Write a report that evaluates the specific challenges and issues that might be faced by prison staff planning to implement a therapeutic service (as described in the hypothetical scenario provided).
The report should be based on the following scenario:
Imagine that you are a psychological consultant who has been contacted by a local prison. The governor of the prison wants to implement a therapeutic service and offer the prisoners therapy. The prison is for Cat B male prisoners, many have been convicted several times for various crimes. A recent inspection of the prison reported that there were high levels of self-harm and attempted suicides by the prisoners and it was suggested that a number of the prisoners would benefit from receiving therapy.
- The governor is requesting a report on the issues that need to be taken into consideration in setting up the therapeutic service.
- The report needs to not only provide the benefits of offering therapy but also any drawbacks and potential challenges that may be associated with offering therapy in a forensic setting.
- The report should present an argument in relation to which of the four therapeutic approaches in the module (attachment therapy, CBT, systemic therapy and mindfulness), should be offered to the male prisoners, with an appropriate rationale. It should explain why particular therapies might be beneficial and outline any potential drawbacks associated with them.
- The report should discuss why male prisoners may not respond to therapy, how to help those who have suicidal thoughts and self-harm.
- The report should also discuss how to prevent reoffending, as many have been convicted several times.
- The report should include general suggestions and recommendations for the governor rather than specific guidance on how the therapeutic service should be set up in this prison.
The report should discuss the benefits as well as drawbacks and potential challenges of offering therapy in a forensic context, and suggest what types of therapy might be appropriate to offer to male prisoners. It should also consider why male prisoners may not respond to therapy and how to help those who self-harm or hold suicidal ideation or intent.
You are asked to provide the governor with general suggestions and recommendations for a therapeutic service for this/these client cohort/problems in a prison environment. You are not asked to come up with specific guidance on how the therapeutic service should be set up in this prison (e.g. no need to cover how to implement a therapeutic service in this prison, how many therapists, or how many sessions should be offered etc).
Report structure
The report could be set out as the example below, although you may want to change the names of the headings, and/or include other sections.
- Summary: brief summing up of the whole report, including a summary of your recommendations.
- Introduction: a fairly brief introduction informing the reader of the situation (not more than two or three sentences).
- Possible types of service provision: e.g. discussion of the suitability of individual/group therapy and therapeutic community for the setting described in the scenario.
- Therapeutic approaches and their application in the work with male prisoners: discuss the different therapeutic approaches (attachment therapy, CBT, systemic therapy and mindfulness) for therapeutic work with male prisoners. While all four approaches should be considered, at least to some extent, it is not necessary for all four approaches to be discussed in the same depth. You may, for example, choose to elaborate on the approach(es) you recommend, and the rationale for this selection, and offer only a brief discussion of the approaches that are not recommended.
- Therapeutic work with self-harm and suicide: consider some of the issues involved in working with male prisoners who self-harm or hold suicidal ideation or intent.
- Recommendations: include your opinion, based on evidence, about what kind of therapeutic service (e.g. individual and group therapy, therapeutic community) and therapeutic approach(es) might be the most effective in the given context. You should also consider the specific challenges that those working in the prison might face if your recommendations are implemented.
- Reference list: as with any assessment you need to include a reference list.
PLEASE ONLY REFERENCE MATERIAL FROM THE PROVIDED BOOK:
https://login.vitalsource.com/user/sso?brand=online.vitalsource.com&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fonline.vitalsource.com%2Fbooks%2F9781473968387%3Fcontext_token%3De11380f0-c5bd-013b-5e47-6ad967981a4f
(Click continue without an Account and it will take you straight to the book).
- Chapter 1 Tensions between therapeutic and forensic settings. This chapter discusses the challenges of conducting therapy in forensic settings.
- Chapter 6 Gender. This chapter looks at gender and criminality and mental health.
- Chapter 7 Age. Pages 95–108 look at age in relation to crime and mental health problems and offer considerations for counselling and forensic practice.
- Chapter 13 Attachment based therapy. This chapter looks at how attachment based counselling can facilitate therapeutic change, particularly in the forensic field.
- Chapter 14 CBT. This chapter discusses the challenges that counsellors and forensic psychologists face when implementing CBT in prison settings.
- Chapter 15 Systemic therapy. This chapter looks at how systemic approaches can be applied in therapeutic work in forensic mental-health practice settings.
- Chapter 16 Mindfulness. This chapter looks at how mindfulness has been applied in the criminal justice system, particularly within a prison context to help prisoners with mental health difficulties, and with rehabilitation. It also looks at how DBT has been developed to help work with behaviour such as self-harm, substance abuse, and abusive relationships, so it is particularly applicable to forensic settings.
- Chapter 18 Self harm and suicide. This chapter looks at the psychological interventions in the context of the risk of suicide and self-harm/injury.
- Chapter 19 Contexts. This chapter discusses the use of therapy in prisons, especially considering the offence committed, and of adapting therapy to the specific characteristics and needs of the offender.
- Chapter 20 Prevention. This chapter looks at how mental health problems and offending behaviour might be prevented.