PSYC3370 Psychology and Law
2014-2015, Term 1
Department of Psychology
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
1. Course Description
This course provides an introduction to the interdisciplinary field of psychology and law. It
introduces basic concepts, theories and research findings in the contemporary psychological
approaches to the study of criminal behaviors, forensic psychology and correctional psychology.
Daily examples will be discussed to enhance your understanding. Hypothetical case discussions
will be included in the tutorial sessions to evaluate the practicality of the constructs introduced.
2. Learning Approach
An interactive learning approach will be implemented in this course. You will be engaged in a
wide range of in-class activities, demonstrations and discussions on case studies to facilitate
your learning.
3. Prerequisites
PSYC1000 or UGED2581.
4. Contact Information of the Teaching Team
Teaching Assistants
Lecturer
Name:
Dr. Annie SHU
Mr. Michael J. OSOFSKY*
Miss Eunice CHOY
Office
Location:
Sino Building 332
Sino Building 348
Sino Building 318
Telephone:
3943-1183
3943-6724
3943-4381
Email:
atmshu@psy.cuhk.edu.hk
mosofsky@psy.cuhk.edu.hk
eehchoy@psy.cuhk.edu.hk
Consultation
Hours:
Thursday 16:30 – 18:30
Wednesday 12:30 – 14:30
Friday 14:00 – 16:00
Teaching Schedule
Time
Venue
Lecture
Monday 16:30 – 18:15
ELB 405
Tutorial
Wednesday 11:30 – 12:15
ELB 405
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5. Course Content
Topics
Contents
1. Introduction
What is forensic and criminal psychology?
What is the relationship between psychology and law?
2. Crime and the Public
Attitudes towards crime; Knowledge of crime; Fear of
Crime
3. Theories of Crime
Psychoanalytic perspective; Biosocial perspective; Social
Learning perspective; Social construction of crime
4. Mental Disorders and Crime
Relationship between mental illness and crime; Insanity at
the time of offense; Reconviction of the mentally-ill
5. Criminal Profiling
How criminal profiling is constructed? FBI-style and
statistical profiling; Validity of profiling
6. Violent Offenders
Types and typical characteristics of violent offenders; The
social influences of media; Theories of homicidal
offenders
7. Sexual Offenders
Classification of sexual offenders; Rapist typologies;
Pattern and nature of rape; Factors associated with sexual
violence
8. Eyewitness Testimony
Eyewitnesses' recall and recognition memory; Confidence
and accuracy; Evidence in courts
9. Lie Detection
Psychology of lying; Verbal and non-verbal cues to
deception; Validity of polygraph and other techniques
10. Prisoners in the Correctional
Services
Goals of corrections in the penal system; Risk assessment
and factors related to recidivism; Effectiveness of prison;
Sex offender therapy and violent criminals treatment
6. Expected Learning Goals
1. Students will understand the major concepts and theories in forensic and criminal
psychology.
2. Students will apply and relate psychological theories or concepts to explain daily issues.
3. Students will develop critical thinking skills in psychology.
4. Students will gain personal insights about forensic and criminal psychology.
7. Expected Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this course, students will be expected to:
1. understand, relate and apply the key psychological concepts to daily life (matches LG1 &
LG2);
2. familiarize with the key classical and contemporary studies and findings in forensic and
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criminal psychology (matches LG1 & LG4);
3. conceptualize, structure, articulate and present original ideas, both in written assignments
and during tutorial discussions on psychology (matches LG1, LG2 & LG3);
4. design, direct and regulate own study plan for problem-based learning, from identifying the
problem, setting learning objectives, researching on relevant information, reflecting on what
has been learnt, to applying the knowledge to future problems (matches LG1, LG2, LG3 &
LG4).
