Week 11-Offender treatment

Question 1

What is Offender Treatment defined as? Oxford Dictionary of Law Enforcement (Gooch & Williams, 2015)

Answer 1

-Terms often used interchangeably

-“Treatment aimed at improving an offender’s character or behaviour (including education, counselling, employment, training etc.,) that is undertaken with the goal of reintegrating the offender into society.”

Policy: Home Office Policy paper (2015) - Government Prison Strategy White Paper (2021)

-2021 paper focuses on how the prison environment can be improved to improve rehabilitation

-Policy: Home Office Policy Paper (2015) - Government Prison Strategy White Paper (2021)

-2021 paper focuses on how the prison environment can be improved to improve rehabilitation

Question 2

What is the Prison Population in England & Wales?

Answer 2

-Substantial increase over time

-Average annual prison population is 21/22: 80,798 or around 159 individuals per 100,000 population

-Prison population has quadrupled but was particularly high in the 90s

-Shows a large group that would benefit from treatment whilst in treatment both for offender treatment and mental health treatment

Question 3

What are the reoffending rates?

Answer 3

-The proven reoffending rates has fluctuated between 23.1% and 31.8%

-Oct-Dec 2021 (England & Wales): 25.1% for adult offenders; 32.5% for juvenile offenders

-Reoffending estimates for those convicted of violent offences > non-violent offences (Hunt et al., 2019; Motiuk & Belcourt, 1997)

-Reoffending estimates for sexual offenders range between 11-14% (Hanson & Morton-Bourgon, 2005, 2009)

-Does not necessarily mean sexual reoffending (e.g., Luisser et al., 2023)

-Ministry of Justice measures across a year or a half year how many people have reoffended and is proven

-1 in 4 offended reoffend and 1 in 3 juvenile offenders

-Risk of reoffending is lower for sexual offences

Question 4

What are Treatment/ Rehabilitation models?

Answer 4

-Models to apply psychological principles and strategies to change the behaviour of offenders in clinical settings (Ward et al., 2007)

-Combination of different factors rather than a single factor/event

-For example, alcohol and drug misuse, impulsivity, low self-control, crime-supporting attitudes, lack of accommodation + employment, lack of strong interpersonal relationships

-Interventions focus on these factors to reduce the risk of reoffending

-Called offender behaviour programs

-This is run in prison probation services as part of their sentencing plan to engage in treatment

Question 5

What Treatment is used for Violent Offenders?

Answer 5

-Specialised vs non-specialised treatment (Polaschek & Collie, 2004) - different treatment needs?

-Offenders often have a history of a violent offence (general offending: Bourgon & Armstrong, 2005; Sex offenders: Newman, 2011)

-Heterogeneous nature of violent offenders - function of violence needs to be understood

E.g., Violence as a result of anger, rage, frustration versus to obtain physical or material needs (Feshbach, 1964)

-Treatment readiness - motivation (Polsaschek & Collie, 2004) and responsivity to treatment (e.g., O’Brien & Daffern, 2016)

-Many functions of violence that serve a different purpose: expressive violence=emotional violence to alleviate feelings, instrumental violence=being violent to meet a needs to an end to achieve a goal. Both of these forms would require different treatments (What is meant by heterogeneous nature)

-Last point also relates to sexual offenders too as it’s dependent whether offenders are motivated to change

Question 6

What are Criminogenic needs? (Davies & Beech, 2018)

Answer 6

All of these are factors associated with violent offending:
-Anger
-Negative/antisocial attitudes
-Hostility
-Substance use
-Impulsivity
-Active symptoms of major mental illness
-Interpersonal and problem-solving skill deficits
-Antisocial personality
-Social information-processing deficits
-Relationship instability
-Empathy deficits
-Education/employment
-Antisocial companions

(Need for more research into risk factors for violent offending - Polaschek, 2006)

Question 7

What are the 4 main treatment programmes for violent offenders?

