Spring 2027

The Criminal Mind: Forensic and Psychobiological Perspectives

Overview of criminal psychology covering forensic and psychobiological processes, including psychopathy, mental illness, and causes of crime.

offering recorded4 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Patti Coffey3.9/5

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Patti Coffey

The course included weekly readings, two required books, and a large paper. Assessment consisted of three non-cumulative multiple-choice exams with no final, which students described as fair and straightforward.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Critically review and analyze research in the field of forensic psychology.

  • Review personality and crime with an emphasis on psychopathy assessment, case examples, causal theories, and neurobiological factors

  • Examine the connection between mental illness and crime with an emphasis on Not Guilty by Reason of Mental Disease or Defect and Competency to Proceed psychological evaluations

  • Consider general theories of causes of crime

  • Characterize typologies of people who have committed sexual offenses, causes of sexual offenses, and risk assessment and typologies of people who have committed violent offenses, with a focus on domestic

  • Analyze social psychological influences on crime and criminal justice system

  • Critique treatment and intervention approaches, with emphasis on what works and why.

Source: UW Guide

Grade history

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average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
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All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

PSYCH 401, 403, 405, or 456

PSYCH 526 used by

“Used by” includes alternatives; linked courses may have other requirements. This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree

Professors

Spring 2027
Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.29/5 from 17 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

For this course: 5.0/5 raw quality · 2.8/5 difficulty · 10 reviews

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

Past student reviews · Patti Coffey

Patti Coffey taught this course with multiple-choice exams and a paper, which reviewers described as ranging from short to big. Students found the workload manageable despite occasional waves of assignments and appreciated the fair exams and clear grading. Reviews highlighted her engaging lectures and substantial extra credit opportunities, making the class highly recommended for those interested in criminal psychology.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Past student reviews · Patricia Coffey

Dr. Coffey delivered clear, passionate lectures on criminal psychology. In 2016, students completed three tests and a research proposal. Other students found exams straightforward or easy if they attended class, with extra credit available to recover points. The course included assigned books and articles, though some noted the technical content could feel dry.

PATRICIA COFFEY is recorded teaching in Spring 2013, Fall 2013, Spring 2014, Fall 2014, Spring 2015, Fall 2015, Spring 2016, Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Spring 2025, Fall 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Spring 2027

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 1920
DIS 301Classroom Instruction0 / 240
DIS 302Classroom Instruction0 / 240
DIS 303Classroom Instruction0 / 240
DIS 304Classroom Instruction0 / 240
DIS 305Classroom Instruction0 / 240
DIS 306Classroom Instruction0 / 240
DIS 307Classroom Instruction0 / 240
DIS 308Classroom Instruction0 / 240

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.

Meeting source records
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Student experience

the class

Past student reviews · Patti Coffey

Dr. Coffey teaches this criminal psychology course with engaging lectures and real-world forensic experience. Students found the material interesting and the class rewarding for those interested in criminal justice.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.85 GPA, 93.0% A/AB (n=157 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.89 GPA, 94.1% A/AB (n=188 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.81 GPA, 91.6% A/AB (n=190 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Patti Coffey

The course included weekly readings, two required books, and a large paper. Assessment consisted of three non-cumulative multiple-choice exams with no final, which students described as fair and straightforward.

Past student reviews · Patti Coffey

Some students found the initial workload daunting due to assignments due in waves, but noted it was manageable if they kept up. Others appreciated the accommodating instructor and clear grading.

Topics

  • Personality and crime: psychopathy assessment and neurobiology
  • Mental illness and crime: legal evaluations
  • Sexual and violent offense typologies and risk assessment
  • Treatment and intervention critiques

Skills

  • Critical review and analysis of forensic psychology research
  • Understanding psychopathy assessment and neurobiological factors in crime
  • Evaluating legal standards for mental illness in criminal cases
  • Critiquing treatment and intervention approaches for offenders

Grades

Historical instructor

Spring 2027 · Projected

Before grades are released

– average GPA

Approximate 80% prediction interval

About this estimate

The course’s semester-average GPA, not an individual student’s grade. The center uses 5 same-season terms, weighted toward recent results.

The range uses the finite-sample 80th-percentile rank of absolute errors from earlier same-season forecasts. Each forecast uses only records from earlier terms. At least four forecasts are required; bounds are rounded outward and limited to 0–4. This is an empirical estimate: changing instructors or grading policies can reduce its coverage.

8 earlier forecasts · 0.11 GPA average error.

Grades over time

Through Spring 2027

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Where this course fits relative to

Latest available grades · Spring 2026 · all course levels

GPA

Higher than % of other courses in this group.

Course GPAs · red marks this course’s range

letter grades

More recorded grades than % of other courses in this group.

Typical course in this group: letter grades.

About this comparison

1280 courses over the same term, each with at least 30 recorded letter grades. Cross-listed courses count once. GPA is not a measure of difficulty or teaching quality. The typical course is the median by recorded grade count; tied values are not counted as lower. Grade counts describe course scale, not unique students or typical section size.

Descriptions compare GPA with this group’s average: at least 0.20 higher or lower; otherwise close to average. Section size uses median recorded enrollment: small up to 30, mid-sized 31–99, large 100+. Lectures and discussion/lab sections are described separately.

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.

Download part 1
Selected offering source records
PSYCH 526 · Spring 2027

The Criminal Mind: Forensic and Psychobiological Perspectives

Recorded 2026-10-14
Raw records 
[
  {
    "run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
    "semester": "1274",
    "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1274:820:023833",
    "course_id": "PSYCH 526",
    "course_uid": "course_f4bee73bb22fcf1ff1ba3468",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "023833",
    "source_subject_id": "820",
    "title": "The Criminal Mind: Forensic and Psychobiological Perspectives",
    "credits_min": 4,
    "credits_max": 4,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, Spring"
  }
]
Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews
Download part 1
Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades
Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-10-14

View the dataset on Hugging Face
Model outputs & technical records
Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1Download part 2
Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "be75d1a1561ea993cce39563acfc9242086c5e906e120559c768755e62c9b904",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}