8. Learning Activities
Time per week
Lectures
Tutorials
2 hours in-class
1 hours in-class
ELB 405
ELB 405
13
12
Mandatory
Mandatory
Lecturer
Teaching Assistants
LG1, LG2, LG3, LG4
LG2, LG3, LG4
LO1, LO2
LO3, LO4
Venue
No. of sessions in total
Attendance
Teaching member(s)
Matching with learning goals (LG)
Matching with learning outcomes (LO)
9. Assessment Scheme
Students will be assessed in the form of:
1. Formative assessment (measures what you have learnt at different stages during the course)
(matches with LG1 & LG2);
2. Summative assessment (examines your understanding of the subject knowledge) (matches
with LG1 & LG2);
3. Authentic assessment (measures various abilities that you can apply to address real-life
problems or fictional scenarios) (matches with LG3 & LG4).
Assessment Scheme
Weight
Matching with LG
Tutorial Participation
5%
LG2 & LG4
Quizzes
Quiz One
Quiz Two
20%
40%
LG1, LG2 & LG3
Group Project
Presentation
Reflective Piece
20%
15%
LG1, LG2, LG3 & LG4
Descriptions of each assessment:
a. Tutorial Participation (5%)
•
Students are expected to attend all sessions and participate actively in the tutorial
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activities.
b. Quizzes (60%)
•
Two quizzes will be administered in the class meeting time. Both quizzes will cover
all materials from lectures and textbook. Quiz One will cover materials from L1 – L5.
Quiz Two will cover materials from L7 – L12. The quizzes will contain
multiple-choice questions, fill-in-the-blanks, and/or short answer questions. The
exact format of each quiz will be announced in due course.
•
**Students must take each quiz on the scheduled dates. The absentees for unjustified
reasons will not be granted the make-up and will be given a “zero” for that quiz. It is
your responsibility to contact your tutor prior to the exam, or if not possible, within
24 hours of the missed quiz to schedule a date for the make-up. You need to provide
official documentation of emergency to justify your absence. The make-up quiz will
ONLY include essay questions. In order to be fair to all other students, the make-up
quiz must be completed within one week of the scheduled date for the quiz. The
teaching team reserves the rights for the final decision for the make-up quiz
arrangement.
c. Group Project (35%)
•
In a group, students are required to present a topic in forensic psychology and lead
the discussion in one of the tutorials. The group size depends on the final class size.
The topic includes psychopathy and crime, psychological profile of
arsonist/kleptomaniac and jury decision making. The presentation should last for
25 minutes while the class discussion lasts for another 20 minutes. Your tutor will
randomly draw your topic and the relevant paper in the 1st or 2nd tutorial.
•
The list of papers are as below:
Topics
Papers
Psychopathy and Crime
•
Aspinwall, L. G., Brown, T. R., & Tabery, J. (2012). The
double-edged sword: Does biomechanism increase or decrease
judges' sentencing of psychopaths? Science, 337, 846-849.
•
Woodworth, M., & Porter, S. (2002). In cold blood: Characteristics of
criminal homicides as a function of psychopathy. Journal of
Abnormal Psychology, 111, 436-445.
Psychological Profile of
•
Arsonist/ Kleptomaniac
Chen, Y. H., Arria, A. M., & Anthony, J. C. (2003). Firesetting in
adolescence and being aggressive, shy, and rejected by peers: new
epidemiologic evidence from a national sample survey. Journal of
the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online, 31, 44 –
52.
•
Roe-Sepowitz, D., & Hickle, K. (2011). Comparing boy and girl
arsonists: Crisis, family, and crime scene characteristics. Legal and
Criminological Psychology, 16, 277-288.
4
•
Grant, J. E., & Kim, S. W. (2002). Temperament and early
environmental influences in kleptomania. Comprehensive
Psychiatry, 43, 223-228.
•
Grant, J. E., & Kim, S. W. (2002). Clinical characteristics and
associated psychopathology of 22 patients with kleptomania.
Comprehensive psychiatry, 43, 378-384.
Jury Decision Making
•
Young, D. M., Levinson, J. D., & Sinnett, S. (2014). Innocent until
Primed: Mock Jurors' Racially Biased Response to the Presumption
of Innocence. PloS one, 9(3), e92365.