Answer 7

1. Anger management
2. Cognitive skills
3. IPV interventions
4. Multi-modal programmes

-Targeting more factors make it more intensive (AM+CS)

-IPV targets a specific type of violent offenders (mainly males who have committed physical or domestic violence on partner)

-They target narrow but various factors

Question 8

What is the process of Anger Management? (Novaco, 1975)

Answer 8

1. Group 10-20 x 2 hour sessions
2. Awareness of anger and triggers
3. Skills (e.g., social skills and relaxation training)

-Relaxation techniques e.g., mediation

-Social skills e.g., how to resolve conflict without using violence

Question 9

Does anger necessarily lead to violence, and is all violence the result of anger? What evidence is there for this?

Answer 9

-Some studies show no relationship (e.g., Loza & Loza-Fanous, 1999)

-Might only lead to violence under certain conditions

-Some violence exists without anger (e.g., sadism)

-Need for other aspects to be addressed (multi-faceted)

-Effects may differ from non-offending populations (Howells, 2004)

-Less time to practise those skills in a limited time-frame e.g., sentence length (last point) making anger management difficult to translate to forensic populations

Question 10

What evidence is there for the effectiveness of Anger Management?

Answer 10

1. Dowden et al. (1999)-110 programmes in Canada, 3 year follow-up. 86% reduction in violent offending
2. Novaco (2013)-Review of the literature. Decrease in rule violations, re-arrest rates, angry patient behaviours, verbal & physical aggression
3. Howells et al. (2002)-200 male offenders in South and Western Australia (pre and post) compared with controls. Few sig. findings EXCEPT for improving anger knowledge and readiness to change (i.e., last one did not make a difference in reoffending rates)

Question 11

What are Cognitive Skills Programmes?

Answer 11

-Focused on thought patterns OR antisocial cognitions which may lead to offending

-Treatment helps recognise these patterns and redirects them into pro-social thinking and problem-solving

-Antisocial cognitions=not seeing many resolutions, being impulsive and act before thinking

-Length of treatment is dependent on offenders needs

-Usually delivered in groups between 3 months and 3 years

Think First (McGuire, 2005):
-32 x 2 hour sessions in small groups
-Psychometric pre- and post-testing

Question 12

What is involved in the Think First Programmes? (McGuire, 2005)

Answer 12

1. Social problem-solving skills 1-13 Empathy, resolving conflict, interpreting social situations
2. Self-management and self-control 15-16 -Controlling behaviour and practising skills for that
3. Social behaviour and interaction skills 17-18
4. Perspective-taking, Attitudes, Negotiation, Conflict resolution 19-21

-End sessions tend to be booster sessions to practise lots of cognitive skills covered

Question 13

What are 2 Limitations of the Cognitive Skills Programmes?

Answer 13

1. Not suitable for all offenders e.g., those with learning difficulties (e.g., McClinton, 2009)
   -Those with learning difficulties might just need an adjusted programme
2. Might not work for serious high-risk offenders - cognitions too engrained (Ward & Nee, 2009)

Question 14

What evidence is there for the effectiveness of Cognitive skills?

Answer 14

1. Tong & Farrington (2006)-Meta-analysis (16 studies, 4 countries) “Reasoning and Rehabilitation” programme. 14% decrease in recidivism Community & institutional settings Low and high risk offenders. (14% decrease in reoffending in community and institutional settings)
2. Falshaw et al. (2004)-Prison-based cognitive skills programmes in England and Wales 2 year reconviction rates (matched with control group). No significant differences

-Evidence is mixed

-Last box shows it didn’t matter whether they took the programme or not as reoffending rates did not differ between the two

Question 15

What is Intimate Partner Violence Treatment?

Answer 15

-Treats this type of behaviour as different from other types of violent offending - some can be violent towards partners but not others

-Usually focuses on power, control, coercion - based on feminist viewpoints on IPV

-Focuses on re-educating men about their need for power, control and coercion to change behaviour in that regard

Question 16

What are 3 limitations for IPV Treatment?

Answer 16

1. IPV offenders share some of the same risk factors as other violent offenders that is not part of this programme (e.g., antisocial cognitions) (Means no other support for those risk factors such as antisocial cognitions)
2. Women also perpetrate IPV against men, same-sex partnerships, feminist approaches not relevant? (e.g., Dixon et al., 2012)
3. Role of alcohol abuse and emotion dysregulation overlooked (e.g., Norlander & Eckhardt, 2005)

Question 17

What evidence is there for the effectiveness of IPV treatments?

