Psychology and Justice System

Code:

MCF13_12

Acronym:

MCF13_12

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Forensic Sciences

Instance: 2023/2024 - SP

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Public Health and Forensic Sciences, and Medical Education Department
Course/CS Responsible:	Forensic Sciences

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
MCF	13	Current Studies Plan	1	-	6	40	162

Teaching language

Portuguese
Obs.: Inglês

Objectives

1. Acquire in-depth knowledge within the key areas of interface between Psychology and the Justice System - forensic psychology, psychology of justice, witness psychology, among others.


2. Acquire in-depth knowledge about the relationship between psychology and law , psychology and justice system


3. To know, overall, the Portuguese Justice System, its similarities and differences from other European Justice/Legal Systems, North-American Justice System and South-American Justice Systems.


4. To know and understand the role of psychologists in the Justice System and its main contributions at different levels, such as forensic assessment, expert testimony, probation, juvenile delinquency. To know and reflect about the main difficulties in the relationships between Psychology and Law.

5. To develop knowledge and basic skills in the domain of forensic psychological assessment/expertise.

Learning outcomes and competences

The unit’s contents, while not comprehensively addressing all of the complexity and magnitude of the problems inherent to the application of psychology to the judicial system, address the main key points in order to create a broad understanding of the topic, while allowing students to develop capabilities to deepen their knowledge according to their intervening area. The contents were developed to raise the students’ sensitivity and critical judgment, thus promoting their problem solving ability and the ability to intervene in real cases.

Working method

Presencial

Program

1. Global characterization of the Portuguese judicial system and the different areas of the law.


2. Forensic Psychology, Psychology of Justice, Criminal Psychology.


3. Contributions of Psychology to Criminal Investigation.


4. Forensic Psychological Assessment I - introductory concepts, general principles and methodologies; legal framework of this activity, general characterization of its various stages.


5. Forensic Psychological Assessment II - brief introduction to assessment in the areas of Civil and Criminal Law; assessment of children and young adults and assessment of adults; assessment of victims and of defendants; assessment in the domain of Family and Minors Law.


6. The victims' contact with the justice system and the processes of secondary victimization; victims support in the contact with the judicial system, particularly the most vulnerable victims.

7. From prevention of juvenile delinquency to social rehabilitation and probation.

Mandatory literature

Brewer N, Williams; Psychology and law. An empirical perspective.

Teaching methods and learning activities

Evaluation Type

Evaluation with final exam

Assessment Components

Designation	Weight (%)
Participação presencial	40,00
Exame	60,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Designation	Time (hours)
Estudo autónomo	60,00
Frequência das aulas	40,00
Total:	100,00

Eligibility for exams

Lectures (20 hours) and labs (20 hours)

Written test or written assignment.

Calculation formula of final grade

Written test = 100% or written exam = 100%