PTSD symptoms have been widely reported within the research literature following the perpetration of violent crime. This case study illustrates the application of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) within a prison environment using a psychological model of PTSD. The individual had endured a number of traumatic events and was experiencing symptoms related to memories of his index offence of murder. Following completion of therapy, symptoms were significantly decreased, and his functioning and level of distress was much improved. Implications are that offence related PTSD can be treated with CBT in a prison, and that thorough assessment identifying avoidance needs to be completed before offending behaviour programmes are targeted to decrease the risk of re-offending.
People who are managed by the National Probation Service and convicted of high risk offences will often meet criteria for antisocial personality disorder and have complex psychosocial needs; this group of people present with high risk behavior which may professionals have been reluctant to work with in the past who are associated with higher rates of recidivism. This study investigated the experiences of probation officers in managing people who meet the criteria for Anti Social Personality Disorder. Semi structured interviews were conducted with six participants to capture their experiences of working with this population, the challenges they faced, and coping mechanisms employed, through analysis using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Three superordinate themes were identified which revealed participants internal feeling, strategies employed, and external challenges. They spoke about internal negative feelings, specifically feeling controlled, having mistrust, a lack of confidence, being overwhelmed with emotion, and experiencing a fear of risk behaviors. Other themes involved external pressures as well as different coping responses. Implications are discussed to help probation officers to understand this population, for the organization to support staff to work with challenging behaviors and prevent burn out, to enable positive outcomes, and for potentially reducing reoffending.
Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) is as promising intervention that has recently gained traction in forensic services. CFT incorporates an understanding of the role of life experiences in shaping human behaviour(s) and organising our social and inter-personal interactions and therefore can be considered a trauma informed approach. This paper presents a case study that demonstrates the use of CFT as a transdiagnostic intervention, when working in a prison mental health care setting. The paper describes the application of CFT to address both mental health and criminogenic areas of need with a client convicted of violence. Key components of CFT are illustrated in addition to the novel approach to working with risk that has become a feature of forensic CFT. The challenges and limitations of the therapeutic work are also highlighted.
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