Course structure
Foundation year core modules
Academic Study Skills Toolkit
This module will assist you in developing the personal and academic skills that you will need for undergraduate study. It focusses on developing skills such as information retrieval, evaluation, critical thinking, note taking, presentation skills and group work.
Contemporary Issues in Social Sciences
This module will introduce you to the historical and contemporary development of social science disciplines and will provide examples of theoretical challenges and the ways in which research is applied in society. You will gain an understanding of the critical differences between disciplines and how interdisciplinary research is fostered through collaboration. You will also be introduced to academic standards, ethical guidelines and research protocols, personal development planning and to a range of study and transferable skills relevant to your degree course and beyond.
Fake News: Propaganda and Polemics, Past and Present
This module provides you with the opportunity to develop your skills in thinking critically about the information and analysis presented in an array of media in today’s digital world, drawing on the methodologies of a range of disciplines within the social sciences, humanities and law. You will explore examples of the debates over fake news in both the past and present, and look at how fake news can be used to both support and undermine the status quo, enabling you in the process to become more savvy and engaged citizens.
Historical and Popular Crime, Justice, Law and Psychology
This module introduces you to the history of crime and justice, using media representations and crime fiction as a way of exploring crime over time, including aspects such as changes in society, law and education in this context.
Project
This module allows students to identify an area of interest related to their undergraduate degree and to explore this through a small scale research project where students will be required to produce an analysis of an area of focus.
Teesside: History, Literature, Culture, and Society
This module provides you with an opportunity to adopt an interdisciplinary approach to the Teesside region. You will learn about Teesside’s history, culture and society through the examination of various topics which will give you a deeper understanding of the region, both past and present.
Year 1 core modules
Criminal Justice
This module explores various aspects of the Criminal Justice System, including a range of agencies and institutions that operate within it. Initial focus is placed upon introducing students to the historical foundations of criminal justice in the 19th century and the material/ideological conditions of Victorian Penality. Whilst plotting this historical trajectory towards a contemporary understanding of the Criminal Justice System, a number of facets will be explored including the era of penal-welfarism, the dislocations of neoliberalism, criminal justice under New Labour and the Coalition Government. The aim is to locate our understanding of criminal justice within a broader historical, political, social, and economic context. The module will also explore a number of specific themes, for example, probation, prisons, restorative justice, race and gender and links are made to theory where appropriate.
Critical Thinking about Psychology
This module provides students with many of the skills needed to critically evaluate psychological theories and studies. It uses examples from psychology to highlight the common errors that people make when assessing arguments and evaluating evidence.
The module provides step-by-step guidance on how to overcome widespread mistakes and how to construct logical, balanced and coherent arguments. The module also requires students to assess the validity of a number of extraordinary claims, such as parapsychology, alternative medicine, astrology and mediumship. Students will be encouraged to be open-minded, yet require appropriate standards of proof when evaluating such claims.
Human Development and Social Psychology
You gain an understanding of two of the five core areas of study specified by the British Psychological Society (BPS): developmental psychology and social psychology. You consider theoretical and empirical work within human development and social psychology and are introduced to ethics in psychology, psychological research skills and report writing.
Principles of Criminology
The module seeks to provide an introduction to criminological theories and the way in which we understand crime and deviance in contemporary society. The module is designed to serve as a foundation to further criminological theory modules in levels 5 and 6. The intention is to provide a sound basis on which to explore debates about who commits crime, why crime is committed and why crime is seen as a social problem. Students will be introduced to a range of classic and traditional theoretical perspectives which will provide the foundations for more complex and contemporary theoretical perspectives later in the programme.
Psychobiology, Cognition and Individual Differences
You gain an understanding of three of the five core areas of study specified by the British Psychological Society (BPS): biological psychology, cognitive psychology and individual differences. You consider theoretical and empirical work within biological and developmental psychology and individual differences and also develop psychological research skills and report writing in more depth to provide you with the skills necessary to plan, conduct and report psychological research.
Psychological Research Design and Analysis 1
Providing a foundation in psychological research methods and analysis, this module covers a range of experimental and non-experimental methodological approaches.
You are introduced to the Windows SPSS package for statistical analysis and graph drawing, and you learn about simple qualitative research and data collection methods.
The module covers ethics in research, qualitative and quantitative methods, survey design, simple non-experimental and experimental designs, reliability and validity, probability, hypothesis testing, descriptive data analysis, simple non-parametric and parametric statistical analysis and research report writing.
By the end of the module, you’ll be able to identify the appropriate method for a range of research questions, analyse the resulting data and draw appropriate conclusions.
Year 2 core modules
Applied Research in Psychology
The module continues to foster advanced research design and analysis, building on the Conducting Research in Psychology module. It will facilitate the further development of knowledge and skills in using advanced research designs, including the use of quantitative and qualitative analysis techniques. Module content includes conceptual issues in advanced research designs, focusing on experimental and quasi-experimental quantitative research designs, planning of sample size, quantitative data analysis (ANOVA and ANCOVA), and advanced qualitative research techniques.
