Study information

Academic Skills in Forensic Psychology

Module titleAcademic Skills in Forensic Psychology
Module codePSYM244Z
Academic year2025/6
Credits30
Module staff
Duration: Term123
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 provide opportunities to develop and demonstrate foundational 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 foundational competencies in the core roles of forensic psychology.  Some core questions that may be addressed include:

  1. How do you conduct risk assessments and work with risks?
  2. How do you work in complex secure and non-secure Forensic contexts?
  3. How do you plan and develop evidence-based interventions?
  4. What is important for establishing and maintaining complex relationships with clients and services?
  5. How to support and train others in delivering psychological interventions?
  6. How is psychologically informed policy developed?
  7. How can awareness of psychological services be increased?
  8. How do you prepare evidence in formal settings?
  9. How do you give feedback to clients?
  10. How do you design training for staff?

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

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

  • 1. Complete assessments with clients with forensic / high risk histories utilising both clinical interview and psychometric testing, to a high level.
  • 2. Provide 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 a high level.
  • 3. Apply in-depth knowledge and understanding around therapy & interventions that are used with clients with forensic/high risk histories to a high quality of practice.
  • 4. Recognise to a high level the complexities around group and individual work with clients that have an offending background and apply this knowledge in forensic practice, including sexual and violent offenders, to a high standard.
  • 5. Discuss in-depth the links between mental health, learning disabilities and/or offending behavior, and to have sophisticated knowledge of a range of client group needs including mental health and learning disabilities, to a high level.
  • 6. Provide comprehensive risk assessments for forensic clients including using actuarial and structural professional judgements, for example, HCR-20, RSVP, SAPROF, and communicating relevant information to professionals and clients to a high standard.

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

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

  • 7. Synthesize complex information and use this to formulate clear rationale for the requirements for, and benefits of, applications and interventions in forensic settings, to a high level.
  • 8. Critically plan sophisticated applications and interventions in a systematic way, drawing on appropriate literature, methods, techniques or instruments, to a high level.
  • 9. Describe in-depth processes within the legal and criminal justice contexts relevant to forensic psychology, to a high level.
  • 10. 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 a high level.
  • 11. Critically synthesize and evaluate substantive current knowledge, theory and evidence base relevant to forensic psychology, and specifically violent and sexual offending, to a high level.

ILO: Personal and key skills

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

  • 12. Synthesise in-depth broader professional issues and evaluate ethical dilemmas in a sophisticated manner when working with forensic populations, to a high standard.
  • 13. Establish, develop and maintain working relationships with clients and other professionals or organizations, including considering issues including diversity, to a high standard.
  • 14. Communicate effectively with colleagues, research supervisors, and a wider audience, to a high standard.
  • 15. Reflect on own strengths and areas for development using effectively a range of reflective models to improve own practice, to a high standard.
  • 16. 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 a high level.

Syllabus plan

An indicative syllabus includes the following topics:

  • Assessment & Formulation 
  • Therapy & Interventions
  • Theories of Offending / Working with Offenders / Specific Forensic Interventions
  • Professional Issues & Ethics
  • Mental Health & Learning Disabilities
  • Risk Assessment
  • Psychology: Law Enforcement & the Criminal Justice System 
  • Supervision

Assessment is by 100% coursework.

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 ActivitiesGuided independent studyPlacement / study abroad
2001000

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

CategoryHours of study timeDescription
Scheduled Learning and Teaching activities200Lectures, practical classes and problem based learning
Guided independent study100Reading and web-based activity. Preparation for presentations.

Formative assessment

Form of assessmentSize of the assessment (eg length / duration)ILOs assessedFeedback method
Problem Based LearningPresentation on a scenario e.g., learning disability Approx. 30 minutes1-16Group presentation

Summative assessment (% of credit)

CourseworkWritten examsPractical exams
10000

Details of summative assessment

Form of assessment% of creditSize of the assessment (eg length / duration)ILOs assessedFeedback method
Ethics and professional Issues Essay1004,000-5,000 words1-16Written

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

Original form of assessmentForm of re-assessmentILOs re-assessedTimescale for re-assessment
4,000-5,000 Ethics and Professional issues essayWhere 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.1-164 weeks if minor corrections 8 weeks if 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

Suggested reading:

 

American Psychological Association (2012). APA style guide to electronic references. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association

Asmundson, G. (ed). (2020). Comprehensive Clinical Psychology (2nd Edition). New York: Elsevier.

