PSYC3618

PSYC

3618

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHILD VICTIMS AND WITNESSES

Prerequisites: PSYC 1100, PSYC 3242 / CRIM 2141 / another comparable research methods course. This is a course for the Childhood Studies minor, the Victimology and Victim Services minor, and the Forensic Psychology concentration. A senior seminar that gives students a chance to learn in smaller group settings about the psychological issues related to children and adolescents as crime victims and / or witnesses. Students will engage in in-depth investigations about the historical context of children serving as eyewitnesses in court, more and less suggestive forensic interviewing techniques, and the influence of memory, language, and conceptual development on the quality and quantity of children's testimony. In the end, students will design a research project reflective of their own interest that can potentially improve children's experience in the forensic context. This seminar is designed to augment student interest in children and the law, to prepare students for work in this area, and to give students a taste of how graduate school classes are like.

Childhood Studies, Victimology & Victim Services