PSY-30126 - The psychology of deviance

Coordinator: Christopher E Stiff Tel: +44 1782 7 33667

Lecture Time: See Timetable...

Level: Level 6

Credits: 15

Study Hours: 150

School Office: 01782 733736

Programme/Approved Electives for 2020/21

None

Available as a Free Standing Elective

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

Barred Combinations

Description for 2020/21

Why are children bullied, and why do some children join in, while others help? What causes people to send derogatory messages to others they have never met or seen over the Internet? Why are football matches often marred with hooliganism, whilst other sports experience no such issues?
This module will attempt to answer these questions by examining the psychology of deviance. What can psychology tell us about deviant behaviour, and how can we use this knowledge to help.
Students on this module will cover a fascinating range of topics and work with experts engaged in active research on those areas. Possible topics covered will be: (cyber)bullying, domestic violence, Internet vigilantes, Internet addiction, the behaviour of crowds, the power of anonymity, and video game induced aggression.

Aims

- To provide students with new insights into how psychology can be applied to understanding deviance in variety of contexts,
- To provide students with new insights into a specialist area of psychology,
- To provide students with an understanding of literature relating to deviant/aberrant attitudes and behaviour through the reading and critique of peer-reviewed evidence, and synthesis of their own research ideas,
- To allow students greater expansion of previously learned material.

Talis Aspire Reading List
Any reading lists will be provided by the start of the course.
http://lists.lib.keele.ac.uk/modules/psy-30126/lists

Intended Learning Outcomes

describe and evaluate the appropriate use of a variety of methodologies for examining issues pertinent to the module;:
critically discuss issues relating to deviance from a variety of psychological perspectives (e.g. developmental, group, etc);
:
identify relevant psychological literature and appraise its usefulness when producing written work;:
make effective use of evidence to address issues relating to deviance within an report format;:
produce a synthesis of information on a topic of interest (and related to the module content) containing both theoretical and applied aspects;:

Study hours

20 hours lectures and small group sessions
10 hours reading material prior to sessions
10 hours reading post session
110 hours private study

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment

1: Assignment weighted 100%
Problem-based assignment
Intervention/problem based assignment. Students will be provided with a number of (hypothetical) situations which require analysis and intervention from a psychologist in order to be solved. Several will be provided which will be covered by the topics in the module sessions. The assignment will require: - Literature review of the topic area, including any gaps in knowledge - Analysis of the problem and possible issues - Development of intervention, with rationale - Details of how success of the intervention will be assessed Guidance on the assignment will be provided in sessions, and a clear structure for students to use will be outlined. Students will be given the opportunity to develop the skills required for this assignment during the course, and will receive preparation sessions specifically aimed at its completion. Word count: 3000

PSY-30126 - Module Specification School of Psychology Faculty of Natural Sciences

PSY-30126 - Module Specification
School of Psychology
Faculty of Natural Sciences