Fundamentals of Forensic Psychology – CJUS 620

CG • Section 8WK • 11/08/2019 to 04/16/2020 • Modified 09/05/2023

Course Description

This course will introduce the student to an understanding of psychology's use in assisting the law with clinical forensic cases. Focus will involve both practical and research applications in clinical and social-cognitive psychology. Additional topics will include admissibility of psychologists to provide expert testimony in the courts; assessment of various mental states to meet legal requirements for competency, insanity, abuse syndromes, and various other psychological harm; working in the criminal justice system; and child custody and dependency issues.

For information regarding prerequisites for this course, please refer to the Academic Course Catalog.

Rationale

Criminal Justice 620 is the foundational course in the Master of Science in Criminal Justice - Forensic Science track. As such, the student in this course will explore various intersections of psychology and criminal justice.

Course Assignment

Textbook readings and lecture presentations

Course Requirements Checklist

After reading the Course Syllabus and Student Expectations, the student will complete the related checklist found in the Course Overview.

Discussions (3)

Discussions are collaborative learning experiences. Therefore, the student is required to create a thread in response to the provided topic for each discussion. Each thread must be at least 400 words, demonstrate course-related knowledge, and have at least 1 Holy Bible reference and a minimum of 3 properly formatted citations. In addition to the thread, the student is required to reply to 2 other classmates’ threads. Each reply must be at least 250 words and have at least 1 Holy Bible reference and a minimum of 1 properly formatted citation.

Journal Article Review Assignments (2)

The student will critically review 2 recent peer-reviewed articles in a minimum of 2 pages. The student must pay particular attention to the identification of the premise and supporting points of the articles, a synthesis of the 2 articles, and a critical evaluation of the premise(s) and supporting points of the articles. The paper must follow current APA guidelines. The page count does not include the title page, abstract, reference section, or any extra material.

For each review, the student will select and read one article. At a minimum, the student must pay particular attention to the identification of the premise and supporting points of the article, a synthesis of the article and the corresponding material in the textbook or a synthesis of the article with their personal experience with the topic, and a critical evaluation of the premise(s) and supporting points of the article.

See the assignment instructions and grading rubric for additional instructions and guidance. The student must follow the article focus prompts in the assignment instructions closely.

Research Paper Assignment

The student will be given some flexibility to write a brief research paper focused on one of his/her Journal Article Reviews and/or a topic or chapter from the Linebach & Kovacsiss text. The research paper must be 8–10 pages and must follow current APA guidelines. The page count does not include the title page, abstract, or reference section. It must include 10–15 sources with at least 1 source being the Holy Bible and no more than 2 sources being books. The student must incorporate a Christian worldview throughout their paper or have a specific section of their paper dedicated to Christian Worldview.

PowerPoint Teaching Lesson Assignment

The student will create a 12–15-slide PowerPoint presentation with a title slide and reference slide (The title slide and the reference section slide(s) will not count toward the 12–15-slide minimum) based upon his/her Research Paper Assignment. Each slide must have 100–150 words of bulleted or paragraph speaker notes. A minimum of 5 scholarly sources and the Holy Bible must be used. Additionally, the student must use animations, transitions, and graphics to reflect graduate-level research. See the assignment instructions and grading rubric for additional instructions and guidance.

Quizzes (8)

Each quiz will cover the Learn material for the module in which it is assigned. Each quiz will be open-book/open-notes, contain 10–20 multiple-choice and essay questions, and have a 1-hour time limit.