Answer 17

1. Bates et al., (2017)-Systematic review of Duluth-model based interventions. Largely unsuccessful in reducing reoffending.
2. Bloomfield & Dixon (2015)-Evaluation of 2 programmes in the UK, 2 year follow up period (N=6695). Small but significant effects on domestic violence reoffending
3. Babcock et al. (2004) - Meta-analysis of 22 studies (Effects on violent reoffending small, but no difference between IPV treatments and CBT)

-Do we need to use specialised interventions if it doesn’t significantly reduce reoffending compared to non-specialised interventions e.g., CBT?

Question 18

What’s the Multi-Modal Programme Treatment?

Answer 18

-High-risk, serious violent offenders

-More intense, examine an array of issues

-More individualised, responsive to the needs of the person

-Violence may be caused by multiple issues which should be targeted

-Multi-disciplinary teams, including psychologists, custodial, educational and programme staff

-At least 12 months, treatment usually in a group (individually if needed)

-If shorter duration it is more intense

Question 19

What is the Violence Prevention Unit at Rimutaka Prison near Wellington, NZ (Polaschek et al., 2005)

Answer 19

-Intervention programme for violent offenders (voluntary, length of sentence not effected)

-High risk offenders

-Targets ‘hypothesised criminogenic needs of violent offenders’ (p.1616)

-VPU – 30 medium security beds

-Programme – closed groups of 10 men

-Therapist team = a psychologist and rehabilitation worker

-On arrival, 4 week assessment period to gain comprehensive understanding of social history, background, family and support systems, how each may function in a group (including motivation to change), offending history, risk factors, current offence, and reintegration needs on release

-Assessment data collected by interviews, psychometric tests, questionnaires

-Interviews may also be from family and friends

-The assessment determines what they need during treatment and what they need during custody

Question 20

What occurs during the programme at the Violence Prevention Unit at Rimutaka Prison near Wellington, NZ? (Polaschek et al., 2005)

Answer 20

-3 programmes running at a time

-Approx 330 hours of treatment (4 x 3 hour group meetings weekly, for 28 weeks)

-Individual intervention for psychological issues

-To plan for release - meetings with family members

-Post-release follow-up - routine support from probation officers

-They’ll meet with family members to get an idea of what their situation will be once they leave to figure out what can be done to support rehabilitation

Question 21

What are Programme components of the Multi-Modal Treatment?

Answer 21

A) Identifying and presenting offence chain (To determine the risk factors for the individual)

B) Restructuring offense-supportive thinking

C) Mood management (e.g., preventing anger through CBT techniques)

D) Victim empathy

E) Moral reasoning

F) Problem-Solving

G) Communication and relationship skills (Being more assertive in a prosocial way)

H) Relapse prevention planning

Question 22

What is the evidence for the effectiveness of the Multi-Modal Treatment?

Answer 22

1. Polaschek (2011)-Evaluation of VPU in NZ. 112 medium and high-risk offenders matched with controls. Over 3.5 years. Reconviction data: 10-12% fewer offenders in the treatment condition were reconvicted for a violence offence
2. Serin et al. (2009)-Evaluation of ‘Persistently Violent Offender’ Programme in Canada (144 hour long) 256 men against 2 groups (AM & control group). Completers just as likely to reoffend as AM and no programme.

-Evidence is mixed again

-Perhaps effects are shorter term not longer-term

Question 23

What is the “Psychopathic offender”?

Answer 23

-Do they respond to treatment?

