Learning Objectives

<aside> 🏁 Note. These learning objectives are designed to fulfill the American Psychological Association’s Guidelines for the Undergraduate Psychology Major and to give you skills you can actually use outside of this class.

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A student who successfully completes the course should be able to:

1. critically evaluate legal assumptions about human behavior, understand the causes of wrongful conviction, evaluate the effectiveness of existing legal safeguards, and identify potential reforms within the legal system
2. evaluate research problems in the domain of legal psychology and the methods used to answer these problems
3. apply psychological science to the study of legal issues through the use of the scientific method and statistical analyses
4. write a clear and compelling scientific manuscript about an original research project
5. work and communicate effectively in both in small group research projects and independently by preparing scientific manuscripts based on your findings.

<aside> 👋🏽 Difference, Power, & Equity. We will explore the differing dynamics of power between legal actors and consider the psychological and structural factors that contribute to vulnerability, coercion, and inequality in the justice system. Through discussions of race, age, body, gender, disability, and stigmatized identities, this course will encourage students to challenge assumptions of objectivity and fairness in our legal system.

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