Psychology with Forensic and Investigative Psychology

Find out why people break the law and how vital psychology is to criminal investigations. This Psychology with Forensic and Investigative Psychology degree teaches you how psychological theory and research applies in forensic settings like police investigations, the court room, and the prison service.

‘Investigative forensic psychology’ means helping to uncover the motivation behind the crimes and how they are investigated. You'll develop analytical techniques to evaluate different kinds of criminal behaviour. From what makes serial killers tick to whether children are reliable witnesses, you’ll find out how to apply psychology to forensic scenarios.

The first two years of this flexible degree are designed to help you dig deeper into the science of psychology, learning how humans think, feel, and behave. In years three and four, you take more advanced options related to forensic and investigative psychology.

You'll gain a thorough understanding of this fascinating subject, including how to:

- Analyse offender motives.

- Understand offending behaviour.

- Evaluate eyewitness testimony.

- Profile missing people.

- Understand the language of the judicial system.

- Support vulnerable witnesses, victims and offenders.

- Assess and manage offenders.

Uncover the psychological issues involved in crime

You'll develop an analytical approach so you can evaluate the different kinds of criminal behaviour involved in investigations. You'll learn how to observe that behaviour, tackle literature-based research and develop, test and evaluate theories. This culminates in conducting your own supervised research project in your final year, which is one of the cornerstones of your degree.

This Psychology with Forensic and Investigative Psychology degree is accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS) and its core areas follow the curriculum set out by the BPS. This accreditation is essential if you want to become a Chartered Psychologist and means that successful graduates can apply for further professional psychology training.

Psychology degrees here at Abertay are flexible. You can switch to BSc Psychology or another Psychology pathway if you develop an interest in a particular topic later on.

Our BSc Psychology course scored an impressive 95% for Overall Student Satisfaction in the 2020 National Student Survey (NSS).