-Considerations of working with dangerous offenders (Ward & Wallis, 2018)

-Treatment readiness - Person and context factors that promote engagement and change

-Therapeutic climate - needs to be considered

-Treatment context - How supported the person feels/therapy is valued

-Callous, manipulative, impulsive, anti-social may be hard to treat due to components of empathy in training

-Could manipulate group despite group interaction being essential

-No more negative scores or difference with individuals with psychopathic traits (small number of studies and sample sizes)

-Therapeutic relationships is believed to be important with different responsibilities due to dual roles (client=offender/Justice systems)

-Therapists who are rewarding, warm and engaging is best in a forensic setting

-Treatment context=how interacted and valued clients feel (e.g., some prisons have a no touch policy in regard to shaking hands)

Question 24

What are Criminogenic needs of sexual offenders? (Davies & Beech, 2018)

Answer 24

-Deviant sexual interests e.g., (multiple) paraphilias, sexual preoccupation

-Distorted attitude

-Low levels of socio-affective functioning e.g., intimacy issues, lack of emotionally intimate relationships with adults, emotional congruence with children

-Problems in self-management e.g., lack of control over emotions and behaviour, impulsivity, poor problem-solving

-Paraphilias is in the DSM which may occur distress on themself or victim (not all sexual offenders have paraphilias)

Question 25

What is Cognitive-behavioural Treatment?

Answer 25

Most common treatment for sex offenders (see Moster et al., 2008) for a review Cognitive aspects: -Cognitive distortions (e.g., blaming the victim, denial and minimisation, rape myth acceptance) (Rape myth acceptance=distorted beliefs e.g., rape in relationships is not rape) -Other thinking patterns that might effect mood and behaviour (e.g., coping with negative emotions, empathy for others) -Therapy aims to encourage offenders to identify thinking patterns, develop skills to re-evaluate these beliefs Behavioural aspects: -Overt and covert behaviour -Using reward and punishment as a way to change behaviour -When people feel low, what thoughts pops up? -Behavioural aspects are different from the cognitive skills treatment -Modelling and skills training (e.g., assertiveness, communication)

Question 26

What's Relapse Prevention (RP)?

Answer 26

-Adapted from the addiction field (e.g., Marshall & Laws, 2003) -Addiction to CBT approaches Self-management approach: -How to anticipate and cope with relapsing (having thoughts about offending, and re-offending) -Control over time across high-risk situations in the community -When released back into the community, it is inevitable to come across high-risk situations (therapy identifies what these situations are, what thoughts and emotions they feel, and what they think can be done to prevent this) -High risk situation e.g., child offender gets into relationship with adult who has children -Relapse prevention involves either removing yourself from a high risk situation, or confiding in support and to distract (key ideas REMOVE or DISTRACT)

Question 27

What is the evidence for the effectiveness of RP?

Answer 27

1. Beech et al. (2015)-Meta-analysis of 54 treatment studies (N=14694). CBT most promising together with systemic treatments 2. Dennis et al. (2013) Review of 10 studies. No evidence to suggest that treatment reduces reoffending 3. Mpofu et al. (2018)-Review of 10 studies. Recidivism rates lower for CBT interventions compared to control groups 4. Harrison et al (2020)-Meta-analysis of 25 studies (N=12811) Significant reduction in sexual and violent reoffending, differences across time; no significant effect on general reoffending -Found treatments in the 90s was most effective compared to 80s and 2000s perhaps due to boost in research so may have been more rigorous in research with better and more precise measures (Last box)

Question 28

What's the Risks Needs Responsivity Framework? (Andrews & Bonta, 1998)

Answer 28

-Based off 4 principles Risk principle: Level of treatment should be matched with risk -Determined using risk-assessment tool -High risk = more treatment (at least 100 hours of CBT over 3-4 month period) Need principle: Treatment should target criminogenic needs -Evidence-based criminogenic needs for different types of offending Responsivity principle: Is the treatment appropriate for that person? May impede learning? -Gender, learning styles, culture, diversity, motivation -Principle of professional discretion: Up to clinician to override things -High intensity treatment on low risk offenders may have the opposite effect or no effect at all -Female sex and general offenders may not benefit from treatment built for men (may not have enough research on female offenders and their needs) -Culture:meditation may not be congruent with their religion OR may not feel comfortable talking about sexual offences in a group based setting

Question 29

What are some Strengths of Risks Needs Responsivity Framework?

Answer 29

-Based on research -Helpful in promoting evidence-based practise in the correctional domain -Theoretical framework and map to guide -Meta-analysis supportive of efficacy amongst general sex offenders (e.g., Hanson et al., 2009)

Question 30

What are some Weaknesses of Risks Needs Responsivity Framework?