•
Takada, M., & Murata, K. (2013). Accentuation of bias in jury
decision-making. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 17,
110-124.
•
After your presentation, your group should submit a reflective piece that 1) gives a
summary on the empirical paper that you have presented, 2) summarizes the
discussion results in tutorial, and 3) provides your reflections on its relevancy with
daily life cases. Your reflection piece should not exceed 3,000 words (around 12
double-spaced pages). Contents exceeding the word limit will not be graded.
Indicate the word count in your assignment.
•
The due date is one week after your presentation. Late submission will be
penalized 10% of the grade for each day. Please follow the guidelines on softcopy
submission to the VeriGuide (refer to p. 8 of this outline) and submit your written
work to your tutor. Assignments without the receipt will not be graded.
•
Grading will be evaluated based on:
1) Presentation (20%)
i. The literature reviewed and discussed is relevant to the topic
ii. The arguments are supported by empirical evidence and articulate well with
each other
iii. Student show understanding to the issues and evaluate critically
iv. The content presented can lead to fruitful class discussions
2) Reflective Piece (15%)
i. The summary of papers are sufficient and relevant
ii. Reflections are drawn upon the arguments in papers and have relevancy with
everyday issues
iii. The logic of presentation is smooth, coherent and well-organized
iv. The writing style follows the APA citation and referencing
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10. Grade Descriptors
Grade
Overall Course
A
A-
Demonstrated outstanding performances on all learning outcomes.
Demonstrated generally outstanding performance on all (or almost all) learning
outcomes.
Demonstrated good performance on all learning outcomes, or high performance on
some which compensates for less satisfactory performance on others, resulting in
overall substantial performance.
Demonstrated satisfactory performance on the majority of learning outcomes,
possibly with a few weaknesses.
Demonstrated barely satisfactory performance on a number of learning outcomes.
Demonstrated unsatisfactory performance on a number of learning outcomes, or
failure to meet specified assessment requirements.
B
C
D
F
11. Learning Resources
Required Textbook (To be reserved in the CUHK library)
Howitt, D. (2012). Introduction to forensic and criminal psychology (4th ed.). Harlow, England:
Pearson.
Optional Readings (For References ONLY; to be reserved in the CUHK library):
Book Title
Call No.
Permanent URL
Bartol, C. R., & Bartol, A. M. (2004). Psychology and law:
Theory, research, and application (3rd ed.). Belmont, CA:
Thomson/Wadsworth.
KF8922
http://library.cuhk.edu.hk
B37 2004
/record=b2616855~S15
Fradella, H. F. (2007). Forensic psychology: The use of
behavioral sciences in civil and criminal justice.
Southbank, Vic.: Thomson.
W740
http://library.cuhk.edu.hk
F83 2007
/record=b2995546~S15
Hunter, R. D., & Dantzker, M. L. (2012). Crime and
criminality: Causes and consequences (2nd ed.). Boulder,
Colo.: Lynne Rienner Publishers.
HV6080
http://library.cuhk.edu.hk
H85 2012
/record=b4938010~S15
12. Course Updates
e-Learning (https://elearn.cuhk.edu.hk/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp) will be adopted in this
course for posting course notes, announcements, etc. More information can be found in this
website: http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/eLearning/
13. Feedback for Evaluation
Students are welcome to give comments and feedback at any time during the class. Stop by to
talk to the teaching team. You can also send us emails or post your comments on the course
website.
