Students will be required to come up with a research proposal for a forensic psychology topic of their choice. The research proposal should include a description of a forensic psychology study including a distinct psychological topic and a distinct legal topic. For this project, students should describe in detail, the research question, background research on this topic (at least three journal references), the hypothesis, an independent variable, a dependent variable, the target sample and population, data collection methods, data collection procedure, a description of the study design (experimental, correlational, quasi-experimental, survey, archival, content analysis, etc.), and the proposed statistical analysis (talk to Dr. Logan if you need help with this). Each project should include a title page with the authors’ (students) names and the title of the project. The document should be 2-3 pages in length (not including title page or reference page) and should be in APA format (12 pt. Times New Roman font, 1-inch margins, double-spaced, etc.). See CANVAS for a detailed project outline. All papers must have a similarity index less than or equal to 15% after excluding references and non-plagiarized material.
The legal system has been
undergoing various developments associated with psychology. One of these
developments that is becoming a prevalent trend in this sector is Mental Health
Courts. These courts are extensively being utilized as an alternative to traditional
courts. Therefore, analyzing the efficacy of these courts, especially in the
context of juvenile recidivism, will provide crucial insights for psychologists
and policymakers.