Answer 30

Focus on Negative aspects (avoidance), lack of explanatory depth (Polaschek, 2012)

Question 31

What are the Limitations of the Risk Management approach?

Answer 31

-Fails to motivate and engage offenders in the process (e.g., Ward & Beech, 2015) -External motivators such as parole might make people more likely to follow a treatment programme (Jones et al., 2006) -High attrition rates (30-50% e.g., Ware & Bright , 2008) -People who drop out, more likely to reoffend than completes (e.g., Hanson et al., 2002) -Focuses on avoidance goals, rather than approach goals -Limited collaboration between therapist and client -Treatment goals enforced by therapist -Limited attention to non-criminogenic needs (e.g., personal distress) Focusing on these might improve treatment outcomes -Minimal focus on reintegration into society Crucial to have environmental systems such as relationships and employment (Lord Farmer Review: Strengthening Family Ties) --> The RNR model's theoretical foundations "ignore the nature of human beings as value-laden, meaning-seeking, goal-directed beings (Ward & Wallis, 2018) -Prisons are establishing therapeutic communities (restoring relationships with families) which the RNR would benefit from

Question 32

What are the General assumptions of the Good lives' model (Ward & Stewart, 2003)

Answer 32

-Grounded in the ethical concept of human dignity and universal human rights; strong emphasis on agency -Rehabilitation needs to 1) reuse risk but also 2) promote human needs and values through approach goals -11 classes of 'primary goods' (offenders have value certain states of mind, personal characteristics and experiences) (Ward & Gannon, 2006; Ward er al., 2007) -Needs to focus on reducing risks BUT maintaining human needs and establishing sustainable goals

Question 33

What are the 11 Primary Goods? (Ward & Wallis, 2018)

Answer 33

1. Life (Healthy) 2. Knowledge acquisition 3. Excellence in play 4. Excellence in work 5. Excellence in agency (being autonomous and successful in independence) 6. Inner peace 7. Friendship 8. Community 9. Spirituality 10. Happiness 11. Creativity -Different people will prioritised aspects differently -Secondary 'instrumental' goods = way of achieving primary goods (e.g., getting in a promotion)

Question 34

What is meant by a direct and indirect route?

Answer 34

Direct=Offending as the result of attempting to satisfy primary goods. Indirect=Ripple effect that occurs when trying to satisfy one or more primary goods

Question 35

How can Criminogenic needs act as obstacles for acquiring primary goods?

Answer 35

-Impulsivity might impact on agency -Substance abuse might prevent living a healthy life

Question 36

How will treatment help the acquisition of primary goods?

Answer 36

-Work out individual's priorities/weightings and how to get secondary goods -Devise a GL Treatment Plan, individual to the person -Identify a criminogenic needs that might be blocking the achievement of the goods

Question 37

What are the strengths and weaknesses of the Good lives model?

Answer 37

S: -Starting to integrate GLM (positive + motivational) and RNR (empirically-based framework) -Not a treatment theory but rehabilitation framework ('broad map' which can be supplemented with mini-theories) (Ward & Wallis, 2018) W: -Not a great deal of empirical evidence (e.g., Andrews, Bonta & Wormith, 2011...)

Question 38

What did Mallion et al. (2020) find with their systematic review of 17 studies?

Answer 38

-GLM-consistent interventions as effective as standard RP programs, but also enhanced motivation to change, engagement in treatment and optimism for the future -Limited evidence for GLM assumptions

Question 39

What did Zecola et al. (2021) find with their systematic review of 6 studies?

Answer 39

-Little evidence for the GLM to be effective in reducing reoffending -Limited support that GLM increases motivation for desistance (abstaining from crime) -More rigorous and high-quality evaluations are needed

Question 40

What are the General notes on the effectiveness of studies?

Answer 40

-Lack of evaluation -More specifically to these types of offenders Tong & Farrington (2006): -Need larger samples -RCTs (including matching for individual risk levels) -Better measures for recidivism, not just official statistics (e.g., self-reports) -Focus on process rather than outcome - change seen within treatment (Levenson & Prescott, 2014)