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Psychology is relevant in a multitude of sectors, but this course concentrates on one of its most interesting applications: criminal behaviour. This is one of very few courses nationwide covering criminal psychology in such depth at undergraduate level. The unique programme will help to qualify you for fascinating career opportunities in the police, prison service, social services, mental health sector and more.
The course combines a theoretical and skills-oriented approach to the study of criminal psychology. You will receive a broad introduction to psychology in general and more specific criminal psychology questions like why individuals offend, who offends and who is most likely to be a victim. You will also study the relationship between psychology and the criminal justice system, exploring areas such as police investigation, false confessions, expert witnesses, jury behaviour and treatment of complex offenders. The skills you acquire as you progress through the course will then enable you to complete an independent research project in your own area of interest in the final year.
You will be supported in your learning and research by lecturers who are 'international experts from a range of psychology backgrounds.' They are friendly and encouraging, and student feedback on the course consistently highlights the teachers' brilliant response time to their questions and concerns.
The British Psychological Society (BPS) accredits this course, which means that upon graduation you will be able to apply to the BPS for recognition as a Chartered Psychologist. The practical and specialised skills you acquire on the course in conjunction with the exceptional qualifications you receive will go a long way in helping you to secure a career in the police, prison service, social services, mental health services or community services. It will also prepare you for further study in any specialist area of psychology, especially the MSc in Forensic Psychology.
During this course you will:
Areas of study you may cover on this course include:
The assessment strategy reflects the academic rigor expected of a BSc (Hons) Psychology, BPS accredited degree. In addition you are expected to demonstrate your commitment to the notion of ongoing academic and personal development through your e-portfolio.
The assessments are designed to test your academic knowledge, oral and written skills, use of literature using primary and secondary sources, critical analysis of ideas, connections made between theory, practice, real life situations and the understanding and application of professional values, to include ethical issues as detailed by the BPS. You are also given the opportunity to self-assess your work to help you to identify your strengths and weaknesses.
Throughout your university career in Psychology you will be required to take a wide variety of types of assessment to assess your progression and success. Thirty credit units have three assessment points and 15 credit units have two assessment points. Feedback is given to students for each assessment point and it is expected that you will use this feedback for your own development and to inform your completion of future assessments.
The criteria for passing a unit are given in the University Regulations Section 3.1.7.
Examples of the range of assessment types are given below:
Written essays are used to assess:
Student presentations assess:
Computer-based assessments:
Portfolios are used to assess:
Reports are used to assess:
Exams are used to assess:
Case studies are used to assess:
Parent Information Pack is used to assess:
Article critiques are used to assess:
Computerised continuous assessments using BREO
Forensic psychology is an important area of applied psychology. While it draws on other disciplines, it has its own unique body of research using an integrative approach and addresses questions and issues that no other discipline in psychology explores.
Examples include: risk assessment with respect to the potential for violence, criminal behaviour, aggression, and juvenile delinquency, jury behaviour and selection, the accuracy of eyewitness testimony, the psychology of confessions and false confessions, the dimensions and assessment of legal competency and insanity, domestic violence and family law including custody evaluations, prevention and treatment of antisocial behaviour.
More specifically, students will be introduced to the domain of criminal behaviour from a predominantly psychological theoretical perspective and will be provided with an awareness of the variety of offending behaviours, the means required for managing them and methods for evaluating the effectiveness of interventions. These goals will include discussions of ethical and legal conflicts and dilemmas a forensic practitioner might encounter working within the legal system. Ways to resolve such conflict, including standards applicable to the science and practice of criminal psychology and the role of the expert and fact witness outside of the clinical realm, will be considered.
The aims of the programme are to:
The Psychology Division is innovative in its use of different teaching methods to include virtual learning environments, computer based learning and assessment, and multimedia instruction. This is in addition to a range of seminars, tutorial and lab based activities where you will learn how to use specialist equipment and software. The Division aims to encourage you to reach your personal potential by enhancing your knowledge, skills and self awareness through the development of critical enquiry, analysis, evaluation, reflection and synthesis.
