PSYCHOPATHOLOGY AND MENTAL FUNCTIONING: RESEARCH METHODS IN FORENSIC

Department

Department of Human Neuroscience, Sapienza University of Rome

Main research activities/topics/projects

The main objective of the present PhD is to train high level researchers in the field of psychopathology applied to forensic and criminological sciences and to allow them to expand the body of scientific literature on medical, psychological, and social sciences applied to forensic and legal contexts. The PhD’s program is designed to facilitate students’ acquisition of knowledge and competences required to successfully access the national and international research contexts. Furthermore, this PhD’s interdisciplinary approach ensures that each student can be supported and explore their specific research interests. The educational program is articulated in advanced institutional courses that deepen the study of research methodology in relation to: i) life-cycle psychology and psychopathology; ii) criminality and deviance; iii) neurobiology; iv) neuroscience and neuroimaging; v) memory and testimony; vi) decision-making processes and biases; vii) assessment and psychodiagnostics evaluation in forensic contexts. Regardless of the chosen curriculum, students will be trained on statistics and data analysis including both traditional methodologies and the most recent and updated systems of artificial intelligence (e.g., machine learning algorithms). In fact, this PhD course, in addition to the aforementioned advanced institutional classes, requires students to choose between three curricula to complement their education: Legal Psychology, Forensic Psychopathology, and Forensic Neurosciences, which are interconnected and represent a cornerstone of legal and forensic sciences. The articulation in curricula allows students to deepen field-specific topics through teachings held by national and international experts with a focus on the specific evidence-based methodologies of each field. In detail, the primary educational aim of Legal Psychology curriculum is to provide specialized skills related to the advancement of methodologies and techniques for the assessment of personality, family relationships, parenting capacity, victimology, offenders’ treatment, and adults’ and minors’ witness credibility. The Forensic Psychopathology curriculum aims to hone methodologies useful in the forensic-psychiatry semeiotic research, especially relevant to the assessment of decision-making capacity, the methodology of conducting a psychiatric expert report, and offenders’ in-patient, out-patient and pharmacological treatments. Lastly, the Forensic Neurosciences curriculum focuses on polishing research methodologies related to the assessment of cognitive process in forensic settings -especially regarding memory, testimony and free will – and to decision-making processes of professionals that operate in the legal context.

Working language

Lessons in Italian, seminars in English 

Duration in months (min-max)

PhD sandwich: To Be Defined