case/ psychchological formulation

Question 1

A01.1

Answer 1

case formulation is used on unique individuals that current treaqtment isnt working for them- recividism, or unusual cases where treatment is unclear
it involves gathering in depth detaisl about an individuals life and applying psychological concepts to try and explain their behaviour, look at behaviour such as

offender parellling behaviour - happened during the crime and try to find out motivation behind it e.g. thrill

this is then used to try to find out why the individual committed a crime and find a suitable treatment

Question 2

A03.1

Answer 2

strength: whitehead et al, found case formulation was very sucessful on the case study MR C, treatment gave him a new sense of identitiy and stopped recivism- effective treatment

weakness- case study

Question 3

A01.2

Answer 3

offender anaylsis-
involves finding out indepth about the individual and their life and applying it to psychological theorys
trying to make psychological sense of their behaviour
idnetifying criminogenic factors
looking at the sequence of events, people involved, potential internal and external motivaters
creating a flow diagram
looking at childhood expereicning and core beliefs and use these to explain criminal behabviour

Question 4

A03.2

Answer 4

strength- produces qualitative data, in depth able to provide whole picture, draw up on effective formualtion.
both theortical and practical element, broken down into easy steps to help decision making
weakness- very specific to the individual in terms of the psychologist each will have own way of drawing flow diagram and approaching individual as well as a very unique criminal each formulation will be very different for each perosn therefore impossoble to repliacte exactly

Question 5

A01.3

Answer 5

understanding the offender- from offedner analysis linking psychplogical behaviour to theory to try and explain behaviour- top down process
then formulate best and worse case scinarios planned for and future acts predicted - using verbs like ‘might’
prehaps predicted new vitims what act they may commit levels of harm or best case integrate into society and hold down a job

Question 6

A03.3

Answer 6

strength- BERRY suggested that CF is only effective if psychologist is unbias ( HPCP) therefore its imortant that psychologist and offender have lots of meetings to eliminate any bias and negative opinions to ensure maximum effectivnesss

weakness- CAPRETTA suggested that offenders reported that they have improved on self reported data but recividism rates didnt decline - criminals may be socially desirable to get a reduced sentance

Question 7

A01.4

Answer 7

applying treatment-
- look at the following:
- how the individual has changed- what was like at start
- if they have any mental health issues
- likelehood of recomitting
then formulate an appropriate treatment
reasess individual if havent reintegrated into society must intervene
use HPCP standerdisation

Question 8

A03.4

Answer 8

strength- able to predict correct treatment and also treatments that would not work

weakness- retrospective data in offender analysis miss out important infomation, simplify complex and ‘ irrelevant’ information

Question 9

application/ implication

Answer 9

alloeing time to understand offenders better able to find what will wor best reduce recividism protect socirty increase qual life for individual and family

Question 10

stages

Answer 10

stage 1- offender analysis
stage 2-understanding the offender
stage 3- applying the treatment