Explaining the Criminal Mind in 60 Minutes: Introduction to the Psychology of Crime

The learning objectives of this course are:

- Speak about the psychology of crime like an expert even if you’ve never followed a criminology course in college.

- Transform the way in which you understand why people commit crime.

- Educate the people around you about the psychological backgrounds of criminal behavior.

- Apply your newly gained knowledge by critically assessing daily news items about real crimes.

- Improve your performance in psychology and criminology classes.

Course Description

Have you ever wondered what some of the psychological causes of crime are? Do you want to understand better why some people commit crime whereas others don’t?

This free course serves as a brief introduction to the psychology of crime. More specifically, we’ll look into the question of which psychological factors can explain why some people commit crime. We’ll look at several main areas:

• Personality – How does personality play a role in criminal behavior?
• Mental Disorders – How can mental disorders contribute to crime?
• Psychopathy – What is psychopathy and how is it related to crime?
• Developmental Psychology – How do aggression and youth violence develop across the life course?
• Thoughts and Feelings about Aggression and Crime – What is the role of thinking and moral emotions in aggression and crime?

Each of these aspects will be covered using comprehensive videos and slide presentations. To make things as engaging as possible, I will also provide examples of major studies, experiments, and a case study. In addition, you can test your newly gained knowledge with quiz questions at the end of each module.

This course is taught by a trained criminologist with over a decade of experience and is based on a university curriculum. But instead of having to show up in a lecture room, reading a full textbook, and paying college tuition, you can enroll in this course in your own time and at your own convenience.

I’m looking forward to seeing you inside!

***About half of this free course is part of my full introduction to explaining crime on Skillshare; the other half is unique content especially added for this course. If you’re looking to get your feet wet and get a quick intro to the psychology of crime, this is a great place to start.***

• Promo free course
• 1.1 Introduction
• 1.2 About Me
• 1.3 Course Program
• 2.1 Personality, Plus EXERCISE
• 2.2 VIDEO: Example: "Types of People" and Crime
• 2.3 Summing Up
• 3..1 Mental Disorders and Crime
• 3.2 VIDEO: Case Study of Psychopathy and Aileen Wuornos
• 3.3 Summing Up
• 4.1 Aggression across the Life-Course
• 4.2 VIDEO: Life-Course Persistent vs. Adolescence-Limited Offenders
• 4.3 Summing Up
• 5.1 Social Cognitions: Imitating Others
• 5.2 VIDEO: Example: The Bobo Doll Experiment
• 5.3 Social Cognitions: Processing Information
• 5.4 VIDEO: Understanding Right and Wrong: Moral Development
• 5.5 Example: Morality, Feelings, and Delinquency
• 5.6 Summing Up
• 6 Conclusion