The Psychology Division places strong emphasis on student support so that you are in a good position to achieve your maximum academic potential and to enjoy the University experience. We are very aware of the differing needs of our students and this is reflected in the range of support mechanisms that are available. The Psychology Division places particular emphasis on the accessibility and availability of the teaching team.
The induction programme is designed to provide you with a range of activities to introduce you to the Psychology Division and your degree programme. We aim to foster a sense of belonging to the University and your award programme in order to nurture your academic and professional identity. During induction you will hear about the structure of the curriculum and the British Psychological Society (BPS) accreditation of our awards and what this means together with the opportunity to apply for student membership with the BPS. You will learn how to access your unit results using e-vision, learn about creating your personal e-portfolio using PebblePad and practice using BREO the universitys virtual learning environment. At a very early stage you will be allocated a Personal Tutor. who works closely with the Field Chair. Short talks will be given by various services available to you in the university, for example, the Student Services, Professional and Academic Development (PAD) unit, Learning Resources Centre (LRC) and the Centre for Personal and Career Development (CPCD).
The Personal Tutor system will provide you with the opportunity to have one-to-one structured meetings to discuss your academic progress. This may mean considering ways in which you can enhance your strengths and give you the space to describe any difficulties you may be having with your study programme or any difficult situation you may find yourself in during your time with us. We are here to help. In addition all members of the teaching team have weekly drop-in sessions where issues relating to the study of an individual unit can be discussed directly with the unit co-ordinator and other members of the unit team. If you do need to contact a member of staff you are encouraged to do so either in person, by telephone, or by email.
A feature of the psychology programmes is the level of IT and technical support given. Tutorial and lecture material is supplemented with hands-on experience of using a variety of types of software and help with statistics and report writing is available. Additional IT/Statistical drop in sessions are available at different times during the week for students at all levels within the department, with extra sessions put on specifically for level 3 students undertaking their dissertation.
The Professional and Academic Development team are able to help you through study skills workshops or with one-to-one sessions to help you improve the quality of your written assignments, understanding statistical concepts, organisations skills to help you manage your study programme, language skills and much more. PAD can be contacted via the PAD BREO site that you will be automatically enrolled on.
At the Student Centre you will find the Disability Advice Team and the Counselling Service. The Disability Advice Team is available to discuss any issues you may have and can provide services such as dyslexia screening. The Learning Resources Centre (LRC) offers a range of services and specialist software and equipment. The counselling service is available at Student Services and assists with personal, and financial difficulties.
The LRC provides valuable resources to enable you to develop essential information literacy skills, knowledge and understanding of the range of online databases available to you so that you are in a good position to expand your knowledge of Psychology. The Psychology Division works closely with our subject specific librarian and with our commitment to supporting students employability skills we have embedded into the curriculum as series of lectures, tutorials and workshops to enhance your information literacy skills. These sessions are directly linked to other aspects of the Psychology curriculum and become more complex and detailed as you go through your degree programme. In addition, our subject librarian is available for one to one support outside of the teaching programme.
The Centre for Personal and Career Development helps students to reflect on their unique capabilities, interests and circumstance which can be expanded whilst at university and to prepare you for successful employment or postgraduate study. This service offers one-to-one career coaching on job search, how to complete application forms, interviews techniques, and study and career planning. Also available to help you with your future after graduating is the Job Shop which is a service designed to help you gain valuable skills such as team-working, problem solving, communication, planning and organisation. If you are interested in Community Volunteering then visit the Centre for Personal and Career Development to help to build your personal confidence and participate in work experience. The Psychology Division works closely with the Centre for Personal and Career Development. The Centre delivers lectures and workshops which are embedded into the Psychology curriculum to both get you to consider the Psychological aspects of your career choice and personal development along with facilitating you to develop very practical employability skills. We also host a Going Professional Conference every year where employers and graduates are available to discuss your career options.
