FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGY ESSAY PLANS
To what extent are interventions for mental health effective?
STUDIES/EVIDENCE:
Karson 2014 – prison or punishment alone will not stop reoffending – interventions
needed..
Us department of justice 1993 – arrests peak at age 16
Leibing 1997- at this age (16) we do not have sufficient coping skills to deal with
prison life effectively (do we ever..?) – can particularly impact those with mental
health issues..(bukstel and kilmann)
Alternative dispute programmes have been considered with a plausible intervention
(Braithwaite 1989) and have found to reduce recidivism (bonta et al 2002).
Youth offending liason diverson schemes are sometimes used with young offending
with mental health issues, who have relatively minor offences. These increase a
persons access to CAMHS (the child and adolescent mental health service) to provide
the support they require.
However these have not be any more effective than normal court proceedings in
terms of effectiveness (schanerg et al)
Regardless – its important to consider the persons mental health and feelings.
-the programme involves a meeting between the offender, the victim and their family to
discuss the harm caused by the offenders behaviour. ]
-However – to really reduce and treat the cognitive disorder - use CBT (Beck 1970) –this has
also been found to reduce youth substance abuse with a one year follow up (lipsey et al
2001).
-CBT has also been implementedin schools- allowing for earlier intervention and reduced
costs. (belus et al 2014)
-howeverrrr – cbt does require motivation from ppt (belus et al 2014) and has not been found
to do any better than alternative interventions in the long term (schevalbe et al).
Trauma can cause mental health issues which can lead to offending (widom1989) –
person can become more aggressiveTrauma can cause mental health issues which
can lead to offending (widom1989) – person can become more aggressively
defensive when they feel threatened (cherntob et al).
Ptsd treatment in incarcerated youths has been found to be effective in reducing
ptsd symptoms and thus reducing aggressive defences. (Ahrens and Rexford 2002)
However – this study may not be entirely valid due to a lot of subjects being
substance absuers – and this was not treated during this intervention – which could
just lead to more offending. Also recidivism rate of these subjects not being reported
either
, FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGY ESSAY PLANS
MST – MULTI SYSTEMIC THERAPY- considered a plausible intervention
(henggeler et al 1989)
-also – positive effects on reducing criminal activity and marijuana use (often
inducing schizophrenia).
However, important to note this study did have an attention rate of 32% at the final follow up.
A Meta – Analysis of MST has been proven positive with 70% of families functioning better
in their daily lives compared with those given alternative interventions (such as individual
therapy (bordwin et al1995). Even the reoffenders had relatively minor offences which shows
the strong positive effects of MST.
Mst involves everyone involved in the offenders life- ie peers, parents, siblings, school and
the local community.
This holistic approach allows the offending to be tackled from many different aspects such as
the causes of original mental health issues eg parental abuse causing ptsd (egeland et al 1986)
and the influences of the offending behaviour itself.
Wagner et al 2010 – the siblings of offenors when involved in MST were benefitting even 25
years on.
Bordwin et al 1995 – family coercion is a beneficial outcome of mst.
Overall – mst found to be successful when using randomised-controlled studies (sudokolsky
and ruchkin) aswell as having no harmful effects (little et al 2005)
YOUTH OFFENDING TEAMS -
These work independently from the police and criminal justice system and provide unbiased
support to young offenders. They offer parenting programmes (asparenting is often one of the
main influences of mental health issues as well as offending behaviour (bandura 1986)-
children use parents/role modelsto imitate from when developing.
Important to note that mental health issues can also exist due to biological dispositions which
cannot be helped
DESCRIPTIONS/EXPLANATIONS OF CONCEPTS:
Examples of antisocial behaviour include theft, harm to others, property destruction
– armelius and andreassen 2007
Often a result of mental health issues ie personality disorders..
Drug use has been considered a form of antisocial behaviour (scheier et al) that can
result of mental health issues, sensation seeking or rebelliousness.. (zuckerman et al)
Taking drugs alone is an offence as well as committing certain acts whilst under the
influence of drugs
Unemployability is a big issue for drug takers aswell as risk of relapse (inciardi et al)
THUS – prison does not seem like the best intervention for offenders with mental health
issues as it is clear that the further youths are into the criminal justice system, the harder it is
to get out of the cycle of offending.
