This course provides an in-depth understanding of how psychological issues impact crime and crime prevention. It will examine a range of different crime types and apply psychological and behavioural economic approaches to understanding the motivations of offenders and criminal organisations. Both psychological theories and practical applications will be explored throughout the course, complete with contemporary case studies, examples and analyses of existing policy approaches. Students will be equipped with practical skills to enhance their crime prevention and detection capabilities by applying various psychological theories and practices. This course is also one of the first at CityU to utilise the team-based learning approach, where students will work in groups to devise practical solutions to contemporary crime problems during in-class sessions.

AT1: Quizzes (35%)

Short quizzes will be conducted to assess students' understanding on the topics discussed over the course of a semester on the academic subject.

AT2: In-class participation (10%)

Throughout the lectures, students will complete a range of tasks that will put the concepts learned from the lectures and readings into practice. The purpose of these tasks will be to prepare students for practical work typically encountered in various practitioner and relevant industry environments.

AT3: Group Research Project (30%)

In small groups, students will engage in a deep-dive into a certain crime topic of their choice and use the psychological theories, applications and concepts from the lectures to devise an effective understanding of, and solutions to, the problem. They will produce a report, outlining their approach, the underlying psychological theories used, existing case studies and possible prevention measures. Strong reports will demonstrate evidence of wider research, including the statistical analysis of public data, to evaluate the crime problem and existing policies to motivate their chosen approach.

AT4: Team-based learning (25%)

Dedicated digital learning environments will be used throughout the course to immerse students in practical scenarios, simulations and tasks that apply their learning to practice. TBL sessions take place in small groups, with tasks involving the analysis of behavioural evidence, formulating and defending psychological assessments, applying psychological concepts to real-world problems and producing written outputs in professional formats. Each session begins with a short individual readiness assessment on the assigned preparatory material, followed by collaborative group work and structured discussion. Marks are awarded for both individual preparation and the quality of the team's reasoning, with emphasis placed on how well conclusions are justified by the available evidence rather than on reaching a predetermined answer.