psychological/ case formulation

Question 1

what is it?

Answer 1

the process that happens after conviction and involves;
- understanding the offender
- analysing the offence
- considering the function the offence might have for them
- applying this to treatment

Question 2

phase one: offence analysis

Answer 2

• the psych analyses the offence in order to gain insight into the motivations of the criminal. in order to do this, they will refer to similar cases of others to see if there are any general factors relevant to the crime. however, there are many complex reasons why someone turns to crime and so the case formulation must be idiographic in nature ( must relate specifically to offender) identifying the factors which led to the offence enable the psych to assess the risk of reoffending.

Question 3

phase two: understanding the function of offending

Answer 3

• involves understanding what purpose the offence serves for the offender. it may be for some similar to an addiction, fulfilling a craving. for example, a rpist might compensate for their own feelings of worthlessness by exercising power over victims. this helps psych to understand what compels them to commit.
  psych perspectives are useful here eg. behaviours might say that the crime is the result of reinforcement due to the rewards crim brings them whereas psychodynamic might refer to childhood abuse or traumatic experience.

Question 4

phase three: application to treatment

Answer 4

an important goal of formulations to establish a form of intervention based on findings.
therefore a rehabilitative programme will reflect how the offending started, the risk of reoffending and the likelihood of the offender sticking with the programme
it will be reassessed based on the success of diagnosis and treatment

Question 5

evidence

Answer 5

formulations can predict effective treatment
CA= however, to understand why a person commits an offence often relies on self report measures - which are subjective and may be affected by demand characteristics such as social desirability bias. this means that offender analysis and psych forms may lack validity. some evidence has found that violent offenders did not change their attitudes but this did not lead to a reduction in reoffending. suggests self report data lacks validity.

Question 6

application

Answer 6

• can be adapted to all levels of offending; from drug offenders to sex offenders
• prison service to help reach decisions about treatment
• judge- to determine conditions of probation
• parole board- to decide whether its safe to release someone

Question 7

S/W

Answer 7

:) personalised and individualised so takes into account indivual differences - they provide insight into particularly complex cases by pooling expertise from a variety of sources.
:) eclectic - they use whichever psychological theories are appropriate
for example, psychodynamic explain how early relationships and childhood experinces affect behaviour in later life. behavioural theories may explain the function of offending behaviour. cognitive therapies used to develop new associations and contingencies.

therefore, psych formulations are not reductionist because for each offender a new formulation is generated which is unique to them.

:( each psych produces forms in their own way so there may be no consistency. therefore it is difficult to draw general conclusions which can be applied to other criminals.

BPS/HCPC PROVIDE GUIDELINES TO REDUCE VALIDITY AND MAKE FORMS MORE RELIABLE.