Beck, A. T., Davis, D. D., & Freeman, A. (Eds.). (2015) Cognitive therapy of personality disorders. Guilford Publications

Beck, J. S. (2021). Cognitive therapy: Basics and beyond (3rd Edition). The Guilford Press.

British Psychological Society (2006). Good practice guidelines for UK clinical psychology training providers: training and consolidation of clinical practice in relation to older people. Leicester: BPS

British Psychological Society (2009). Good practice guidelines for UK clinical psychology training providers: training and consolidation of clinical practice in clinical health psychology. Leicester: BPS

British Psychological Society (2019). Standards for the accreditation of doctoral programmes in clinical psychology. Leciester: BPS

British Psychological Society (2021). Training and consolidation of clinical practice in relation to adults with intellectual disabilities. Leicester: BPS

Butler, C. (2009). Sexual and gender minority therapy and systemic practice. Journal of Family Therapy, 31, 338-358

Carr, A. (2015). The Handbook of Child and Adolescent Clinical Psychology A Contextual Approach. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis.

Carr, A., & McNulty, M. (2016). The handbook of adult clinical psychology : an evidence-based practice approach. London; New York: Routledge.

Coetzer, R., & Balchin, R. (2014). Working with Brain Injury A primer for psychologists working in under-resourced settings. Hoboken: Psychology Press, a Taylor and Francis Group.

Dallos, R. & Draper, R. (2000). An introduction to Family Therapy: systemic theory and practice (3rd ed). Maidenhead: Open University Press

Field, A. P. (2018). Discovering statistics using IBM SPSS statistics (5th ed.). London: Sage.

Hagenaars, P., Plavsic, M., Sveaass, N., Wagner, U., & Wainwright, T. (Eds.). (2020). Human Rights Education For Psychologists. London:Routledge

Haslam, S. A., Reicher, S. D., & Platow, M. J. (2020). The new psychology of leadership: Identity, influence and power (second edition). Psychology Press.

Israelashvili, M. R. J. L. (2017). The Cambridge handbook of international prevention science. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Johnstone, L., & Dallos, R. (2014). Formulation in Psychology and Psychotherapy (2nd ed.). Hoboken: Taylor and Francis.

Kazdin, A. E. (2016). Research design in clinical psychology (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

Laidlaw, K. (2016). CBT for older people : an introduction. Wokingham: Sage

Layard, R., & Clark, D. (2015). Thrive : the power of evidence-based psychological therapies. Penguin

Lezak, M., Howieson, E., & Bigler, D. (2012). Neuropsychological assessment (5th Edition). Oxford: Oxford university press.

Lloyd, J. and Pollard, R. (2019). (Eds) Cognitive Analytic Therapy and the Politics of Mental Health. London, Routledge

McIntosh, M., Nicholas, H., & Huq, A. H. (2019). Leadership and diversity in psychology : moving beyond the limits. Routledge.

Melville, F. & O’Brien, J. (2017). Working with refugees: a CAT-based Relational Perspective. International Journal of CAT and Relational Mental Health, 1, 54-70

NHS (2019). The NHS Long Term Plan. https://www.longtermplan.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/nhs-long-term-plan-version-1.2.pdf

Onyett, S. (2012). 'Leadership challenges for clinical psychology' - challenge or opportunity. Clinical Psychology Forum, 238, 10 – 17

Pachana, N. & Laidlaw, K. (eds.) (2014) The Oxford Handbook of ClinicalGeropsychology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Rathod, S. (2015). Cultural Adaptation of CBT for serious mental illness. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell

Riemer, M., Reich. S.M., Scotney, D.E., Nelson, G. & Prilleltenskey, I. (2020) Community Psychology: In pursuit of liberation and well-being. Bloomsbury: Red Globe Press

Rubin, N., S., & Flores, R. L. (Eds.). (2020). The Cambridge Handbook of Psychology and Human Rights: download from Uni. Cambridge University Press

Tarrier, N., & Johnson, J. (Eds.). (2015). Case formulation in cognitive behaviour therapy: The treatment of challenging and complex cases. Routledge

Wenzel, A. (ed.) (2020).The American Psychological Association’s Handbook of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Washington DC. APA.

Westbrook, D. Kennerley, H. Kirk, J. (2011). An Introduction to Cognitive Behaviour Therapy: Skills and Applications. London: Sage

 

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.

Indicative learning resources - Other resources

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

Key words search

Forensic Psychology

Credit value30
Module ECTS

15

Module pre-requisites

None

Module co-requisites

None

NQF level (module)

7

Available as distance learning?

No

Origin date

01/03/2024

Last revision date

19/02/2025