Some units include grades for the outcomes of group work. Students will often be expected to work in groups or discuss issues in groups as part of the teaching and learning programme. At level 2 working with others is explicitly assessed. You are also expected to work collaboratively with your peers and staff at all levels and in particular at level 3 with your dissertation supervisor.
The degree aims to provide an understanding of real life applications of theory to experience and behaviour in both normality and illness. This aim is built in to the course.
Furthermore, you will encounter a range of examples of the application of psychology relevant to a future career in psychology or in a profession where such knowledge and skills acquired during the degree would be useful. Throughout the course you will have lectures and workshops given by the Centre for Personal and Career Development.
The Psychology Division works closely with the Centre for Personal and Career Development and embedded into the curriculum at all levels you will engage in career development activities. At level 1 you will be introduced to a model of personal and career development based on the SOAR (Kumar, 2007) model and underpinned by career development theories. You will be introduced to career management skills and taught how to construct an e-portfolio to use throughout your degree to record your academic development, self reflection and career aspirations. At each level your e-portfolio will be submitted for assessment.
At level 2 you will consider the psychological and social factors that have impacted on your developing academic and professional identity. You will investigate the links between personality and career choice together with advice on communicating effectively to employers such as writing a CV. You will also be asked to think about the relationship between your future level 3 dissertation topic and how it might support your career choice. We hold a Going Professional Conference with invited speakers from a range of professions in Psychology plus Psychology graduates.
Working with the Centre of Personal and Career Development at level 3 you will have the opportunity to engage in practical careers workshops to enhance your interview skills and to produce a high quality your CV, and personal statement.
The degree aims to provide an understanding of real life applications of theory to experience and behaviour in both normality and illness. This aim is built in to the course. Furthermore, you will encounter a range of examples of the application of psychology relevant to a future career in psychology or in a profession where such knowledge and skills acquired during the degree would be useful. Throughout the course you will have lectures and workshops given by the Centre for Personal and Career Development.
The Psychology Division works closely with the Centre for Personal and Career Development and embedded into the curriculum at all levels you will engage in career development activities. At level 1 you will be introduced to a model of personal and career development based on the SOAR (Kumar, 2007) model and underpinned by career development theories. You will be introduced to career management skills and taught how to construct an e-portfolio to use throughout your degree to record your academic development, self reflection and career aspirations. At each level your e-portfolio will be submitted for assessment.
At level 2 you will consider the psychological and social factors that have impacted on your developing academic and professional identity. You will investigate the links between personality and career choice together with advice on communicating effectively to employers such as writing a CV. You will also be asked to think about the relationship between your future level 3 dissertation topic and how it might support your career choice. We hold a Going Professional Conference with invited speakers from a range of professions in Psychology plus Psychology graduates.
Working with the Centre of Personal and Career Development at level 3 you will have the opportunity to engage in practical careers workshops to enhance your interview skills and to produce a high quality your CV, and personal statement.
A foundation degree will be of particular interest if you have completed a Modern Apprenticeship, vocational A levels, BTEC National or equivalent.
Foundation degrees are also particularly suitable if you want to qualify while working.
Many students studying for foundation degrees come to us through work-based routes so you can apply for a foundation degree even if you don’t have traditional academic qualifications.
We welcome applicants with relevant work experience.
We will consider you as an individual and take into account all elements of your application, not just your qualifications. We are looking for both breadth and depth in your current studies as well as enthusiasm for the subject you wish to study.
The general requirement is one of the following:
As a general guide, to apply for a place on an undergraduate course (BA/BSc) at the University you need to have completed your high school education and have the required English qualification.
We have students from all the European Union member countries so we are quick to make decisions on most qualifications.
(Please note that applicants on a full student visa are not eligible for part-time study)
We recommend that you apply directly to the University where possible, as this allows us to offer the quickest turnaround time for your application.
Please read the Direct application instructions before completing the course application form.