To what extent are interventions for mental health effective?
STUDIES/EVIDENCE:
Karson 2014 – prison or punishment alone will not stop reoffending – interventions
needed..
Us department of justice 1993 – arrests peak at age 16
Leibing 1997- at this age (16) we do not have sufficient coping skills to deal with
prison life effectively (do we ever..?) – can particularly impact those with mental
health issues..(bukstel and kilmann)
Alternative dispute programmes have been considered with a plausible intervention
(Braithwaite 1989) and have found to reduce recidivism (bonta et al 2002).
Youth offending liason diverson schemes are sometimes used with young offending
with mental health issues, who have relatively minor offences. These increase a
persons access to CAMHS (the child and adolescent mental health service) to provide
the support they require.
However these have not be any more effective than normal court proceedings in
terms of effectiveness (schanerg et al)
Regardless – its important to consider the persons mental health and feelings.
-the programme involves a meeting between the offender, the victim and their family to
discuss the harm caused by the offenders behaviour. ]
-However – to really reduce and treat the cognitive disorder - use CBT (Beck 1970) –this has
also been found to reduce youth substance abuse with a one year follow up (lipsey et al
2001).
-CBT has also been implementedin schools- allowing for earlier intervention and reduced
costs. (belus et al 2014)
-howeverrrr – cbt does require motivation from ppt (belus et al 2014) and has not been found
to do any better than alternative interventions in the long term (schevalbe et al).
Trauma can cause mental health issues which can lead to offending (widom1989) –
person can become more aggressiveTrauma can cause mental health issues which
can lead to offending (widom1989) – person can become more aggressively
defensive when they feel threatened (cherntob et al).
Ptsd treatment in incarcerated youths has been found to be effective in reducing
ptsd symptoms and thus reducing aggressive defences. (Ahrens and Rexford 2002)
However – this study may not be entirely valid due to a lot of subjects being
substance absuers – and this was not treated during this intervention – which could
just lead to more offending. Also recidivism rate of these subjects not being reported
either
, FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGY ESSAY PLANS
MST – MULTI SYSTEMIC THERAPY- considered a plausible intervention
(henggeler et al 1989)
-also – positive effects on reducing criminal activity and marijuana use (often
inducing schizophrenia).
However, important to note this study did have an attention rate of 32% at the final follow up.
A Meta – Analysis of MST has been proven positive with 70% of families functioning better
in their daily lives compared with those given alternative interventions (such as individual
therapy (bordwin et al1995). Even the reoffenders had relatively minor offences which shows
the strong positive effects of MST.
Mst involves everyone involved in the offenders life- ie peers, parents, siblings, school and
the local community.
This holistic approach allows the offending to be tackled from many different aspects such as
the causes of original mental health issues eg parental abuse causing ptsd (egeland et al 1986)
and the influences of the offending behaviour itself.
Wagner et al 2010 – the siblings of offenors when involved in MST were benefitting even 25
years on.
Bordwin et al 1995 – family coercion is a beneficial outcome of mst.
Overall – mst found to be successful when using randomised-controlled studies (sudokolsky
and ruchkin) aswell as having no harmful effects (little et al 2005)
YOUTH OFFENDING TEAMS -
These work independently from the police and criminal justice system and provide unbiased
support to young offenders. They offer parenting programmes (asparenting is often one of the
main influences of mental health issues as well as offending behaviour (bandura 1986)-
children use parents/role modelsto imitate from when developing.
Important to note that mental health issues can also exist due to biological dispositions which
cannot be helped
DESCRIPTIONS/EXPLANATIONS OF CONCEPTS:
Examples of antisocial behaviour include theft, harm to others, property destruction
– armelius and andreassen 2007
Often a result of mental health issues ie personality disorders..
Drug use has been considered a form of antisocial behaviour (scheier et al) that can
result of mental health issues, sensation seeking or rebelliousness.. (zuckerman et al)
Taking drugs alone is an offence as well as committing certain acts whilst under the
influence of drugs
Unemployability is a big issue for drug takers aswell as risk of relapse (inciardi et al)
THUS – prison does not seem like the best intervention for offenders with mental health
issues as it is clear that the further youths are into the criminal justice system, the harder it is
to get out of the cycle of offending.
