Legal Psychology

2025/2026

Учебный год

ENG

Обучение ведется на английском языке

5

Кредиты

Кто читает:

Кафедра уголовного права и процесса

Статус:

Курс по выбору

Когда читается:

5-й курс, 1, 2 модуль

Преподаватель

Тарасова Юлия Николаевна

Course Syllabus

Abstract

Legal psychology is a scientific and applied discipline of the humanitarian profile, based on the fundamental provisions of general, social, developmental psychology, conflictology and labor psychology. Proper theoretical training and practical skills in the field of legal psychology allow specialists to carry out competent planning and implementation of events for psychological selection and support of employees of legal specialties, taking into account the specifics of their activities (judges, lawyers, law enforcement officers, etc.). An integrated and comprehensive approach to the study of psychological phenomena in the legal sphere allows for flexibility and variability in the use of psychological forms and methods of work. Professional competencies of lawyers studying legal psychology allow them to consciously apply such ethical and general humanistic values ​​​​as respect for the individual, protection of human rights, confidentiality, empathy, a sense of individual responsibility, correctness in the application of methods for studying the individual and influencing the individual. The object of legal psychology is lawyers who carry out professional law-making, law enforcement, law enforcement, expert and consulting activities; citizens who are participants in legal proceedings, judicial investigation, and the penitentiary system. The methodological feature of legal psychology is the transfer of the center of gravity in cognition to the individual as the subject of activity. If the law primarily identifies an offender in a person, then legal psychology studies a person in an offender, a witness, a victim, etc. The subject of legal psychology is mental phenomena, states, personality traits, psychological patterns, methods, means, principles, psychotechnologies of studying personality and influencing personality, including the principles and methods of forensic psychological examination. Knowledge, skills and abilities in the field of legal psychology allow to carry out the following areas of activity: a) research; b) diagnostic; c) prognostic; d) informational; d) preventive; e) expert; g) consulting; h) corrective. Legal psychology allows lawyers to study the features of their own personality in order to subsequently effectively use this knowledge in building a professional career, setting professional and personal goals, preventing professional deformation. The study of this discipline is of particular importance in the training of personnel for the judicial system and law enforcement agencies. It is in the work of a judge, investigator, prosecutor that knowledge of the human psyche, the specifics of mental processes and the principles of behavior is necessary for making informed, timely and lawful decisions.

Learning Objectives

• Develop students' significant personal and professional qualities, such as: developed legal awareness and legal thinking, volitional control of behavior, motivation to achieve goals, social orientation of activity, individual responsibility, moral maturity.
• Form professional competencies that contribute to a systematic, holistic understanding of the main categories, essential characteristics and basic concepts of legal psychology, various methodological approaches and methods used in legal psychology;
• Realize the needs of the legal labor market for qualified professionals in the field of psychology of professional activity of lawyers, psychology of criminal behavior, psychology of legal awareness and law-abiding behavior, professional communication in the human-law system;
• Study the basics of forensic psychological examination necessary for effective law enforcement activities.

Expected Learning Outcomes

• Understands and is able to explain the essence of legal psychology, the relationship between legal psychology, general psychology and law; knows the structure and content of legal psychology.
• Understands and is able to explain the essence of mental phenomena from a scientific point of view, is able to identify individual significant aspects in solving practical problems.
• Determines the mental states and individual psychological characteristics of a person and takes them into account when solving professional legal problems.
• Student is able to take into account the psychological prerequisites (conditions) for the effectiveness of legal norms and knowledge about personality psychology and implement this knowledge in legal practice.
• The student applies a practical set of psychological knowledge, skills and techniques, and uses psychological methods of studying personality and socio-psychological phenomena in practical activities.
• Understands the characteristics of the criminal's personality, competently analyzes the motivation of criminal behavior, the specifics of the motivation of certain types of criminal behavior; understands the socio-psychological foundations of crime prevention, has studied the psychological patterns of the impact of law and law enforcement activities on individuals, groups and collectives.
• Student understands the specifics of forensic psychological examination, the grounds and procedure for its appointment, is able to competently use the possibilities of forensic psychological examination.
• Student understands the psychological specifics of the professional activity of a lawyer of various profiles, demonstrates practical skills and abilities to use psychological aspects in motivation and organization of their own activities.
• Demonstrates the skills of scientific analysis of social relations developing in the psychological sphere regulated by law and ensuring law enforcement activities on this basis.
• Understands the specifics of various types of conflicts, knows the basic principles of conflict management, taking into account the personality and mental state of the participants in communication, is able to clearly formulate the goals of communication.