Application forms for accommodation in the student halls at Bedford campus and Luton campus are available in the Student life section
APL is available for international students applying for undergraduate (Bachelor degree) study. Please do not use this APL form to apply for postgraduate courses.
Use the APL form to tell us about any non-standard qualifications and/or work experience you have that you think should be taken into consideration with your application. `
The APL form should be submitted at the same time as the course application form.
We regret we are unable to process APL forms from students who have not submitted a formal course application form.
Return your completed application to:
University of Bedfordshire
International Admissions
Park Square
Luton
Bedfordshire
LU1 3JU
United Kingdom
T: +44 (0)1582 489326 (non-EU Students)
F: +44 (0)1582 743469
E: international-admissions@beds.ac.uk
There are no particular issues of accessibility to the curriculum for disabled students. Any new developments within the Psychology Division are reviewed to ensure that they comply with the 2001 Special Needs and Disability Act. The combination of face-to-face and on-line resources enables a flexible approach that aims to be learner centred. Where individual support needs are recognized the course team works with others within the University to ensure that student needs are addresses.
There is some laboratory based work although this is mostly on computers and should not normally pose a problem. There are procedures for students with dyslexia and some software that might help some students with dyslexia or mild visual problems. Students with hearing problems have been successful on Psychology courses in the past. The Psychology Division has technical support and if your disability causes problems with the use of conventional computers then alternative arrangements can be discussed.
Communication
To help with the development of this you will:
Be encouraged to develop cogent arguments supported by relevant evidence to write both essays, scientific-style reports, through experience in giving oral presentations to groups and in producing a poster. You will be supported through feedback to feedforward mechanisms, formative and summative assessment procedures, and classes on report writing techniques. Group work, and in-class discussion and debate will also help to develop your communication skills. Each of the units will require you to reflect on your learning and academic development in order to produce an e-portfolio. This will help to develop your transferable skills, while starting to think about career options and pathways.
Further guidance on study skills is provided in the Field Handbook Part 2.
Information Literacy
To help with the development of this you will:
Be expected to make full use of the Universitys Learning Resource Centre and to be proactive in researching your work. You will also be given guidance on using the facilities provided by Learning Resources. All units are designed to enhance the development of your information literacy skills culminating in the Honours Project. You will be encouraged to retrieve and organise information and become familiar with locating and critically evaluating primary source materical. All units are linked to BREO (a Virtual Learning Environment) which in turn incorporates links to Learning Resources and relevant pedagogical web-sites. You will be expected to develop your skills in word processing and the use of programmes such as Powerpoint. You will be given training in the commonest and one of the most powerful statistics packages (SPSS).
Research and Evaluation
To help with the development of this you will:
Be given training in research methods and ethical implications of conducting research at levels 1 and 2 and in the dissertation unit at level 3 by which time a degree of autonomy is assumed, specifically using and interpreting statistics and data analysis together with detailed knowledge of ethical considerations.
The staff team will help you to develop your research and evaluative skills so that you can interpret and understand basic statistics concepts at level 1 and develop this understanding further in units involving lab-based work at level 2. Understanding the Results sections of journal articles is an important skill developed through the 3 years of the programme.
You will be helped in the acquisition and mastery of a range of research skills and methods, both quantitative and qualitative, for investigating experience and behaviour, culminating in an ability to conduct research independently. These research skills feature in the dissertation units and build on the skills developed over the previous two years.
Specifically these skills include:
Furthermore, the dissertation incorporates the final stage of Personalised Learner Development and the completion of a Progress File under the guidance of your dissertation supervisor. This aspect includes a continuation of the key skill of improving ones own learning and performance, and an appreciation of your career development.
Creativity and Critical Thinking
To help with the development of this you will:
Be required to evaluate arguments and underlying assumptions underpinning theories and research in psychology in light of important debates in the discipline and the application to real world situations. Problem solving is an integral part of the programme and you will be faced with a wide variety of novel tasks (including interpretation of observations and hypothetical case studies and analysing behaviour). Explicit advice will be given on those topics within the relevant unit.