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14. Course Schedule
Date
Lecture (Monday)
Reading
Date
Tutorial (Wednesday)
1
Sept 1
L1: Introduction
1
Sept 3
T1: Orientation
2
Sept 8
L2: Crime and the Public
3
Sept 10
T2: Preparation for
Presentation
3
Sept 15
L3: Theories of Crime
5
Sept 17
T3: Introduction to Theory of
Moral Disengagement
4
Sept 22
L4: Mental Disorders and Crime
21
Sept 24
T4: Introduction to Aging in
Prison
5
Sept 29
L5: Criminal Profiling
14,15
Oct 1
Holiday - National Day
6
Oct 6
L6: Quiz One (L1 - L5)**
Oct 8
T5: Presentation
(Psychopathy I)
7
Oct 13
L7: Violent Offenders
8
Oct 15
T6: Presentation
(Psychopathy II)
8
Oct 20
L8: Sexual Offenders
9
Oct 22
T7: Presentation
(Kleptomaniac /Arsonist I)
9
Oct 27
L9: Eyewitness Testimony
13
Oct 29
T8: Presentation
(Kleptomaniac /Arsonist II)
10
Nov 3
L10: Lie Detection I
18
Nov 5
T9: Presentation
(Jury I)
11
Nov 10
L11: Lie Detection II
19
Nov 12
T10: Presentation
(Jury II)
12
Nov 17
L12: Prisoners in Correctional
Settings
26
Nov 19
T11: Prisons in the U.S.
13
Nov 24
L13: Quiz Two (L7 - L12)**
Nov 26
T12: Consultation
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15. Academic Honesty and Plagiarism
Information regarding the academic honesty and plagiarism policy in the University is located at
http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/policy/academichonesty/ . Some further advice is given below.
Guideline about plagiarism
Any assignment (i.e., project, essay, or paper) that shows evidence of plagiarism will be marked
down severely. In simple terms, plagiarism is copying passages and/or ideas from other sources
without referencing those sources. Moreover, when you report someone else’s ideas/findings
you must put it in your own words and not merely copy full sentences or parts of sentences from
the source article. It is your responsibility as a scholar-in-training to cite the ideas and work of
others correctly. Please visit the following websites for discussions of how to recognize and
avoid plagiarism.
http://ec.hku.hk/plagiarism/introduction.htm
http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/plagiarism.shtml
http://www.hamilton.edu/writing/style/plagiarism/plagiarism.html
If you commit plagiarism in an assignment, and it is your first offence in the course, the penalty
will range from a minimum of a single letter grade reduction in score on the assignment to a
maximum of failure on the assignment. A second offence within the same course will result in a
minimum penalty of a single letter grade reduction in the course grade to a maximum penalty of
course failure. The specific penalty applied is up to the discretion of the professor. In all cases of
plagiarism, the student's name will be recorded in a central database maintained by the general
office. If a student is referred for plagiarism in more than one course, or more than one instance
in the same course, the student's case will be forwarded to the university administration for
follow-up action.
Detecting plagiarism
The Senate Committee on Teaching and Learning requires that all student assignments in
undergraduate programmes should be submitted via VeriGuide. This policy will only apply to
assignments in the form of a computer-generated document that is principally text-based (i.e.,
excluding calculations in science, brief laboratory reports, drawings in fine arts and architecture,
etc.).
•
•
•
•
Each student must upload a soft copy of the completed assignment to the plagiarism
detection engine VeriGuide, at https://veriguide1.cse.cuhk.edu.hk/cuhk/
The system will issue a receipt which also contains a declaration of honesty, which is the
same as that in http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/policy/academichonesty/p09.htm
The declaration should be signed, and the receipt stapled to a hard copy of the assignment
upon submission.
Assignments without the receipt will not be graded by teachers.
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Please sign the following and submit in the first tutorial.
PSYC3370
Psychology and Law
2014-2015, Term 1
Plagiarism Statement
I promise that all assignments submitted to this course across the entire semester will be original
except for source material explicitly acknowledged. I also acknowledge that I am aware of
University policy and regulations on honesty in academic work, and of the disciplinary guidelines
and procedures applicable to breaches of such policy and regulations as contained in the website
http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/policy/academichonesty/.
__________________________
Signature
__________________________
Date
__________________________
Name
__________________________
Student ID
PSYC3370
Course code
Psychology and Law
Course Title
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