Dealing with Crime, Part 1: Psychology in prison/community corrections Flashcards
Assessment–> Mental health assessment
Assessment case management Risk of suicide, risk of harm to self/others Risk of harm FROM others Risk of reoffending Mental illness, mental health needs Social and emotional wellbeing (++ Indigenous) Drug and alcohol status Cognitive function/ability Fitness to plead or stand trial Educational/vocational needs Other intervention needs
Assessment Methods: Clinical Interviews
structured, semi-structured.
Verbal and nonverbal content.
ADL’s.
Assessment Methods: Standardised Assessment Tools
-Information gathering and assessment:
Violence Risk Scale - risk ax pre-release
-Diagnostic
PCL-R (Hare, 1980)
-Kits (cognitive testing)Psychology in Prisons: Reporting
Mental health assessments – submitted to courts
Cognitive assessments – submitted to court
Risk assessments– submitted to courts, parole boards
Pre-sentencing report – court. Bigger picture.
Intervention reports – offender’s participation, progress, effectiveness of treatment
Report writing forms a massive part of any psychologist’s workload (!)
Treatment/Intervention/Rehabilitation
Treatment/Intervention/rehabilitation
-Individual, not always though due to limited resources
-Group sessions – therapy, skills, personal development
-Crisis management – e.g. suicide attempts
-Drug and alcohol
Higher than representative rates of mental illness/intellectual impairment/developmental disorder
Rates of Mental Illness
-Figures vary by study/area
-Australian Institute of Health and Wellbeing (2012)
46% some kind of mental illness. 2.5 x pop.
Other studies report more like 80% (Heffernan, Finn, Saunders and Byrne, 2003)
Majority – substance abuse.
40% – personality disorder (Butler & Allnutt, 2003). Around 6% in population - ~7x (ABS 1997)
Psychopathy
-Psychopathy – the extreme end of personality disordered social/behavioural problems.
-Associated with an increased risk for antisocial behaviour, violence and crime
NOT an official diagnostic category in ICD/DSM.
May be a combination of diagnostic criteria from several personality disorders.
-England/Wales (n=496), PCL-R. 7.7% of male prisoners and 1.9% of female.
Hare’s Clinical Model: 4 Components of Psychopathy
- deceitful interpersonal style
- affective deficiency
- impulsiveness or life- style
- antisocial behaviour.
Hare’s Clincial Model: Factor 1: Interpersonal
- Glibness/Superficial Charm
- Grandiose sense of self-worth
- Pathological lying
- Cunning/manipulative
Hare’ clinical model: Factor 2: Affective
- Lack of remorse or guilt
- Shallow affect
- Callous/lack of empathy
- Failure to accept responsibility for own actions
Hare’s Clinical Model: Factor 4:Antisocial
- Poor behavioural controls
- Early behavioural problems
- Juvenile delinquency
- Revocation of conditional release
- Criminal Versatility
Hare’s Clinical Model: Factor 3: Lifestyle
- Need for stimulation/proneness to boredom
- Parasitic lifestyle
- Lack of realistic long-term goals
- Impulsivity
- Irresponsibility
Psychopathy in Prisons
Pre-valences are higher than in non-forensic and non-psychiatric community samples.
Evidence that it is predictive for recidivism in sexual/violent crimes.
PCL scales included in many structured and actuarial risk assessment/management tools due to predictive utility.
Limited effective treatment options
Groups and Victims
Sex offender programs – difficult, few outcome studies
Violent offenders/anger management – high recidivism (40%)
Domestic violence
Cognitive skills – little long term evidence
Drug and alcohol programs
Victim awareness
Mental Health Act [MHA] (2000)
For offenders who are mentally ill, courts can place them under forensic orders under the MHA (2000).
Involuntary assessment and treatment.
Usually detained in mental health facility or specialist service e.g. forensic disability.
Usually held for longer under forensic order compared to regular prison sentence.
Treatment and Intervention
Despite various types of intervention and rehabilitation, still high rates of reoffending – varies by type of crime & some other factors.
Once person enters CJS, more likely to reoffend –criminogenic factors (Australian Institute of Criminology, 2007)
Move to reduce reoffending. Earlier intervention to divert people away from CJS, rehabilitate and limit exposure to criminogenic factors reduce reoffending, keep people out of prison.
Community Corrections: Kennedy Report
Kennedy Report (1989)
- Queensland Government-commissioned review of Corrective Services
- ‘If punishment can be provided in a setting other than prison, and if the person can be adequately supervised outside prison, society should take this option’.
Why community corrections: Economics
- Cost of imprisonment vs. cost of community corrections, per person per year.