Personalised learner development (PLD) is a key aspect of the degree to facilitate higher level learning. We aim to help you reach a much deeper level of understanding about the learning process, and, in particular, about yourself in new learning contexts, whether personal, academic or in relation to your career. This understanding, as well as tools acquired through the process, should equip you to improve your own learning and performance in a wide range of circumstances, increasing skills of self-reliance, self-direction, self-monitoring and self-evaluation useful to both academic and professional life.
You will undertake units at all levels where personalised learner development and the development of key skills is embedded into the curriculum. This is achieved by using a variety of teaching methods in order to encourage you to adapt your learning styles and to develop your confidence as independent learners. For example, a lecture may require you to develop note taking skills, a tutorial to work with others in a group to complete a task, to produce a draft of an essay/report so you can engage in a peer review process, or to receive feedback on the draft from tutors so that you can address the recommendations in preparation for the final submission of the essay / report.
Progress files are written by all students using e-portfolio. You will be introduced to e-portfolios at level 1 and at each level a substantial aspect will be a reflective essay supported by evidence of your development of study skills, learning resource skills and employability skills. The development of these skills is embedded into the psychology curriculum and the e-portfolio will provide a means for you to record your progress.
At each level there is an assessment point attached to a unit (level 1 Research Methods, Level 2 Social and Developmental Processes Through the Lifespan, and level 3 the Dissertation) relating to the development of your portfolio and clear guidelines on this are give in the relevant unit handbooks. The portfolios will include an essay and evidence to support your discussion points. The portfolios will be submitted for assessment towards the end of each academic year.
At each level you will encounter various challenges to report in your e-portfolio ranging from a reflection of your development of research skills, assessing your skills in relation to your experience in working with others during lab based sessions and your assessment of how you have felt that your feedback from an experimental report as help you in writing future. You will also be able to produce action plans for your study programme, comment on the individual and social influences that may have impacted on your academic identity and you can describe your academic/professional plans for the future and how you aim to pursue these.
Your portfolio will travel with you and provide the basis of continuous personal development from one level of learning to the next. You will be given training from the Centre for Personal and Career Development staff in writing competence based self-evaluations against skills and experience typical of graduate jobs. You will also be asked to outline your skills, experience and personal qualities for job applications and also to provide evidence and examples to support your claims. The compilation of your progress file is a developmental process over the three years of your studies.
The core curriculum conforms to the British Psychological Societys Quality Assurance Policies and Practice for First Qualifications in Psychology 2008. The objectives of BPS Accreditation are designed to ensure that programmes of study:
Professional Standards in Psychology are incorporated into the subject skills and teaching and learning elements of the QAA Academic Subject Benchmarks (Psychology).
The curriculum infrastructure has been drawn from significant documents including those above which identify the benchmarks for a BPS accredited curriculum and the standards to be achieved and maintained by both students and psychologists. The mapping of these documents against the curriculum (incorporating relevant skills and aptitudes) for this award is conducted on a regular basis and is a requirement for BPS accreditation of our courses.
We are required to undergo five year reviews to maintain full accreditation including accreditation visits every ten years. There are also interim resource reviews to ascertain that physical and human resources are adequate to ensure professional standards and continued accreditation.
The role of ethics and ethical procedures for psychologists are explicitly taught and incorporated into all practical assignments including relevant aspects of the BPS Code of Ethics and Conduct. There is a BREO site dedicated to ethical procedures for students and staff including guidelines and the relevant forms to obtain ethical approval. Participation in experiments is expected (but not a course requirement) so that you have a practical understanding of what it is like to take part as a subject in a variety of types of experiment. The Code of Ethics and Conduct is available from the BPS website.
How to avoid plagiarism is explicitly taught at level 1 and guidance is available in the Study Guide and Field Handbook.
Attendance and punctuality are monitored.
(All pdf documents mentioned above are available to students on BREO.)
