formulations

• when do psychological formulations take place?

  after offender has been sentences, normally completed by forensic psychologist.

  • main purpose= assess and treat offending behaviour
• offence analysis?

  process of looking and researching different offences to understand the nature of it. understand contingencies (draw conclusions from similar offence about different offenders who carried out similar crime) so an insight is seen to what motivated the offender to carry out the crime
• 3 main phases of psychological formulation?

  1. offence analysis
  2. understanding function of offending
  3. application to treatment
• understanding function of offending?

  what purpose does the offending behaviour serve to the individual and what motivated the offender?
• application to treatment?

  establish some sort of form of intervention or treatment with the aim to reduce reoffending
• what are case formulations?

  a way of making sense of an offenders difficulties by looking at the variety of contributing factors to their behaviour.
• summary of case formulations?

  • psychological formulations aim to create predictions about what has led to someone committing a crime and why it'll continue
  • should be short and focus on key features about the criminal behaviour.
  • often has to look into an individuals past and present relationships as well as social and economic circumstances
  • decide how likely an offender is to reoffend as well as possible reasons why they don't respond to treatments
• HCPC guideline that forensic psychologists must follow?

  • practice safely and effectively within field of practice
  • practice as an autonomous professional, exercising own professional judgement
  • understand application of psychology in the legal system
  • understand application and integration of a range of theoretical perspectives on socially damaging behaviour
• strengths of case formulations?

  • easy to complete and simplify complexities of information obtained by working with an offender. by reducing behaviour to simpler forms, decisions about future can easily be made
  • brings work of many agencies/professionals in criminal justice system making it helpful in deciding best course of action
  • helps with individual differences, specifically tailored to them and making changes in their own behaviour
• weaknesses of case formulations?

  • offenders may not be truthful about behaviour (socially desirable bias) or doesn't accurately remember evens in their life so information gathered could be unreliable
  • evidence gained by agencies could be incomplete, meaning it's difficult to recommend suitable rehabilitative programme.
  • some info may be missing, does offender have a head injury?
  • effectiveness of treatment programme isn't valid, mainly measured by if person reoffends or not