You will are encouraged to develop employability skills through volunteering opportunities, events, workshops and research placements.
Psychology is concerned with understanding people’s actions and mental experiences. Psychology explores the nature of human behaviour and experience and the various ways in which they can be studied. It focuses upon the major issues and methods of enquiry in present-day Psychology and considers the applications of Psychology to problems of modern life in such fields as work, education, physical and mental health and crime. The combination of the two subjects provides depth and width of understanding of the relationship between the two areas.
The Law modules are designed with three basic aims: to provide a sound basic legal education, to cater for the teaching of Law in its social, economic and political context and to complement other subject areas in the Joint Honours courses.
You will gain practical experience from moots and mock trials in our dedicated Moot Room, visiting law firms and career advice. Law also offers a student mentoring scheme with Shoosmiths solicitors.
With a detailed insight into the Law, you are able to understand how it relates and responds to crime and criminal acts in society and conversely how criminal acts and changes in the behaviour, organisation and types of crime have impacted on how Laws are enforced and new ones developed.
Stage one
You will be introduced to the core disciplines that underpin the academic analysis of both courses. Year one explores the introduction of Psychology and Criminology and provides an excellent foundation of knowledge for you to advance to year two.
The other modules in this stage enable students to acquire skills in the design and execution of a range of psychological and academic research methods, the analysis and interpretation of data and technical report writing.
You will build on the fundamentals of Psychology and Law, exploring the basics of biological, cognitive, social and developmental psychology. You will benefit from a varied and imaginative modular scheme, which is designed to offer you a wide range of options in addition to the foundation subjects identified by the legal professional bodies.
You are required to take three compulsory 20 credit modules from each of their chosen courses to attain a total of 120 credits.
For Law there are four compulsory modules: Law of Contract, Criminal Law, Learning the Law and Public Law.
For Psychology, year one comprises three compulsory 20 credit modules and introduces the major theoretical approaches to understanding human behaviour.
Stage two
Second year will take you into more detailed and developed areas, considering the wider issues and debates surrounding Psychology and Law.
Within Psychology, year two provides a wide range of ten credit and 20 credit modules enabling you to study a number of core areas in detail, with sufficient flexibility to select according to your interests and career plans. Your final choice of modules will be partly determined by the specific award you choose.
To become eligible for GBR, you would complete the following six ten-credit modules and the 20 credit Research Methods and Data Analysis. You will consider a deeper analysis of their modules using professional theoretical research in their subject areas to supplement learning, growth, development and knowledge.
Within Law, you are introduced to issues and methods in social science research, whilst a focus on crime and justice forms the broader organising theme at this stage, taking students through the levels of criminal justice procedures, from point of arrest to disposal of criminal cases at court.
You will consider a deeper analysis of their modules using professional theoretical research in their subject areas to supplement learning, growth, development and knowledge.
Stage three*
At this stage, you will have the opportunity to develop specialised and intensive study on areas and aspects of Psychology and Law that you find particularly interesting.
You can select from the wide range of advanced Psychology modules on offer. There are modules on each of the applied psychological professions such as forensic psychology and clinical psychology. There are also modules reflecting the research expertise of our staff, for example Transpersonal Psychology and Positive Psychology. Psychology majors typically undertake an empirical dissertation with one-to-one guidance from a Psychology lecturer.
If a Law dissertation is chosen students can select from a range of option modules including:
- Employment Law
- Medical Law
- European and International Human Rights Law
- Terrorism
- Legal Advice in the Community
- Practical Legal Skills
You, if you have an even split on their courses, can choose to write a dissertation on any topic within their Joint Honours course. The dissertation builds on and expands your prior knowledge of research methodology acquired at stage one and two. It aims to foster the development of expertise in methodology and skills in the planning, conduct and write-up of research reports. This form of independent, experiential learning will require you to ask logical questions to diagnose and define problems, generate and implement solutions and evaluate the effectiveness of their action-outcomes. This means this will develop your ability to work independently and to reflect on the research process.
