Assessmnet

Question 1

Assessment (Brown et al, 2015)

Answer 1

Why the person committed the offence

The nature, level and management of risk the offender presents with

The treatment needs of the person

The persons treatability and treatment readiness

Question 2

Risk Assessment

Answer 2

Systematic collection of information to determine the degree to which harm (self and others) is likely, at some future point (Douglas & Skeem, 2005).

Question 3

Risk Vs Dangerousness

Answer 3

Risk
The statistical likelihood of an event occurring
- Which offenders are most likely to reoffend

Risk is dynamic: Assessment is more accurate in short term.

Dangerousness
The seriousness of the consequences of the event occurring.
Which offenders are most dangerous
Which conditions make an offender more dangerous

Question 4

Ethical Issues

Answer 4

Professional ethics: protect the general public: prison or institutional

Forensic psychologists should always be professionally qualified; always collect data to extend the knowledge in the field.

Question 5

Forensic Psychologists must be aware of:

Answer 5

Reliability and validity of chosen tools

Base rate and it effects

Own biases (feminist psychology)

Deception/manipulation by an offender

Question 6

Psychological assessments should:

Answer 6

Involve multiple repeated methods

Use evidence to make decisions

Avoid confirmation bias

Include costs and benefits

Be monitored for accuracy

Defendable

Question 7

How do we assess? Key principles

Answer 7

Specify the risks

Specify the possible outcomes

Assess the likelihood of these outcomes

Assess the severity of these outcomes

Question 8

Process

Answer 8

1: Theoretical basis
Preliminary hypothesis

2: Data gathering
Date analysis

3: Formulation
Reformulation

Question 9

Formulation Definition:

Answer 9

A conceptual model representing an offenders various difficulties, the hypothesized underlying mechanisms and their interrelationships.

Formulation also aims to suggest what individual and systemic factors continue to maintain a person’s difficulties/offending behaviour.

Question 10

Areas to Assess: Risks (Historical factors)

Answer 10

Family background and family functioning

Offending history

Education and employment

Psychosexual background

Relationship (romantic and peers)

Developmental history

Question 11

Areas to Assess: Risks Dispositional factors

Answer 11

Personality
Attitudes to offending
Attachment style

Question 12

Areas to Assess: Risks

Clinical Variables

Answer 12

Mental health & substance misuse history

Medication and attitude towards taking medication

Question 13

Areas to Assess: Risks

Personality disorders

Answer 13

Psychopathy

Current offence analysis

Question 14

Areas to Assess: Risks Protective Factors

Answer 14

Personal Resources

Family Supports

Social Supports

Calming: Influences/Negotiation

Evidence of Progress

Question 15

Clinical Risk Assessment (1st Generation)

Answer 15

Derives from the tradition of one to one casework in medical, social and probation contexts and refers to the practitioners use of experience, interviewing skills, observation and professional judgement to arrive at an assessment (Robinson, 2003)

Question 16

Clinical Assessment (1st Generation) Adv & Dis

Answer 16

Advantages:
Assessor can explain many different aspects of the client’s situation

Can reflect unique circumstances and case specific influences

Disadvantages:
Subject to personal bias
Over emphasise information
Limited human information processing

Question 17

Actuarial Risk Assessment (2nd Generation)

Answer 17

Derived from methods used in the insurance industry and is based upon statistical calculations of probability.

Four predictors (Gretenkord 2000)
Personality disorder
Violent pre-offence
Physical aggression while in prison at least twice
Age at time of discharge

Question 18

Actuarial Risk Assessment (2nd Generation) Adv & Dis

Answer 18

Advantages:
Reliance on clearly articulated risk factors
Offers high levels of predictive validity or accuracy.

Disadvantages
Consists of static predictors
Based on and designed for use with groups or populations of offenders
Not good for rare events
Different measures do not correlate with each other.

Question 19

Structured Clinical Risk Assessment (3rd Generation)

Answer 19

These assessments are based on items which have been shown to be predictive of reconviction, but reliant on the practitioners ability to elict the relevant information through interviewing the offender, and where appropriate consultation with other persons and/or sources

Question 20

Structured Clinical Risk Assessment (3rd Generation)

Adv & Dis

Answer 20

Advantages:
Recognises that risk assessment is dynamic and continuous process

Sensitive to change as a result of treatment and management

Disadvantages:
Completion fatigue among users may compromise the quality of assessments

Some have expressed the concern about the potential de-skilling and or de-professionalism as a result of the increasing standardisation of assessment practice.

Question 21

Dynamic, Clinical, Actuarial Treatment (4th generation)

Answer 21

•Combining assessment with readiness to engage in treatment. Allows for calculation pre and post treatment.
•Results of treatment inform level of post treatment risk•
Incorporates the Stages of Change Model (Prochaska, DiClemente & Norcross, 1992)

•Assessing risk:•Evaluating outcomes as probabilities, based on samples, and on clinical experience

Question 22

Specialist Assessment Techniques

Answer 22

Polygraph
- US

Penile Plethysmograph Phallometry (Gannon et al, 2008)