Online Criminal Studies Certificate
The criminal studies course is suitable for anyone interested in working in criminal studies or criminal justice. For example -
- police officers
- youth workers
- social workers
- counsellors
- foster carers
- law enforcement
- security officers
- writers
- journalists
The course will expand your knowledge of
- crime in general
- why people behave the way that they do
- investigating crime
- profiling offenders
- profiling victims
- understanding legal terminology
- the ethics involved in the legal justice system
- And much more
This advanced certificate consists of nine x 100 hour modules. There are seven core modules, then you choose modules to suit you and your interests.
Modules
Note that each module in the Advanced Certificate in Criminal Studies is a short course in its own right, and may be studied separately.
Sample Notes from our Criminal Profiling Course
Criminal profiling has been described in various ways by various writers and investigators. Essentially it involves assessing and interpreting behaviours or actions at a crime scene and using that information to attempt to predict the likely characteristics of the offender or offenders.
Basically, we look at what the person has done at the crime scene/scenes and use that to develop a profile of who they are and the type of crimes they may commit in the future. John MacDonald of the University of Colorado stated that children who were cruel to animals, bedwetting and fire-starting were demonstrating a triad of behaviours, known as the MacDonald triad, or the Homicidal Triad. These behaviours were thought to indicate that a child would be cruel to humans later in their life, likely a serial killer or violent murderer.
Information like this is useful in profiling. For example, if an investigator found that a child was harming animals, and the other factors were also in place, it could indicate a more serious problem in the future. So, a simplistic example, finding a harmed animal at a crime scene could be an indicator or something far worse in the future.
Those characteristics from crime scenes are what is used to create a criminal profile.
Types of Crime
Criminologists argue that there are five main types of crime –
- Violent crime, such as murder, rape and assault
- Property crime, such as arson or vandalism
- White collar crime, such as fraud
- Organised crime, such as drug selling
- Consensual and victimless crimes
ENROL or Use our FREE Course Advice Service to Connect with a Tutor