Mentally Disordered Offenders and Crime
Code: 100447Credits: 6
| Degree programme | Type | Course |
|---|---|---|
| Criminology | OP | 4 |
Contact lecturer
- Name :
- Francisco Collazos Sanchez
- Email :
- francisco.collazos@uab.cat
Teaching staff
- Amanda Rodriguez Urrutia
- Lara Grau Lopez
- Maria Pilar Lusilla Palacios
- José Antonio Navarro Sanchis
- José Antonio Ramos Quiroga
- Gemma Parramon Puig
- Laura Gisbert Gustemps
- Marc Ferrer Vinardell
- José Salavert Jimenez
Group languages
You can consult this information at the end of the document.
Prerequisites
Lessons are taught in Spanish
Objectives
This subject belongs to fourth year curriculum of the Criminology Degree program, in the specialization of sentencing enforcement. It aims to give students an overview of major mental disorders, as well as their relation to the comission of crimes. Additionally, aspects related to the management and protocols of such offenders are considered from the perspective of forensic psychiatry.
At the end of this course students will:
• Know and be able to differentiate the most important psychiatric disorders and their relation to criminal matters
• Demonstrate a basic theoretical basis of forensic psychiatry
• Have the ability to act competently in the field of psychiatry
• Correctly interpret different types of clinical and forensic psychiatric documents
Learning outcomes
- Working autonomously.
- Working in teams and networking.
- Ability to analyse and summarise.
- Drawing up an academic text.
- Using research methods in those psychological fields related with criminology.
- Laying the foundations for the psychological foundations of criminology.
- Applying the vocabulary of legal psychology.
Contents
Introduction
This course comprises 6 credits of the ECTS model. Each of these credits includes 39 hours of teaching, which makes a total of 150 hours, distributed as follows:
− 13 classroom sessions, 3 hours each: 39 hours (19,5 theory and 19,5 seminars)
− Hours of external student work: 106 hours
- Tutorships: 5 hour
In-Class sessions: 13
The sessions will be held during the first quarter of the 2026-27 course (beginning on September 8, 2026 and ending on December 1st, 2026). They will be held on Tuesdays, from 12:00pm to 3:15pm (12.00-15.15) and will include a half hour break. Within the concentration, this class is the first part of theoretical exposition and the second part of the practical seminar.
Program
1. September 8, 2026
Forensic Psychiatry I: Introduction, general concepts.
Dr. Francisco Collazos
2. September 15, 2026
Forensic Psychiatry II: The psychological expertise
Dr. Francisco Collazos
3. September 22, 2026
History of Psychiatry
General Psychopathology and Psychopathological Exploration
Dr. Amanda Rodríguez
4. September 29, 2026
Psychopathology and Delictogenesis in Minors.
Dr. Josep Salavert
In the second module of classes those psychiatric disorders with a greater legal repercussion are addressed. A clinical approach is carried out in the first part of these face-to-face classes and then, taking advantage of the seminars, a psychiatric-legal one for each of them.
5. October 6, 2026
Organic mental disorders and dementias. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in the Adult.
Dr. Josep Antoni Ramos-Quiroga
6. October 13, 2026
Substance-related disorders
Dra. Lara Grau
7. October 20, 2026
Psychotic disorders.
Dr. Gemma Parramón
8. October 27, 2026
Autism Spectrum Disorders. Fetal alcoholic syndrome.
Dr. Laura Gisbert
9. November 3, 2026
Personality disorders.
Dr. Marc Ferrer
10. November 10, 2026
Affective Disorders and Anxiety Disorders. Suicidal behavior.
Dr. Pilar Lusilla
11. November 17, 2026
Paraphilias.
Dr. JoséAntonio Navarro
12. November 24, 2026
The simulation
Dr. Francisco Collazos
13. December 1, 2026
Presentation Groupal Works
Learning activities and methodology
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elaboration of a paper about some of the subjects of the subject and an oral presentation in the seminars: | 25 | 1 | 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
| Preparation for the classroom sessions (5 hours of study for each of the 13 face-to-face sessions) | 65 | 2.6 | 1, 5, 6, 7 |
| Lectures | 19.5 | 0.78 | 5, 6, 7 |
| Preparation of a psychopathological expertise | 16 | 0.64 | 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
| Seminars | 19.5 | 0.78 | 2, 3, 6 |
| Assessment | 5 | 0.2 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
Methodology of the course
Throughout the course the theoretical part will be developed in the first part of each of the classroom classes. These classes are distributed in three modules. The first establishes the theoretical bases on which the subject is based. The bulk of the subject is developed in the second module, which alternates the eminently clinical classes, where the main psychiatric disorders with legal and forensic implications are presented, with those sessions in which the relationship between these disorders and the commission of crimes.
The seminars are reserved to clarify, from a more practical perspective those aspects that allow a better understanding of the subject. In these seminars we will try to illustrate, with practical examples, the theoretical content of the classroom classes. The seminars will be held in the second part of the classroom classes. In addition, in these teaching spaces, students should make presentations with a practical focus on the topics that have been developed in the theoretical part and that should have expanded with work outside the classroom.
External activities of the student
To reach the competences of the subject, students must complete 106 hours of external work:
- Preparation of the classroom classes (5 hours of study for each of the 12 classroom classes): 65 hours.
- Elaboration of a writing work based on any of the topics of the subject and its oral presentation in the seminars: 25 hours.
