Course overview

Our MSc Child Forensic Studies: Psychology and Law programme is a unique degree designed especially for professionals working with children caught up in the legal system. This course is delivered on a part-time basis, via distance learning materials.

Distance learning at the University of Portsmouth

The University is committed to enabling access to higher education for appropriately qualified students. Many potential students are in full-time employment or for some other reason are prevented from attending full-time or even part-time courses. The University therefore offers a number of distance learning programmes, at both undergraduate and postgraduate level, and is dedicated to ensuring they are equivalent to those of students who attend on campus.

Why study child forensic studies at Portsmouth?

Portsmouth houses one of the largest team of psychologists who are active researchers in the field of forensic psychology in the UK. Between them, the team members have published extensively on the topic of child witnessing and children as suspects/offenders. The department also offers a friendly and supportive environment.

The course was designed by academics and clinicians who have complementary interests and expertise in this area. The materials have been written especially for the course by course teams, as well as experts throughout the UK, the USA, Canada, Germany and Australia. The distance learning format of the units is designed to enable you to have access to a wide range of high quality material, in a form which enables effective learning whilst continuing in employment. The materials are regularly updated in order to keep abreast of procedural and cultural changes in the area and recent trends.

Course features

• Relevant topics in this specialist area
• Well established programme
• Academic staff with much expertise in the area
• Excellent Quality Assurance Agency rating for our teaching, curriculum and student support
• Quality research reputation
• A chance to study and continue in employment (ideal for professional development)

For an informal discussion about the course please contact the Course Leader:

Dr Julie Cherryman
Tel: +44 (0)23 9284 6328
Email: julie.cherryman@port.ac.uk

Course content

To obtain the degree you must successfully complete six units of study, including an empirical research project. You will normally study three units (90 credits) each year.

You will begin to explore potential research ideas and research methodologies in year one and in your second year you will carry out an independent research project relevant to children caught up in the legal system.

Year one units

Child Development and Investigative Interviewing of Children: This unit discusses child development theories including cognitive, emotional and social, and sexual development. It appraises suggestibility in children and provides an overview of the different protocols that can be used to interview children as witnesses/victims.

Law and Procedures Relating to Children: This unit provides an historical overview of what influenced the changes to the law that have provided the special measures to help children have greater access to the criminal justice process. It also outlines current laws and procedures in England and Wales.

Quantitative and Qualitative Research Methods: This unit introduces experimental and survey-based research methods, as well as quantitative data analysis techniques. It also covers qualitative methods for data collection and analysis, as well as to how to write research reports in both traditions.

Year two units

Detecting Deception and Child Perpetrators: This unit discusses verbal and non-verbal methods of detecting deception including Statement Validity Assessment, a technique for assessing the truthfulness of statements based solely on what is spoken by the child. The second part of this unit includes discussion of risk factors, prevention and intervention strategies for children as perpetrators. A summary of research on adolescent violent offenders and adolescent sex offenders is followed by a section on child suspects, criminal responsibility, and false confessions and suggestibility.

Research Project: The research project requires you to initiate, conduct and report upon an original piece of research. The work is conducted to deadlines agreed with a project supervisor and must include empirical quantitative or qualitative research – data collection and relevant analysis must be included. Any statistical analysis must be both descriptive (e.g. means, standard deviations and graphs etc.) and inferential (i.e. statistical tests)).

You can choose to take one of the following units

Communication and Investigative Interviewing of People with Intellectual Disabilities: This unit aims to promote communication skills and opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities and outline the status of the law concerning vulnerable adults as witnesses/victims. It aims to provide you with the opportunity to examine issues that arise when people with intellectual disabilities are interviewed as witnesses/victims of crime.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy: This unit outlines and discusses the efficacy of cognitive behavioural therapy. You are strongly encouraged to view this course as an introduction to the academic literature on this subject, rather than as training to be a therapist.

Awards

When you have successfully completed units with a total of 60 credits you will be eligible for the award of Postgraduate Certificate in Child Forensic Studies (Psychology and Law). A further 60 credits (a total of 120 credits) leads to eligibility for the award of Postgraduate Diploma in Child Forensic Studies (Psychology and Law). Completion of a further 60 credits (a total of 180 credits) leads to the award of MSc Child Forensic Studies (Psychology and Law).

Teaching and assessment

The content of the course is delivered via the internet. At the beginning of the course you will be provided with a user name and password to enable you to access the distance learning materials.

Resources include:

• specially written text by University academic staff and external experts
• links to relevant websites and electronic versions of selected readings
• online discussions and other interactive learning activities
• links to the library and other University learning resources

We realise that studying on your own away from the University presents special challenges and we try to provide support in a number of ways. You will be allocated a personal tutor when you register for the course. Tutorial support is provided throughout by email and telephone (or Skype) tutorials and by personal tutorials during study schools or at other times by arrangement.

We encourage you to use the discussion boards and chat rooms provided online or to contact each other. Some of the learning activities in the units are designed to enable you to share ideas and work collaboratively. In order to facilitate this, we also circulate contact details for students (with your permission) to other students on the course.

Assessment

Each unit is assessed by coursework. There are no examinations. Types of assignments include essays, critical reviews, information leaflets, presentation slides and a research project.

As you are studying at a distance, sometimes overseas, it is possible to successfully complete the course without travelling to our department. However, you are always welcome to arrange face-to-face meetings with tutors should you wish and we endeavour to arrange at least one relevant conference/seminar each year.

Career prospects

Students undertaking this course have reported significant progression in their careers. The course was designed for people who already work with children caught up in the legal system as victims, witnesses or suspects.

Facilities and features

You will have access to our University Library both online and on campus if you are located close to Portsmouth. Open from 8am to midnight, seven days a week in term-time (with reduced hours during vacations), you will have access to printed materials, multimedia collections and thousands of online journals. It also contains an extensive collection of psychology books, journals and abstracts.

There is a system in place that allows photocopies of journal articles and book chapters to be posted to students (particularly useful for distance learners). The library also has an electronic bibliography for psychology called PsychInfo that is an invaluable tool in searching for literature on any topic. This can be accessed via the internet from any location.

There is also a distance learners’ support team who are there to assist in obtaining resources. The course team works closely with our subject librarian to ensure appropriate reading materials are available for you.

SCONUL (UK only)

For UK students there is an opportunity to use a scheme called SCONUL. This allows you to borrow books from other academic institutions, making it easier for you to use academic libraries nearer to home or work.

Victory

This course uses Victory, our virtual learning environment. This supports distance learners by encouraging independent learning and providing a forum for discussion with fellow students and staff. No additional software or changes are required to your computer. Victory is available via any computer that has access to the internet.

Entry requirements

The entry requirements for MSc Child Forensic Studies (Psychology and Law) are shown above, for more detailed information please contact:

Department: Psychology
Tel: +44 (0)23 9284 5550
Email: sci-pgrad@port.ac.uk