrogate all areas of applied psychological practice through lenses of equality, equity, anti-discrimination and inclusion, demonstrating ability to lead challenge and reform where appropriate at an excellent level.

Syllabus plan

The syllabus is likely to include the following topics:

Therapy & Interventions
Theories of Offending / Working with Offenders / Specific Forensic Interventions
Professional Issues & Ethics
Complex Mental Health Problems & Neurological / Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Risk Assessment
Supervision
Leadership & Consultancy

Assessment is 100% by coursework, which takes the form of a training package as stipulated by the BPS.

All summative assessments must receive a pass mark for progression through the programme and successful module completion as detailed in the programme handbook:

(see Chapter 10 of the Postgraduate Research Handbook https://www.exeter.ac.uk/about/governance/tqa/pgr/ for details)

All summative assessments are graded as follows – pass, minor amendment, major amendment or fail. Each assignment will include an assessment of a range of competences depending on the specific topic covered.

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	Guided independent study	Placement / study abroad
200	100	0

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled Learning and Teaching activities	200	Lectures, practical classes and problem based learning
Guided independent study	100	Reading and web-based activity. Preparation for presentations.

Formative assessment

Form of assessment	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Problem Based Learning	Presentation on a scenario e.g., learning disability Approx. 30 minutes	1-4, 6-18	Group presentation

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Coursework	Written exams	Practical exams
100	0	0

Details of summative assessment

Form of assessment	% of credit	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
BPS Training package	100	Training package consists of a portfolio of written work, coming to 4,000-5,000 words in total	1,2, 4-18	Written

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Original form of assessment	Form of re-assessment	ILOs re-assessed	Timescale for re-assessment
BPS Training package (4,000-5,000 words in total)	Where the student has received minor amendments, or major i or major ii, reassessment is of the same work to check recommended changes are made. Where the student receives Major iii the student has to resubmit a new piece of work of the same type.	1,2, 4-18	4 weeks for minor corrections 8 weeks for major corrections

Re-assessment notes

Each summative assessment needs to be passed. Details of the marking scheme can be found at Chapter 10 of the Postgraduate Research Handbook https://www.exeter.ac.uk/about/governance/tqa/pgr/ In order to pass the programme, the whole module must be passed. See also, https://www.exeter.ac.uk/v8media/specificsites/tqa/pgr/PGR_Handbook_Chapter_10_Annex_1_Flowchart_of_Professional_Doctorate_Assessment_Process_AUG24.pdf

For those students with Individual Learning plans, the following alternative assessments are also considered on an individual basis depending on need:

Category	Barrier to learning	Alternative 1	Alternative 2
Problem Based Learning Presentation	Verbal presentation in front of group – difficult with anxiety	Record contribution to presentation prepared in advance and shared during the presentation	Whole group to present separately to the assessor

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Basic reading:

ELE2 – https://ele.exeter.ac.uk/

Forensic Psychology Programme Handbook

Suggested reading:

Daffern, M., Jones, L., & Shine, J. (Eds.). (2010). Offence paralleling behaviour: A case formulation approach to offender assessment and intervention. Wiley.
Rogers, A., Horrocks, A., & Horrocks, Naomi. (2010). Teaching adults / Alan Rogers, Naomi Horrocks. (Fourth ed.). OUP
Polaschek, D., Day, A., & Hollin, C. (2019). The Wiley international handbook of correctional psychology. Wiley
N. Brewer & K.D. Williams (2005). Psychology and law: An empirical perspective. New York: Guilford Press.
I.S. Black (2013). The Art of Investigative Interviewing (3rd edition). Burlington: Elsevier Science.
Brown, J. M., & Campbell, E. A. (Eds.). (2021). The Cambridge handbook of forensic psychology 2nd Edition. Cambridge University Press.
D. Canter & R. Zukauskiene (2008). Psychology and Law: Bridging the Gap. Aldershot, England: Ashgate Publishing Group Ltd. (Available online through library)
Davies, G., & Beech, A. (2017). Forensic Psychology : Crime, justice, law, interventions (Third ed.). Chichester, England: John Wiley & Sons. (Hard copy available in library
Andrews, D., & Bonta, J. (2010). The psychology of criminal conduct. (5th ed.). Lexis Nexis/Anderson Pub.
Bush, J., Harris, D., & Parker, R. (2016). Cognitive self change : How offenders experience the world and what we can do about it. Wiley
Craig, L., Dixon, L., & Gannon, T. (Eds). (2013). What works in offender rehabilitation an evidencebased approach to assessment and treatment. Wiley •
Davies, J., & Nagi, C. (2017). Individual psychological therapies in forensic settings: Research and practice. Routledge
Peter Sturmey, Mary McMurran (2011). Forensic Case Formulation, (2011), John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Caroline Logan & Lorraine Johnstone (2023). Managing Clinical Risk: A Guide to Effective Practice. Routlege.

Other resources:

British Psychological Society

Standards for the accreditation of Masters & Doctoral Programmes in Forensic Psychology (2024) https://cms.bps.org.uk/sites/default/files/2024-09/Masters%20%26%20Doctoral%20Programmes%20in%20Forensic%20Psychology%C2%A0-%20Revised%20Standards.pdf
Code of Ethics and Conduct (2021) https://www.bps.org.uk/guideline/code-ethics-and-conduct
Code of Human Research Ethics (2021) https://www.bps.org.uk/guideline/bps-code-human-research-ethics
Electronic records guidance (2019)
Record Keeping: Guidance on Good Practice, (2013)
Conducting research with human participants during Covid-19 (2020)
Division of Clinical Psychology: Policy on supervision (2014)
Ethics guidelines for internet-mediated research (2021)
Practice Guidelines (2017)
Guidelines for Clinical Psychology Services (July 2011)
New ways of working for applied psychologists in Health and Social care: Working psychologically in Teams (2007)

Health and Care Professions Council

Standards of Education and Training guidance (2017) https://www.hcpc-uk.org/globalassets/resources/guidance/standards-of-education-and-training-guidance.pdf?v=637660865510000000
Standards of Proficiency for Practitioner psychologists (2023) https://www.hcpc-uk.org/globalassets/resources/standards/standards-of-proficiency---practitioner-psychologists.pdf
Standards of conduct, performance and Ethics (2016) https://www.hcpc-uk.org/globalassets/resources/standards/standards-of-conduct-performance-and-ethics.pdf
Guidance on conduct and ethics for students (2016) https://www.hcpc-uk.org/globalassets/resources/guidance/guidance-on-conduct-and-ethics-for-students.pdf?v=637106442980000000

Key words search

Forensic Psychology

Credit value	30
Module ECTS	15
Module pre-requisites	PSYM244Z Academic Skills in Forensic Psychology
Module co-requisites	None
NQF level (module)	15
Available as distance learning?	No
Origin date	01/03/2024
Last revision date	19/02/2025