Course Contents

• Topic No. 1. The subject, tasks, and system of legal psychology content: stages of emergence and development, main directions, and current state
• Topic 2. The psyche as a subject of scientific and practical study: philosophical, medical, psychological aspects:
• Topic 3. Components of the psyche in the context of the legal approach: Emotions and feelings The cognitive sphere Behaviour
• Topic 4. Personality as a central element of psychological knowledge: bio-psycho-social factors in the formation and functioning of personality
• Topic 5. Research methods in psychology: socio-psychological methods; experimental methods; empirical methods
• Topic 6. Psychology of criminal behavior Deviations Personality disorders Dependent behavior
• Topic No. 7. Forensic psychological examination and complex psychological and psychiatric examination: goals, objectives, methods
• Topic No. 8. General socio-psychological characteristics of a lawyer's professional activity:
• Topic No. 9. Psychological features of legal proceedings
• Topic No. 10 Conflict management in legal practice:

Assessment Elements

• Seminar Activity
  Seminars (practical exercises) are a detailed description of the theoretical lecture material, are conducted in order to consolidate the course and cover all the main sections. The main form of seminars and practical exercises is the discussion of the most problematic and complex issues on individual topics, as well as solving problems and analyzing examples and situations in the classroom. Each seminar session has assignments given by the discipline's teacher on the topic outlined in the program. At the seminar, the teacher interviews students about their readiness to complete assignments and solve problems and provides an opportunity for students to speak out by prior arrangement, agreed upon in the previous lesson, taking into account the wishes of the students. The rest of the students present at the seminar have the right to supplement, to offer their own reasoned opinion, a solution. The teacher leading the seminar, evaluating the students' answers, informs the students of the correct decision. In the case of a discussion, the teacher or a teaching assistant (from among the students) formulates the topic, designates the time limit for statements, and indicates the validity and originality of judgments when making an assessment. The topic for discussion may be directly or indirectly related to the topic of the seminar, but it should always be related to the name of the discipline, its main theoretical provisions and practical goals. When participating in the seminar, students must demonstrate knowledge of current legislation, skills in applying it to a specific situation and task, knowledge of special terminology, and the ability to express their thoughts clearly, consistently, and logically consistently. At the end of the seminar, the teacher gives grades that characterize the degree of activity of each student's work, the correctness of solving problems, and participation in the discussion. Grades are entered in the teacher's work sheet.
• Control work
  The control work is a test of the assimilation of theoretical material and ways of its application in practice; skills of independent professional activity. The purpose of writing a test paper is to test students' skills in logical and reasoned problem solving according to the discipline program. The examination of the control work is carried out by the teacher leading the seminar classes. Conducting a test involves each student writing a solution to one problem on one or more topics. The subject of the assignment is determined by the teacher based on the content of the discipline and the studied material and is previously communicated to students no later than 5 working days before the test. Students are also provided with a list of regulations and other materials that the student can use in the process of completing the test. At the discretion of the teacher, the control work may be carried out without the right to use the texts of normative acts. When writing a test, it is not allowed to use educational or scientific literature, notes and other auxiliary means, including electronic ones. Each student must independently present a written solution to the problem within 45 minutes, explaining his answer. When evaluating the work, the main attention is paid to: firstly, the correct and complete solution of problems, secondly, the completeness and logical accuracy of argumentation, and thirdly, the presence/absence of factual errors. 1. The tasks of the current and final control can be carried out on the LMS platform, using the video conferencing platforms ZOOM, MSTeams, Webinar. During the completion of the current and final control tasks, the student must ensure that there is a stable Internet connection and a working (turned on) video camera. Failure to comply with the specified conditions is equivalent to failure to appear at the control element. 2. In the event that when checking students' written papers, including exam papers, it is revealed that the text of the answer is completely or partially identical between different students, and this coincidence is not caused by quoting the norms of the law or judicial practice of higher courts, all students who have a match are given a score of 0 for their work, without clarifying the reasons for this coincidences. 3. The duration of each control element set by this program includes the time of writing the control element and the time of its delivery when written in paper form, the time of its loading when executed in the SmartLMS system.
• The Exam
  The exam is conducted in writing on the topics included in this curriculum at the end of module 2 on the date set by the session schedule. The exam checks the knowledge gained by students during the study of the entire course in lectures, seminars and in the process of independent work. The first part of the exam includes answers to questions in the form of a test, in writing, in the Yandex form. All online answers are sent to the teacher for verification at the appointed time for the exam, indicating the student's full name, course, and group from his email address. These conditions allow students to avoid copying and correcting responses. To simplify the assessment, one answer is correct, there are 20 questions in total. The second part of the exam is conducted in the form of a written solution to the problem. The exam is conducted in face-to-face format, in written form. The task completion time is limited to 60 minutes. Correction of the assessment in any way is not allowed. In the process of completing exam assignments, it is not allowed to use educational and scientific literature, regulatory legal acts, lecture notes, or technical devices. No additional points are provided. 1. The tasks of the current and final control can be carried out on the LMS platform, using the video conferencing platforms ZOOM, MSTeams, Webinar. During the completion of the current and final control tasks, the student must ensure that there is a stable Internet connection and a working (turned on) video camera. Failure to comply with the specified conditions is equivalent to failure to appear at the control element. 2. In the event that when checking students' written papers, including exam papers, it is revealed that the text of the answer is completely or partially identical between different students, and this coincidence is not caused by quoting the norms of the law or judicial practice of higher courts, all students who have a match are given a score of 0 for their work, without clarifying the reasons for this coincidences. 3. The duration of each control element set by this program includes the time of writing the control element and the time of its delivery when written in paper form, the time of its loading when executed in the SmartLMS system.

