Loader
Course Image

Criminology with Forensic Psychology, MSc Criminology with Forensic Psychology, MSc Middlesex University

Middlesex University

Masters Degree , Criminology

Course Description

This degree combines core modules in criminology and forensic psychology with optional modules on topics including drugs, trans-national crime and conflict, policing, terrorism and the major institutions of criminal justice. The programme is delivered within the Criminology and Sociology Department in the School of Law, while the forensic psychology component is taught by colleagues with specialisms in criminological psychology.

Why study MSc Criminology with Forensic Psychology at Middlesex University?

The course is of special interest to those without a first degree in psychology but with a particular interest in psychological perspectives on crime and criminal justice. All staff delivering modules on the course are engaged in research that informs their teaching on the programme.

Students have the opportunity to study modules on criminology programmes with our European partner universities supported by Erasmus funding.

Students studying this master's degree at Middlesex will benefit from field trips and expert guest lectures. Observational visits to the criminal courts assist a knowledge of psycho-legal court room decision-making and a visit to an adult prison builds an understanding of imprisoned populations and the psycho-social intervention programmes operating within prisons. Module teaching incorporates specialist guest lectures delivered by experts working in the fields of offender management, gangs, policing, prisoner care and welfare, and forensic psychology.

Students on the MSc are encouraged to attend the Common Studies Programme in Critical Criminology with postgraduate criminologists studying in universities across Europe including Athens, Barcelona, Ghent, Hamburg, Rotterdam, and also at John Jay College in New York.

You will be taught by experts from both Psychology and Criminology who have a wealth of specialist knowledge and research experience between them, including Dr Elena Martellozzo, who offers regular expert advice about online child safety to the Metropolitan Police.

Other research interests within the team include the criminal courts and justice administration; the treatment of mentally disordered offenders; drug policy and practice; violence towards sex workers; collective protest and social movements; organised crime and corruption; and penal abolitionism.

Course highlights

  • Learn from experts working in fields such as offender management, gangs and policing
  • Benefit from field trips to criminal courts and prisons
  • Opportunities to exchange ideas with students from other countries via the Common Studies Programme in Critical Criminology.
  • The course assists you to gain a critical appreciation of criminal offending, socio-legal decision-making frameworks, and the range of psycho-social interventions and punishments directed at different offender groups with the aim of providing you with an appreciation and knowledge of the wide range of careers available on successful completion of the course.

Course Content

The programme is constructed of five core modules covering, in turn, contemporary criminological theory, methods, issues and debates and psychological approaches towards the causes and management of offending behaviour.

Students then choose one optional module (selected from the list below) that enable a focus on areas of special interest, including institutions of criminal justice, community safety, drugs, youth and adult offending and comparative perspectives on each of these areas.

The modules cover all types of crime, including white collar crime, state crime, digital and on-line crimes, sexual and violent crimes, discrimination and hate crime, drugs, terrorism issues and policing, as well as looking in depth at the criminal justice system and its different institutions.

Students are able to work in computer labs on specialist information retrieval, and gain data analysis skills with the use of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and the qualitative data analysis package NVivo.

In addition, all students complete a 15,000-word research Dissertation under the supervision of a member of staff on a topic they choose, drawing on both criminological and psychological perspectives.

Not all of the optional modules listed will be available in any one year. Module availability is dependent on staffing and the number of students wishing to take each module.

Core modules

  • Contemporary Criminological Theory and Research (20 credits) - Compulsory

  • Critical Issues in Criminal Justice (20 credits) - Compulsory

  • Forensic and Investigative Psychology (20 credits) - Compulsory

  • Psychological Interventions and Responses to Offending (20 credits) - Compulsory

  • Research Strategies in Criminology and Psychology (20 credits) - Compulsory

Dissertation

  • Dissertation in Criminology with Forensic Psychology (60 credits) - Compulsory

Choose one of the following optional modules:

  • Community Safety and Public Protection (20 credits) - Optional

  • Cybercrime and Society (20 credits) - Optional

  • Drugs and Crime (20 credits) - Optional

  • Environmental Crime and Green Criminology (20 credits) - Optional

  • Global Criminology and Policing (20 credits) - Optional

  • Human Rights and Contemporary Justice (20 credits) - Optional

  • Interpersonal Violence and Hate Crime (20 credits) - Optional

  • Placement (20 credits) - Optional

  • Political Violence and Terrorism (20 credits) - Optional

  • Qualitative Analysis with NVivo (20 credits) - Optional

  • Qualitative Research Methods (20 credits) - Optional

  • Quantitative Methods for the Social Sciences (20 credits) - Optional

  • Social Science Statistics with SPSS (20 credits) - Optional

  • Work-based Experience (20 credits) - Optional

  • Youth Offending, Disorder and Gangs (20 credits) - Optional

 

Entry Requirements

Qualifications

  • We normally require a second-class honours degree 2:2 or above or equivalent qualification, in an appropriate subject

Eligibility

UK/EU and international students are eligible to apply for this course.

Academic credit for previous study or experience

If you have relevant qualifications or work experience, academic credit may be awarded towards your Middlesex University programme of study. For further information please visit our Accreditation of Prior Learning page.

Interviews, entrance tests, portfolios and auditions

Entry onto this course does not require an interview, portfolio or audition.

Assessment Methods

Modules are assessed by a range of coursework design including essays, book reviews, criminal courtroom observations, student seminar presentations, a research proposal and a dissertation.

RELATED COURSES