- Average cost per prisoner per day in 2009-10 was $240.66, compared to $18.50 per day, per Community Corrections offender (Council of Australian Governments, 2012).
- Savings cumulative and long-term.
Forms of community correction
Parole Intensive correction order Probation Community Service Order Fines Home detention
Problems with forms of community correction
Poor social/community image – seen as “soft” option particularly by people who value retribution more over rehabilitation/restoration
Overworked CCO’s, limited funding
Effectively overpopulating CC now
Lacks political support – continued funding cuts
Drug Courts
Targets drug-dependent offenders whose history of crimes sees a result of their drug use – prison doesn’t address rehabilitation needs effectively, so keep reoffending.
Cannabis, amphetamines, poly-drug use most common.
The Queensland drug court program offers eligible offenders an opportunity to participate in an Intensive Drug Rehabilitation Order (IDRO)
People who complete an intensive rehabilitation order
Large decline in their criminal activity
Lower rates of recidivism than non-completers or those who went to prison
Youth and Community Corrections
Can also receive all the prior options – juvenile detention rather than jail, though.
Other options include:
Graffiti removal orders
Community service orders
Supervised release (assisted reintegration)
Youth justice conferencing - restorative
Youth boot camps
Aboriginal Australians and Courts
Address law and justice in way that Aboriginal communities understand and respond to in accordance with their customs, laws and understanding of what is just and right
Also in response to deaths in custody concerns, very high rates of reoffending compared to other Australians.
Murri Courts
Murri Courts – Magistrate court founded in 2006 in Queensland in response to extreme overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in both prison and juvenile detention.
Evaluation of the Murri Courts
Evaluated by Australian Institute of Criminology after running for 4 years.
Improved attendance – less absconding (Adults 4% DNA at Murri Court compared to 12% at mainstream; youth 28% compared to 40%)
Stronger relationships between courts and Indigenous communities
No real improvement in recidivism or violations of court orders – slight but not statistically significant.
Murri Court program closed under Newman government in December 2012 – lack of evidence of effectiveness, to save money (save $36 million over 4 years).
Concern that in long-run will cost more money than what saved in short-term by axing program – was it closed too soon?
Reintroduced in Queensland this year.
Summary
Various ways psychology intersects with prison
High mental illness rates
Difficulties with prison-based intervention
Move to community corrections where appropriate
Types of Prediction Outcomes: True Positive
A correct prediction that occurs when a person who is predicted to engage in some type of behaviour (e.g. a violent act) does so
Types of Prediction Outcomes: True Negative
A correct prediction that occurs when a person who is predicted not to engage in some type of behaviour (e.g. a violent act) does not
Types of Prediction Outcomes: False positive
An incorrect prediction that occurs when a person is predicted to engage in some type of behaviour (e.g. a violent act) but does not
Types of Prediction Outcomes: False Negative
An incorrect prediction that occurs when a person is predicted not to engage in some type of behaviour (e.g. a violent act) but does
Base Rate Problems
Represents the percentage of people within a given population who commit a criminal or violent act
Illusory Correlation
Belief that a correlation exists between two events that in reality are either not correlated or correlated to a much lesser degree
Unstructured Clinical Judgement
Decisions characterised by a substantial amount of professional discretion and lack of guidelines
Actuarial Prediction
Decisions are based on risk factors that are selected and combined based on their empirical or statistical association with a specific outcome
Structured Professional Judgement
Decisions are guided by a predetermined list of risk factors that have been selected from the research and professional literature. Judgement of risk level is based on the evaluator’s professional judgement
Risk Factor: Static Risk Factor
Risk factor that does not fluctuate over time and is not changed by treatment (e.g. age at first arrest). Also known as historical risk factor
Risk Factor: Dynamic Risk Factor
Risk factors that fluctuate over time and are amenable to change
Historical risk factors
Risk factors that refer to events that have been experienced in the past (e.g. age at first arrest) Also known as static
Dispositional Risk Factors
Risk factors that reflect the individual’s traits, tendencies, or styles (e.g. negative attitudes)
Clinical Risk Factors
Types and symptoms of mental disorders (e.g. substance abuse)
Contextual/ Situational Risk Factors
Risk factors that refer to aspects of the current environment (e.g. access to victims or weapons)
Desistance
The process of ceasing to engage in criminal behaviour
Antisocial Personality Disorder
Characterised by a history of behaviour in which the rights of others are violated
Sociopathy
A label used to describe a person whose psychopathic traits are assumed to be due to environmental factors
Adversarial Allegiance
The tendency for forensic experts to be biased toward the side (defence or prosecution) that hired them
