POSTGRADUATE DIPLOMA/MSc IN FORENSIC MENTAL HEALTH
This is a unique two-year part-time multi-disciplinary course which is relevant to all those working with mentally disordered offenders. Theoretical issues related to mentally disordered offenders are linked to practice-based skills which equip students for risk assessment work and multi-agency management of this population group. Students come from a range of health professions, social work, law, government agencies and voluntary sector bodies. Students who are successful in the first year and gain the Diploma will be able to proceed to the MSc in the second year and complete a practice-based research project. Forensic Mental Health Application Form
Course objectives
The course is designed for those who already have professional experience of working with mentally disordered offenders. It aims to:
In addition the MSc second year is designed to:
Course structure
The course is organised into a series of 6 modules taught during the first year which make up the Postgraduate Diploma (120 credits) followed by a 15 month period in which students design and complete a research project for the MSc element (60 credits).
The core modules are:
In the second year students take one taught module:
Research Methods (15 credits)
and complete a Research Project worth 45 credits which is submitted in December.
The start date for the Diploma course will be 25 September 2009. Students will need to achieve satisfactory marks in year 1 in order to progress to year 2. Students will get their first year results in mid-September 2010 and will know at that stage whether they are eligible to proceed to the MSc component.
Teaching and Assessment
Teaching in the first year is made up of topic-related lectures followed by student-led seminars (scheduled on Fridays). In the second year, lectures on research methods, statistics, critical appraisal and research project planning and management (scheduled on Thursdays) are shared with students on other postgraduate programmes and these are supported by seminars led by forensic specialists and by individual work with supervisors on the project element. Students are expected to undertake a considerable amount of self-directed reading to meet the course aims and development of critical analytical skills is a key focus of the course. Active participation in small-group seminars is an important feature of the teaching.
Teaching staff come from a wide range of professional and academic backgrounds. Core teaching staff include Annie Bartlett (Course Director and Reader in Forensic Psychiatry) Nigel Eastman (Professor of Law and Ethics), Matthew Fiander (Honorary Senior Lecturer), Mavis Campbell (Lawyer), Sandra MacPhail (Forensic Social Worker), John Adlam (Principal Adult Psychiatrist), Chris Scanlon (Consultant Adult Psychiatrist), Alison Armstrong (Director of Mental Health, London PCTs) and Gill McGauley (Consultant and Senior Lecturer in Forensic Psychotherapy).The Course also benefits from contributions from external lecturers who are chosen for their expertise in particular fields. There is an active research programme in forensic mental health at SGUL and opportunities exist for students to continue to study for a PhD on completion. Areas of particular interest include women in secure care, domestic violence, sexual offending, service evaluation, personality disorder, attachment, law and ethics.
Assessment for the Diploma is made up of two course work assignments for the core modules on topics related to participants’ interests, two examination papers covering the option modules and a portfolio bringing together critical evaluation of papers read during the course, contributions to seminars and reflection on the learning achieved. For the MSc element students will prepare a research protocol in the first term for presentation to a group of staff involved in postgraduate courses. Feedback from this session will be made available before students submit the finished protocol in January. Students will then work on the research project collecting and analysing the data over the next eight months and writing up the project as a 10-12,000 word dissertation in the final three months.
Modules
In the first year students take two core modules:
Violence and Dangerousness (30 credits)
This will familiarise students with the different disciplines’ understanding of violence and dangerousness as well as clinical and non-clinical methods of assessment. The focus is on the individual and, in particular, the uses and abuses of medical models of behaviour. Topics include domestic violence, rape, torture, arson, sexual offending, criminology and organised violence.
Current Issues in Forensic Mental Health (30 credits)
This module aims to encourage students to integrate material considered in other forensic mental health modules, to critique evidence relating to current issues and to reflect on their learning in the form of a portfolio. Students will select one topic for in-depth study in the assignment.
Students will then choose four of the following as option modules:
Social Policy and the Mentally Disordered Offender (15 credits)
This module will address responses to mentally disordered offenders in a wider social policy context. There will be particular emphasis on the development of current services and their organisation and especially on effective inter-agency and multi-disciplinary working. Topics include the interface between health, criminal justice and social care systems, risk assessment, race, gender, societal attitudes, lessons from public enquiries and the role of special hospitals.
Forensic Psychotherapy (15 credits)
This module examines the contribution of psychodynamic psychotherapy to the understanding and management of mentally disordered offenders across a variety of forensic settings. Emphasis is placed on understanding the relationships between the individual, the offence and the criminal justice system. Students will consider organisational dynamics, the effect of these on the management of violent and aggressive people and the impact on staff of working with this population group.
Law and the Mentally Disordered Offender (15 credits)
This module introduces students to legal concepts of culpability and to practical risk assessment in a variety of contexts. Students will gain a working knowledge of mental health law as applied to mentally disordered offenders and will be encouraged to evaluate the impact of mental health legislation on this population. Topics will include court processes, homicide and legal defences, responsibility, child protection and mental health review tribunals.
Ethics and Forensic Mental Health (15 credits)
The focus in this module is on the ethical issues generated by different contexts of care and, in particular, rights and duties consequent on secure provision and the practicalities of ethically conflicting professional roles. Topics covered will include principles and theoretical approaches to ethics, confidentiality, seclusion, control, human rights, ethical decision making, professional duties and the ethics of research in a forensic context.
Disordered Personality and Anti-social Behaviour (15 credits)
The aim of this module is to provide students with a broad knowledge and detailed understanding of the clinical, legal and other concepts applied to personality disorder and its relationship to anti-social behaviour. The module will include history of the concept, aetiology, diagnostic categories, life course patterns, gender differences, responsibility, legal frameworks, care pathways, prisons, MAPPPs, DSPD services and challenges posed by this population group.
For the MSc component students will complete two modules:
Research Methods (15 credits)
This module will familiarise students with qualitative and quantitative approaches to research and will enable students to identify the strengths and weaknesses of different research designs and to select appropriate designs for research questions related to forensic contexts. Students will prepare a research protocol for their own project as the assessment for this module.
Research Project (45 credits)
Students will identify a topic for study and will design a project, collect and analyse data with the help of a supervisor. The project will be written up as a dissertation of 10-12,000 words.
Student profiles
Students come from a wide range of health professions (psychiatry, clinical psychology, nursing, occupational therapy) working in acute and community care and special hospitals, from government departments and agencies (Home Office, Ministry of Justice, National Offender Management Service, Prison Service), law (solicitors, legal advisers), social work, housing services and from the independent and voluntary sectors. There is evidence that students value this mixing of disciplines and perspectives highly.
Entry requirements
Applicants should have a minimum of three years’ post-qualifying experience in forensic mental health and either a first degree in a relevant subject or a professional qualification and demonstrated ability to work at postgraduate level. Non-graduates are encouraged to apply and will be asked to write a short piece of original work and attend an interview as part of the admissions process.
Fees
For the Postgraduate Diploma in 2009/10 these will be £2,400 for home and European Union students. Fees for those taking the MSc component in 2009/10 will be £2,500 for home and European Union students and these are expected to rise by 2-3% in 2010/11. The course is not suitable for overseas students as it runs part-time only and students require a work base in UK to which to relate the assignments.
Admissions process
Places will be limited to 25 on the Diploma. Applications will be considered throughout the year and places offered in the summer. Interviews for non-graduates will also be held over the summer. Application forms can be downloaded here Forensic Mental Health Application Form