Master's level
A bachelor’s degree with a major in social- or behaviour sciences or medicine and English 6.
No main field of study
A1N / Second cycle, has only first-cycle course/s as entry requirements
The course is given in the third term of the Master’s Program in Criminology and is a course within the main field of study that may be counted toward the Master’s Degree in Criminology. The course is also offered as an independent course.
The aim of the course is for the student to acquire knowledge about commonly occurring health problems and about the social factors which lead to and result from criminality.
Contemporary, national as well as international, research and reports on ill-health related to the field of criminology are addressed. Definitions of relevant concepts and their relation to each other are also addressed. Emphasis is placed on how marginalization, vulnerability and mental ill-health are dynamically related to each other from a public health perspective. Consequences of criminality, both for the individual and the society as well as the interaction between mental ill-health and criminality are discussed. Further, the issue of promoting public awareness of the relationship between criminality and ill-health through communication of research results is discussed.
Upon completion of the course, the student should be able to
- analyze the interaction between criminality and the physical-, mental- and social dimensions of ill-health,
- compare national and international research literature within the field of criminology and ill-health,
- identify and discuss relevant research that adds to a wider understanding of ill-health and antisocial behavior in terms of equality, equity and diversity, and
- discuss individual and societal precursors as well as the consequences of mental ill-health and criminality.
The educational approach is based on active forms of learning. The teaching takes the form of combined lectures and seminars, group assignments, independent studies, and of student- led literature seminars (i.e. journal clubs). To achieve learning outcomes 1-4, the student shall prepare to and take part in seminar discussions, prepare and lead a seminar in a group assignment and individually write a public outreach paper. Thus, active participation in seminars is compulsory.
Learning outcomes 1-2 are assessed individually and orally through the compulsory student-led seminars whereas Learning outcome 3 is assessed individually and orally by active participation in group discussions and Learning outcome 4 is assessed individually in a brief written scientific outreach paper. The focus of assessment in the scientific public outreach paper is the student´s ability to communicate and deliver research results regarding criminality and ill-health to the wider public or practitioners effectively. Focus of assessment in the seminars and group discussions is the student´s ability to identify and contrast interactions between and overlap of criminality, antisocial behavior, and ill-health within international and national contexts as well as the ability to discuss the results from an equality perspective. In case of absence from any of the compulsory seminars the student can compensate by writing an assignment based on the literature included in the seminar assignments.
To receive a Passing Grade (C, D or E) it is required that the student have participated in preparing and leading a seminar, actively participated in group discussions at the seminars and have passed on the written assignment. Achievement of the Grade of Distinction (A or B) requires that the examined assignments are characterized by originality and meta-theoretical understanding.
Right to re-take
Students who fail the exam are given the opportunity to do two re-takes with the same course content and with the same requirements. The student also has the right to take the examination in the same course in the subsequent course according to the same rule. Examination and re-takes are carried out at the times specified in the course schedule.
Cohen M A, Piquero A R, (2009) New Evidence on the Monetary Value of Saving a High Risk Youth, Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 25:25-49. 24 s.
Contrada R J, Cather C O’Leary A, (2001) Personality and Health: Dispositions and Processes in Disease Susceptibility and Adaptation to Illness. In. Handbook of personality: theory and research. New York: The Guildford Press, 30 s.
Crocker AG, Martin MS, Leclair MC, Nicholls TL, Seto M C, (2018) Expanding the early and late starter model of criminal justice involvement for forensic mental health clients. Law and Human Behavior, 42(1), 83-93.
Dean K, Laursen TM, Pedersen CB, Webb RT, Mortensen PB, Agerbo E, (2018) Risk of being subjected to crime, including violent crime, after onset of mental illness: A danish national registry study using police data. JAMA Psychiatry, 75(7), 689-696. 7 s.
Dernevik M, (2004) Structured clinical assessment and management of risk of violent recidivism in mentally disordered offenders. Dissertation. Solna: Karolinska Institutet. 79 s.
Fazel S, Sjöstedt G, Grann M, Långström M, (2008) Sexual Offending in Women and Psychiatric Disorder: A National Case-Control Study. Archives of Sexual Behavior. 39 (1): 161-167. 6 s.
Fazel S, Doll H, Långström N, (2008/9) Mental disorders among adolescents in juvenile detention and correctional facilities: A systematic review and metaregression analysis of 25 surveys. The Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 2008: 47(9):1010-9. 2009 author reply: 48(3):340; 340-1. 20 s.
Forsell Y, Dalman C, (2004) Psykisk ohälsa hos unga. Epidemiologiska enheten: Centrum för folkhälsa, Rapport 2004:6. Stockholms läns landsting: Norrbacka, Stockholm. 31 p.
Hubicka B, (2009) Characteristics of drunk drivers in Sweden - alcohol problems, detection, crime records, psychosocial characteristics, personality traits and mental health. Doctoral dissertation, Stockholm: Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska institutet, 2009, 54 s.
Johnson EI, Easterling BA, (2015) Coping With Confinement: Adolescents’ Experiences With Parental Incarceration. Journal of Adolescent Research, 30(2), 244-267. 24 s.
Nilsson I, Wadeskog A, (2008) Focus on the individual "An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure". Skandia Insurance Company Ltd. 30 s.
Pajer K, Stouthamber-Loeber M, Gardner W, Loeber R, (2006) Women with antisocial behaviour: long-term health disability and help-seeking for emotional problems, Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health, 16:29-42. 13 s.
Piquero A R, Daigle L E, Gibson C, Piquero N L, Tibbetts S G, (2007) Are Life-Course-Persistent Offenders at Risk for Adverse Health Outcomes? Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 44(2): 185-207. 22 s.
Stafford M, Chandola T, Marmot M, (2007) Association Between Fear of Crime and Mental Health and Physical Functioning, American Journal of Public Health, 97(11): 2076-2081. 5 s.
Steptoe A, O’Donnell K, Marmot M, Wardle J, (2008) Positive affect and psychosocial processes related to health, British Journal of Psychology, 99, 211-227. 16 s.
Väfors Fritz M, Khoshnood A, (Eds.) (2019) Crime, Victimization and Vulnerability in Malmö. Lund: Studentlitteratur.171 s.
Weisburd D, Cave B, Nelson M, White C, Haviland A, Ready J, Sikkema K, (2018) Mean streets and mental health: Depression and post-traumatic stress disorder at crime hot spots. American Journal of Community Psychology, 61(3-4), 285-295.10 s.
Welsh B C, Loeber R, Stevens B R, Stouthamer-Loeber M, Cohen M A, Farrington D P, (2008) Costs of Juvenile Crime in Urban Areas: A Longitudinal Perspective, Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 6(1): 3-27. 24 s.
Wylie LE, Rufino KA, (2018) The impact of victimization and mental health symptoms on recidivism for early system-involved juvenile offenders. Law and Human Behavior, 42(6), 558-569. 11 s.
Vetenskapliga artiklar tillkommer, ca 200 s.
Malmö University provides students who participate in, or who have completed a course, with the opportunity to express their opinions and describe their experiences of the course by completing a course evaluation administered by the University. The University will compile and summarise the results of course evaluations. The University will also inform participants of the results and any decisions relating to measures taken in response to the course evaluations. The results will be made available to the students (HF 1:14).
If a course is no longer offered, or has undergone significant changes, the students must be offered two opportunities for re-examination based on the syllabus that ap-plied at the time of registration, for a period of one year after the changes have been implemented.
If a student has a Learning support decision, the examiner has the right to provide the student with an adapted test, or to allow the student to take the exam in a different format. The syllabus is a translation of a Swedish source text.