-Elaboration of a writing forensic rapport: 16 hours
Assessment
Continuous assessment activities
| Title | Weight | Hours | ECTS | Learning outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attendance and participation | 20 | 0 | 0 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
| Exam | 50 | 0 | 0 | 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 |
| Group presentation (20%) and psychopathological expertise (10%) | 30 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
System of evaluation
Students may opt for a single assessment or a continuous assessment.
Continuous assessment system
- Attendance is mandatory for the classroom sessions. To pass the subject to it is necessary to attend a minimum of 80% of the classroom sessions. Classes start on time and entry is not allowed once they have started, except reasonable justification.
- Presentation of works, or practical cases, in the different seminars. The content of these papers will be on some of the topics covered throughout the course and will be supervised by the responsible teacher.
- Exam.
Items of assessment
a) Classroom attendance (25% of the total grade)
b) Execution of works (25% of the total of the qualification)
c) Examination (50% of the total of the qualification)
Resit
Students will have the opportunity to repeat exercises or exams in case of a fail mark.
Fraudulent conduct
Cheating in the exam will conduct to a fail mark (0), losing the right of reassessment. Plagiarism in essays will conduct to a fail mark (0). Most serious cases will conduct to a fail mark (0), losing the right of reassessment.
Grade dissertation
Professors of the subject will offer the possibility of performing two dissertations. One of them will be a research project and the other a work of practical intervention.
Not assesable students
Students will be assessable as long as they have completed a set of activities whose weight is equivalent to a minimum of 2/3 of the subject's total grade. If the value of the activities carried out does not reach this threshold, the subject teacher may consider the student as not assessable.
Single assessment system
Regarding the single assessment system, it is mandatory to take the 50-question multiple choice exam at the end of the course. The qualification of this exam will mean 50% of the final mark .Students who opt for this single assessment system will also have to defend a psychopathological expert opinion (25% of the grade) and carry out an individualized interviewwith the coordinator of the subject in which the degree of acquisition of skillswill be assessed (25%).
In order to prepare the different single assessment tests, students must consult the PDF material corresponding to the classes and which will be available on the Virtual Campus.In addition, the bibliography that appears at the end of this teaching guide is advisable reading.
In case of failing students will have the right to resit.
Restricted use of artificial intelligence
For this subject, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies is allowed only for support tasks, such as bibliographic or information searches, text correction, or translations used in group work and in writing psychopathological reports. The student must clearly identify which parts were generated with this technology, specify the tools used, and include a critical reflection on how these influenced the process and the final outcome of the activity. Lack of transparency in the use of AI for this assessed activity will be considered a breach of academic honesty and may result in a partial or total penalty on the activity's grade, or more severe sanctions in serious cases.
Bibliography
Mandatory readings
Each theory class will be accompanied by a Power Point presentation the contents of which can be considered to the reference text and provide the basis for the knowledge necessary and sufficient to pass the exam. Its reading is, therefore, obligatory.
Reccomended biblliography
Attached is a list of recommended readings. It is strongly advised to read them to complement the theoretical content of the classroom sessions. All texts cited are available to students in the Psychiatry
Abernhe T. (1997). Criminologie et psychiatrie. Ed. Ellipses.
American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Manual diagnóstico y estadístico de los trastornos mentales DSM-IV-TR (4th ed., text rev.). Masson.
American Psychiatric Association (2002). Manual diagnóstico y estadístico de los trastornos mentales Texto revisado. Masson.
Appelbaum, P., & Gutheil, T. G. (1991). Clinical handbook of psychiatry and the law (2nd ed.). Williams & Wilkins.
Blugrass, R., & Bowden, P. (Eds.). (1990). Principles and practice of forensic psychiatry. Churchill Livingstone.
Carrasco, J. J., & Martín, J. M. (2010). Tratado de Psiquiatría Legal y Forense (4th ed.) Wolters Kluwer
Fuertes Rocañín J. C., Cabrera Forneiro J., & de la Gándara Martín J. J. (2004). La Salud mental en los tribunales. Arán.
Gelder, M. G., López-Ibor, J. J., & Andreasen, Nancy. (2003). Tratado de psiquiatría. Oxford University Press.
Gunn J & Taylor Pamela. (1993). Forensic psychiatry: clinical, legal and ethical issues. Butterworth/Heinemann.
Kaplan, H., & Sadock, B. (Eds.). (2000). The comprehensive textbook of psychiatry (7th ed.). Williams & Wilkins.
Simon, R. L. (1992). Clinical psychiatry and the law (2nd ed.). American Psychiatry Press.
Vallejo, J. (Ed.). (2002). Introducción a la psicopatología y a la psiquiatría (5th ed.), (pp.651-679). Masson.
Vallejo, J., & Leal, Carmen (Eds.). (2010). Tratado de psiquiatría. Ars Medica
Volavka, J. (1995). Neurobiology of Violence. American Psychiatric Press.
Software
The course does not use any specific computer program
Course groups and languages
The information provided is provisional until November 30. After this date, you will be able to consult the language of each group through this link. To access the information, you will need to enter the course CODE
| Type of teaching | Group | Language | Semester | Shift |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (TE) Theory | 1 | Catalan/Spanish | first semester | morning-mixed |
| (SEM30) Seminaris (30 estudiants per grup) | 11 | Catalan/Spanish | first semester | morning-mixed |