CCHS

Year 13 Psychology students were met by POLICE - DO NOT CROSS tape for an afternoon of crime solving in a re-construction of a crime scene in G23.  Mrs Phillips guided each class, step by step, to explore what it could be like as a forensic investigator, to put learning into practice, as part of the A Level Psychology specification.

Forensic psychology is about the psychology of crime.  This A Level psychology topic looks at explanations of why people commit crimes, ways of using psychology to catch criminals, and the psychology of punishing crime and preventing criminals from re-offending: 

• Offender profiling 

• Biological explanations of criminal behaviour (including genes, and neural factors) 

• Psychological explanations of criminal behaviour 

• Dealing with criminal behaviour (including custodial sentencing, behaviour modification, anger management, and restorative justice) 

Here are some quotes from the Year 13s explaining their experience of the role play during their practical lesson activity, as the crime unfolded: 

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“Together we led an investigation into the murder of Deid Mann.  Confronted with the crime scene, we collected forensic evidence such as DNA samples and matched fingerprints to our suspects.  After interviewing a range of suspects and collecting qualitative data, we were successfully led to the motive of the crime, and correctly identified the murderer.”         

Lilly Pedder (Lead Inspector) 

“It was a great experience in learning how forensic psychologists would handle evidence and analyse them!  Having the chance to interview witnesses meant that we could practice techniques (like recreating the scene by asking them to describe what the party was like) and by working as a group, we could split up into gathering information from the scene and from the testimonies.  It taught me that (if there is a next time) using the ‘top-down’ approach might be better in creating a profile for the killer, such as who was most likely to create a disorganised crime scene.”                                                                    Ayur Kelzang (Lead Inspector) 

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“As the forensic pathologist, I was responsible for collecting the evidence gathered from the police detectives and analysing it to see if we could gather clues from the crime scene. It was interesting to see all the ways evidence could be collected and processed, from fingerprint analysis to the autopsy report, as more aspects of the crime began to unravel.”                

Irede Okubadejoi (Forensic Pathologist) 

“My crime was displayed to the class and they had to use forensic psychology knowledge to interview me and use the clues to trace the crime back to me. They had to avoid my genius red herrings and analyse evidence efficiently to solve the case.”               

Maddie Strevens (The Murderer) ​​​​