Investigative and Forensic Psychology

Entry requirements

You will need a high 2:1 Bachelors degree (with Honours) in Psychology. Applicants will be expected to have the majority of their module marks in this range, especially for research methods and statistics.

Months of entry

September

Course content

The MSc Investigative & Forensic Psychology is a one year, full-time postgraduate programme. It is accredited by the British Psychological Society annually and recognised as the first step towards status as a Chartered Forensic Psychologist in the UK for students who have Graduate Basis for Chartership. The course is also recognised by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) as a Research Methods MSc and students taking this course are eligible for the ESRC 1 + 3 studentships.

The MSc provides students with a high quality, balanced postgraduate programme of research and academic knowledge including, awareness of professional, legal and ethical issues, and practical, communication and dissemination skills in Investigative and Forensic Psychology. The programme takes a three-tiered approach.

Students begin with structured sessions on conceptual and theoretical issues (including aggression, sexual violence and deviance, decision-making, leadership and stress, memory, communication and persuasion, and the psychology of crowd dynamics).

They then appreciate how these and related issues can be applied to forensic practice and its legal context (in terms of crime reduction and intervention studies; investigative procedures, forensic interviewing, court processes and proceedings, assessment, custody and rehabilitation).

Finally, they gain skills in communicating knowledge and conducting relevant research on case assessments of individuals and organisations.