Coventry University celebrate ten years of forensic psychology

Coventry University recently celebrated ten years of forensic psychology research and learning at a unique one day conference, Forensic 10.

Taking place on campus last week, the Department of Psychology and Behavioural Sciences organised a free-to-attend conference to commemorate a decade of highly successful forensic psychology teaching and research.

Run in conjunction with the alumni relations team, over 60 people attended the event from around the UK – including graduates from the past two decades.

The conference featured a keynote speech by eminent psychologists, Professor Graham Davies and Professor Anthony Beech, who discussed the increasing, and sometimes controversial, role of information technology in all areas of forensic activity. Other topics considered included: intimate partner violence, sexual offending, victims of crime, interventions in the Criminal Justice System and latest developments in the rehabilitation of offenders.

The celebrations on the day centred around Coventry University’s two notable courses (Forensic Psychology MSc and Forensic Psychology and Crime MSc) and highlighted how the Coventry University psychology research profile has grown considerably over the past few years , in particular with the launch of the Centre for Applied Research in Psychology in October 2011.

Both courses are accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS) and the Forensic Psychology and Crime course feature a blended learning format, primarily using online learning, which remains the only blended (distance) learning BPS accredited forensic masters course in the UK. There have been over 300 successful graduates since the subjects launched in 2002 and 2006 respectively.

Dr Sarah Brown, Reader in Forensic Psychology at Coventry University, said:

This conference was a fantastic opportunity to celebrate ten years of significant achievement and results in both postgraduate learning and applied research. It also provided an important opportunity to share the results of the team’s applied forensic research investigating sexual violence, interpersonal violence, victims of crime and evaluating criminal justice evaluations to practitioners and academics throughout the UK.