Defining Psychic Criminology

About the lecture

In this lecture, we think about how to define psychic criminology, focusing in particular on: i) defining parapsychology and recognising its overlap with investigative psychology in psychic criminology; (ii) the role of psychics in providing external advice to criminal investigations; (iii) defining psychic criminology as the involvement of individuals who claim to be able to use a psychic ability to assist with criminal investigations; (iv) the use of psychics in jury selection in certain areas of North America, as well as the involvement of a psychic in a specific murder case, in an attempt to communicate with the deceased victim; (v) the specific abilities that might be used by psychics to assist in investigations.

About the lecturer

Professor Ciarán O’Keeffe is associate professor of education and research and head of the School of Human and Social Sciences at Buckinghamshire New University. Professor O’Keeffe’s research interests include investigative psychology and parapsychology, and has made numerous television and radio appearances alongside an array of celebrities. Some of Professor O’Keeffe’s recent publications include 'Things That Go Bump In The Literature: An Environmental Appraisal of 'Haunted Houses'' (2020) and 'Restorative Justice and Recidivism: Investigating the impact of victim-preference for level of engagement' (2014).