Biological and Social Psychology
The module is divided into two halves: biopsychology and social psychology. Biological, neurological and social explanations for a series of identified psychological topics are explored, as well as introducing the concept of evolutionary explanations for human behaviour and the scientific approach to the study of our social behaviour.
You are required to complete a two-hour unseen written examination for your assessment on this module.
Conducting Research in Psychology
The module deals with advanced research design and analysis, building on the module Research Design and Analysis 1. It facilitates the development of knowledge and skills in using advanced research designs, including the use of quantitative and qualitative analysis techniques. Module content includes conceptual issues in advanced research designs, a focus on non-experimental/correlational quantitative research designs, regression techniques, assessment design and qualitative data collection and analysis.
Development, Cognitive Processes and Disorders
This module is delivered in two parts. In the first half, competing perspectives, contemporary debates, historical perspectives and applied topics within developmental psychology are studied using a lifespan perspective. In the second half, a range of cognitive processes are discussed in relation to both healthy and disordered functioning, drawing evidence from experimental psychology, neuropsychological case studies and cognitive neuroscience perspectives.
Psychopathologies and Individual Differences
You develop a knowledge and understanding of psychopathologies and individual differences in psychology. In addition, you develop skills in psychometric measurement and an in-depth knowledge of these areas along with the necessary skills to distinguish between theories and critically evaluate them.
Understanding Domestic and Sexual Violence
Critically examine the nature, extent and impact of sexual and domestic violence from a range of academic, theoretical, research, policy and practitioner perspectives. Explore the links between the various aspects of domestic and sexual violence, including rape and sexual assault, domestic violence, honour based violence and sexual exploitation.
You engage with the conceptual, methodological and ethical issues which characterise historically hidden problems – and we focus on the continued need for sensitivity in exploring and addressing these issues. The module traces the emergence of sexual and domestic violence as criminological problems, and critically examines the changing legal, policing, criminal justice and community responses.
Final-year core modules
Dissertation
Your dissertation is based around the investigation of a topic linked to your programme of study, selected by you in consultation with a dissertation supervisor. It represents a core compulsory element for British Psychological Society membership accreditation.
The dissertation involves a poster presentation, a pass/fail ethical approval and a written project report. It also includes a PDP element which involves you creating a personal statement and a CV written to address the person specifications of a graduate job.
Issues in Psychology
This module is aimed to introduce students to a number of debates in applied psychology. The module content is aimed to meet learning needs of students interested in aspects of applied psychology and to foster self-directed learning.
Penology
The module encourages the exploration of the relationship between philosophies of punishment, methods and strategies of penal intervention, including sentencing, imprisonment, community sentences and community supervision. The module pays particular attention to the ethical conflicts and dilemmas that emerge because of society’s response to criminal behaviour. Retaining a focus on the key principles of security, control, and justice, the module will explore issues of differential treatment, the response and adaptation of prison populations to penal practices and regimes, the internal culture of the prison, and the role of probation services. The impact of social and economic change on penal policy and practice will be examined in order to question the influence of human rights law on the treatment of offenders.
and two optional modules (one must be a criminology module and one must be a psychology option)
Are We Doing Youth Justice?
This module is divided into four core elements, each delivered in a block of six lectures, of which the final lecture focuses on key themes and contents. The first block provides a comprehensive picture of the youth justice system, as established post 1997 by New Labour.
Block two explores criminological, sociological and psychological explanations of youth offending.
Block three examines the idea of unruly youth from a historical perspective of the regulation of (gendered) childhood and the relevance of social class in identifying and explaining youth offending.
Block four examines key questions and themes of block one, two and three in relation to their implicit implications and underlying ideologies in terms of how young offenders are conceptualised and dealt with in England and Wales’ youth justice system today.
Current Issues in Neurodevelopmental Disorders
This module is aimed at students who have an interest in applied aspects of cognitive psychology, especially educational psychology, as well as those interested in developmental and bio-psychology.
The module introduces you to a range of different neurodevelopmental disorders e.g. autistic spectrum disorder, dyslexia, ADHD, specific-language impairment, Williams syndrome, Dyscalculia, Fragile X and Downs syndrome. Each disorder will be considered in terms of its diagnostic criteria, characteristics, theoretical perspectives and issues with comorbidity. As such we will discuss each condition at the levels of biology (including genetics), cognition, behaviour and the environment.
Wider issues such as the social aspects of neurodevelopmental disorders, including integration in education, lifespan changes and methodological and ethical issues in researching neurodevelopmental disorders will also be addressed.
