The use of psychological formulation Flashcards
define Psychological formulation
- a form of diagnosis
- aims to explain the causes of a person’s difficulties by contracting an individual summery or story of a person’s life
who conducts psychological formulations ?
forensic psychologists
how many phases are there in forensic analysis ?
3
what are the three phases of forensic analysis ?
- offence analysis
- understanding the function of offending
- application to treatment
what occurs in offence analysis ?
forensic psychologist analyses the offence or offences, to gain insight into the offender’s motivations
why is offence analysis difficult ?
because the reasons behind an offender’s motivations are likely to be very complex
how do forensic psychologists conduct an offence analysis ?
they refer to similar offences committed by others, to see if there are general factors that are relevant to the case
what is meant when psychological formulation is described as idiographic ?
the formulation must relate to the specific offender being analysed, rather than simply looking for an average ‘type’ of offender
why is offence analysis useful ?
identifying reasons why the offence happened will allow the forensic psychologist to assess the risk of reoffending and what possible causes can be removed to reduce the risk of reoffending
what is understanding the function of offending ?
for some offenders, crime goes past a simple reward system and is more of an addiction - fulfilling a craving or need (hodge et al. 2011)
why could understanding the function of offending be useful ?
from a behaviourist perspective, crime may be reinforced as it is rewarding for the individual - e.g., a rapist may be compensating for their own feelings of worthlessness by exercising power over their victims - this could suggest early abuse in individual’s life
what is an important end goal for psychological formulation ?
to establish some form of intervention for the offender based on the conclusions drawn
what should the rehabilitative programme for the offender be based on ?
it should reflect on how the offending started in the first place, the risk of the offending, and how likely the offender is to stick with the programme (their level of motivation)
why is psychological formulation described as a ‘work in progress’?
because the formulation will be reassessed and adapted, based on the success of diagnosis and treatment
what is a strength of psychological formulation ?
it can provide insight into particularly complex cases of offending
what is the benefit of having a collaboration from the probation service, the police and psychologists in these formulations (strength)
pooling expertise is helpful when deciding the best way forward for an offender, and the different range of possible treatment options - case is managed effectively
what is the competing argument for psychological formulation being useful in complex cases ?
- may be a practical problem when trying to make sense of the wealth of information
- some evidence gained about the offender may be contradictory
- means there may be no obvious rehabilitation programme that suggests itself
- hard for psychologist to work this into a clear and structured formulation
explain the problem with source bias, within psychological formulation
- information relating to offence analysis and the function of offending tends to be gathered through clinical interviews
- offender’s retrospective of their life (like family life) may be flawed and unreliable
- conclusions will be based on the psychologist’s subjective interpretation
- THIS INTRODUCES BIAS WITHIN THE FORMULATION - MAY IMPACT ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE SUBSEQUENT DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT
explain the problem with how success is measured, within psychological formulation
- success of psychological formulation is measured on whether the offender goes on to reoffend - using tools such as OFFENDER GROUP RECONVICTION SCORE
- this obscures the fact that most reoffending goes undetected - so it is actually measuring reconviction rates rather than reoffending rates
how is the success of psychological formulation measured ?
- measured on whether the offender reoffends
- assessed with tools such as the Offender Group Re-conviction Score (OGRS)
what is the problem with how psychological formulation is measured ?
by using tools like Offender Group Re-conviction Score, it obscures the fact that most reoffending goes undetected - what is actually being measured is reconviction rates rather than reoffending (Duwe and Clark 2014).
how could the success of psychological formulation be better measured ?
be judged by whether the individual has changed their sense of identity or whether their social circumstances have improved
what does the problem with measuring the success of psychological formulation suggest?
it suggests that the effectiveness of psychological formulation should be based on different, and perhaps more valid, criteria
what is an application of psychological formulation?
it offers a different approach to reducing reoffending
explain how psychological formulation can be applied to reducing reoffending
- the process is mainly about educating the offender as to how they arrived in their current predicament
- if successful, it is likely to lead to reduced reoffending rates in the future (which remain at an all-time high of 70%)
what does the application of psychological formulation suggest ?
it suggests that widespread adoption of psychological formulation methodology may help to reduce reoffending
