You must show an understanding that criminological psychology is about the definition and causes of crime and anti-social behaviour, issues around identification of offenders, and treatment of offenders. What you need to learn:
Social and personality explanations for crime and anti-social behaviour
Self-fulfilling prophecy.
Social learning from the media.
Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD).
Cognitive interview techniques with witnesses.
The use of psychological (case) formulation to understand the function of offending behaviour in the individual.
Factors influencing the reliability of eye-witness memory
Post-event information.
Weapons focus.
'Other race' effect.
Stress and trauma.
Factors influencing jury decision-making
Characteristics of the defendant, including attractiveness and race.
Pre-trial publicity.
Research into expert testimony including Penrod and Cutler (1989) Eyewitness Expert Testimony and Jury Decision Making. Treatment
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) as a therapy for offenders
Using CBT as a therapy for offenders.
Effectiveness of CBT as a therapy for offenders.
Loftus and Palmer (1974) Reconstruction of auto mobile destruction: An example of the interaction between language and memory.
Bradbury M D and Williams M R (2013) Diversity and Citizen Participation: The Effects of Race on Juror Decision Making.
Valentine T and Mesout J (2009) Eyewitness identification under stress in the London Dungeon.
The use of methods in psychology when carrying out research in criminological psychology
Methods from Units 1 and 2, as appropriate, related to criminological psychology.
Experiments as used in the study of eye witness memory.
Mock jury research as a method for studying jury decision-making.
Ethical guidelines
British Psychological Society (BPS) Code of Ethics and Conduct (2009).
Risk management when carrying out research in psychology.
Decision making and interpretation of data:
List A from Topic A, as appropriate
List B from Topic B, as appropriate.
Evaluation of research in criminological psychology
Issues of reliability, validity, generalisability, credibility, objectivity, subjectivity, ethics and practical application of findings as appropriate.