Psychology 395: Forensic Psychology (PSYC 395) is a three-credit undergraduate course that will introduce students to the field of forensic psychology. The textbook for this course provides an accurate description of the practice of forensic psychology, and the American and Canadian legal parameters that govern that practice. PSYC 395 covers a wide range of topics that are presented in four parts: I) a brief overview of the field; II) general considerations; III) Criminal Court applications; and IV) Civil and Family Court applications.
Parts I and II provide foundational knowledge, while Parts III and IV focus on psychological assessments in criminal and civil courts. The introductory chapter includes a brief historical overview of clinical forensic psychology, from its academic origins to its challenging relationship with psychiatry. Chapter 1 also includes a clear definition of the field of clinical forensic psychology. This definition draws on the American Psychological Association’s criteria for conferring specialty practice status on sub-disciplines and speaks directly to the ongoing debate regarding narrow versus broad definitions of forensic psychology. Ultimately, clinical forensic psychology is identified as a distinct area of clinical practice focused on matters of direct relevance to the justice system.
Part II reviews psychology’s relationship with the Law, including paradigm conflicts, expertise under the Law, and the ultimate issue problem. The foundations of forensic mental health assessment, including an influential conceptual model, are also reviewed in some detail. This conceptual model provides a framework for many of the clinical activities described in Parts III and IV. The section closes with a detailed review of the principles of forensic mental health treatment.
In Parts III and IV, the focus narrows onto clinical activities in civil, criminal, and family court contexts. Part III is concerned exclusively with the criminal justice system. This section opens with a detailed look at risk assessment, including a critical review of existing risk assessment practices. This is followed by chapters that discuss adjudicative competence (fitness for trial), criminal responsibility (insanity), and sentencing evaluations; as well as issues associated with the special populations of juvenile, female, and sexual offenders. In Part IV, the focus shifts to Civil and Family Court issues, with chapters covering psychological injury assessments, civil competency evaluations, parenting capacity, and child custody assessments.
Outline
PSYC 395 is divided into twelve units, organized in four parts:
Part I: Overview of the Field
Unit 1: Introduction
Part II: General Considerations
Unit 2: Psychology and the Law
Unit 3: Forensic Mental Health Assessment
Unit 4: Principles of Forensic Treatment
Part III: Criminal Court Applications
Unit 5: Risk Assessment
Unit 6: Adjudicative Competence
Unit 7: Criminal Responsibility
Unit 8: Sentencing
Unit 9: Special Populations
Part IV: Civil and Family Court Applications
Unit 10: Psychological Injury Evaluations
Unit 11: Civil Competencies and Civil Commitment
Unit 12: Parenting Capacity and Child Custody Assessments
Evaluation
To receive credit for PSYC 395, students must complete and submit all unit quizzes and the written assignment. Students must achieve an overall grade of at least D (50 percent) for the course.
There are 12 unit quizzes, each of which consists of 14 multiple choice and / or true–false questions, and contributes 7% to the final grade. Students will have a single opportunity to complete each unit quiz. No re-writing of unit quizzes will be allowed, and a missed quiz will result in a grade of zero for that unit. All unit quizzes are closed book, meaning that students are not allowed to consult any materials while writing the quizzes.
The written assignment will contribute the remaining 16% of the final grade. The topic for the written assignment must be approved by the tutor before beginning the assignment. Failure to secure approval from the tutor might result in the rejection of the paper.
Students will be evaluated on their understanding of the concepts presented in the course and on their ability to apply those concepts. The final grade in the course will be based on the marks achieved for the following activities.
Activity
Weight
Unit Quizzes
84%
Written Assignment
16%
Total
100%
To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University’s online Calendar.
Materials
Nesca, M. (2022). Clinical forensic psychology: An Introduction. Cognella. (Print)
Other Resources
All other materials are online.
Challenge for credit
Overview
The challenge for credit process allows you to demonstrate that you have acquired a command of the general subject matter, knowledge, intellectual and/or other skills that would normally be found in a university-level course.
Full information about challenge for credit can be found in the Undergraduate Calendar.
Evaluation
To receive credit for the PSYC 395 challenge registration, students must complete all course requirements (i.e., all quizzes and the written assignment) and achieve an overall grade of at least 50%.
Athabasca University reserves the right to amend course outlines occasionally and without notice. Courses offered by other delivery methods may vary from their individualized study counterparts.