Interim Assessment

• 2025/2026 2nd module
  The formula of the final resulting grade is the following The Final Resultive Grade = 0.2 * SAG + 0.3 * CWG + 0.5 * Exam work grade (EWG) Ores – the resulting score; Seminar Activity Grade – assessment for solving problems and participating in discussions at seminars (maximum 10 points); Control Work Grade – assessment for the control work in the form of a task (maximum 10 points); Exam work Grade- EWG is the score for the exam (maximum 10 points).

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

• Собольников, В. В.  Юридическая психология : учебник для вузов / В. В. Собольников. — 3-е изд., перераб. и доп. — Москва : Издательство Юрайт, 2025. — 379 с. — (Высшее образование). — ISBN 978-5-534-16784-9. — Текст : электронный // Образовательная платформа Юрайт [сайт]. — URL: https://urait.ru/bcode/564008 (дата обращения: 14.01.2026).
• Сорокотягин, И. Н.  Юридическая психология : учебник и практикум для вузов / И. Н. Сорокотягин, Д. А. Сорокотягина. — 4-е изд., перераб. и доп. — Москва : Издательство Юрайт, 2025. — 360 с. — (Высшее образование). — ISBN 978-5-534-05389-0. — Текст : электронный // Образовательная платформа Юрайт [сайт]. — URL: https://urait.ru/bcode/559775 (дата обращения: 14.01.2026).

Recommended Additional Bibliography

• Алмазов, Б. Н.  Личность в правовом поле / Б. Н. Алмазов, А. С. Васильева. — 2-е изд., испр. — Москва : Издательство Юрайт, 2025. — 149 с. — (Актуальные монографии). — ISBN 978-5-534-09999-7. — Текст : электронный // Образовательная платформа Юрайт [сайт]. — URL: https://urait.ru/bcode/565492 (дата обращения: 14.01.2026).
• Нестеренко Д.Е. - Психология суда. Чему не учат студентов - 978-5-392-38277-4 - Проспект - 2023 - http://ebs.prospekt.org/book/46975 - 46975 - PROSPECT
• Под науч. ред. Сухова А.Н. - Пенитенциарная психология. Учебник - 978-5-392-35490-0 - Проспект; Академия ФСИН России - 2021 - http://ebs.prospekt.org/book/45049 - 45049 - PROSPECT
• Романов, В. В.  Юридическая психология : учебник для вузов / В. В. Романов. — 3-е изд., перераб. и доп. — Москва : Издательство Юрайт, 2025. — 170 с. — (Высшее образование). — ISBN 978-5-9916-9806-1. — Текст : электронный // Образовательная платформа Юрайт [сайт]. — URL: https://urait.ru/bcode/559750 (дата обращения: 04.07.2025).
• Холина, О. А.  Основы психологической компетентности в профессиональной деятельности следователя : учебник для вузов / О. А. Холина, Е. В. Казанцева, В. И. Мищенко. — Москва : Издательство Юрайт, 2025. — 204 с. — (Высшее образование). — ISBN 978-5-534-14238-9. — Текст : электронный // Образовательная платформа Юрайт [сайт]. — URL: https://urait.ru/bcode/567754 (дата обращения: 14.01.2026).
• Чумиков А.Н. - Переговоры – фасилитация – медиация. Учебное пособие - 978-5-392-35692-8 - Проспект - 2021 - http://ebs.prospekt.org/book/45096 - 45096 - PROSPECT

Authors

• Юсифов Юсиф Махияддин Оглы
• Tarasova Iuliia Nikolaevna