Developing Skills for Educational and Community Support
This module provides you with experience and knowledge of working as a support worker with Neuro Partners (www.neuropartners.co.uk/). You develop transferable / employability skills, such as confidentiality, data protection, communications, problem-solving, group work, time management, self-management, and record keeping. The work experience enables you to work within a team whilst maintaining boundaries and a professional relationship with an individual. The service users will have a range of conditions, including mental health conditions and possibly co-morbid disorders and considerations when approaching support. You will be working on any combination of the following types of support:
Education-based support: Sighted Guide, Mobility Support, Travel Support, Note Taker, Transcriber, Library Assistant, Proof reading, Reader, Exam Support
Community-based support: Personal Care, Community access, Accessing social and leisure activities with service users, Assisting the service user during Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Speech and Language Therapy. Community-based hours will include evenings and weekends.
Prior to commencing the module, you are required to apply for Disclosure and Barring Services (DBS) enhanced disclosure and successfully complete the Neuro Partners interview, assessment centre and training. DBS applications will be made during the interview. You will receive full training for the role of support worker (delivered by Neuro Partners) and have regular contact with an Assistant Psychologist, who will appraise you 3 times throughout the year.
You will have 6 hours contact at Teesside University to introduce the module and go through assessment requirements. This will be delivered as 3 x 2hour lectures (delivered throughout the year). The module requires you to be available for the full duration of the academic year (30 weeks) and accumulate a minimum of 70 hours of support work experience. It is expected that you will gain 2-3 hours support work experience per week and will document your experience by completing logs after every session.
Moral Economy of Criminal Justice
Explore the moral economy of criminal justice, and gain an original, analytical perspective on the discipline.
The first part of the module introduces intellectual and moral resources which draw on western philosophical heritage, theology, personalism, symbolic ethics, and moral conditions before and after the Industrial Age.
The second part of the module puts these intellectual and moral resources to work to analyse developments in criminal justice, including penal policy and probation, from 1979 into the present.
Particular reference is made to the conservative period of criminal justice between 1979 and 1997; New Labour between 1997 and 2010; and the coalition government from 2010 to 2015 and beyond.
Promoting Health, Preventing Illness
This module explores psychology’s role in progressing, treating and managing illness. You will consider the dominant discussions of health and illness and explore the methods used to measure and assess health and illness. This module explores health promotion interventions, particularly the associated psychological issues that need to be considered when you are addressing the health and illness needs of individuals across the lifespan.
Race, Crime and Social Exclusion
An exploration of the ways the categories of race, ethnicity and social class are constructed and represented by the various forms and institutions that constitute the criminal justice system and wider systems of social control.
You examine the ideological, historical, economic and socio-political context of how race and class came to be associated with crime and criminal justice. We discuss how this association has been generated in part through early criminological discourse and through contemporary academic assessment of evidence and explanations about whether, and to what extent, minority ethnic criminality and victimisation is constructed through racism.
Case studies of criminality and victimisation, policing, stop and search, the courts, penality, genocide, and racial violence are used. You are asked to acquaint yourself with relevant theoretical and policy perspectives and debates about minority ethnic groups in relation to the criminal justice system, and to ask yourself whether theories of racism can enhance a criminological understanding of this area.
The Psychology of Criminal Behaviour
This modules aims to develop an understanding of the psychological explanations of criminal behaviour in relation to a number of specific crimes. The role of the Forensic Psychologist and psychological evidence are explored for topics including sexual offending, CSA, aggression, stalking, and arson. Further, the value of theoretical explanations is considered in relation to the evolution of crimes such as online grooming and cyberstalking
The Psychology of Everyday Self
This module provides an arena for you to study in depth one of the most intriguing and misunderstood aspects of psychological experience – that of selfhood.
It brings together a number of sub-disciplines that throw light on selfhood and subjective experience. Perspectives from social, developmental, and clinical psychology are combined in this module to offer you the opportunity to explore what selfhood means to you and how different constructs of selfhood can be enriching to the human experience.
Therapeutic Care and Meaningful Interactions
Therapeutic Care and Meaningful Interactions provides you with experience and knowledge of working as a Therapeutic Care Volunteer (TCV) within South Tees NHS Trust. You have the opportunity to develop transferable knowledge and employability skills. You cover confidentiality, data protection, communications, problem-solving, group work, time management, self-management, and record keeping. You have the opportunity to work within a health care team across any combination of wards across the Trust and community hospitals, whilst maintaining boundaries and a professional relationship with individuals.
Understanding Domestic and Sexual Violence
Critically examine the nature, extent and impact of sexual and domestic violence from a range of academic, theoretical, research, policy and practitioner perspectives. Explore the links between the various aspects of domestic and sexual violence, including rape and sexual assault, domestic violence, honour based violence and sexual exploitation.
You engage with the conceptual, methodological and ethical issues which characterise historically hidden problems – and we focus on the continued need for sensitivity in exploring and addressing these issues. The module traces the emergence of sexual and domestic violence as criminological problems, and critically examines the changing legal, policing, criminal justice and community responses.
