A multisite randomized trial of a cognitive skills program for male mentally disordered offenders: Violence and antisocial behavior outcomes.

2012 ◽  
Vol 80 (6) ◽  
pp. 1114-1120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexis E. Cullen ◽  
Amory Y. Clarke ◽  
Elizabeth Kuipers ◽  
Sheilagh Hodgins ◽  
Kimberlie Dean ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Randomized Trial ◽  
Antisocial Behavior ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Mentally Disordered Offenders ◽  
Mentally Disordered ◽  
Behavior Outcomes

A multi-site randomized controlled trial of a cognitive skills programme for male mentally disordered offenders: social–cognitive outcomes

2011 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 557-569 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. E. Cullen ◽  
A. Y. Clarke ◽  
E. Kuipers ◽  
S. Hodgins ◽  
K. Dean ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Social Problem ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Social Problem Solving ◽  
Post Treatment ◽  
Mentally Disordered Offenders ◽  
Mentally Disordered ◽  
Randomized Controlled ◽  
To Receive

BackgroundCognitive skills programmes have been associated with improvements on psychometric measures and reductions in antisocial behaviour in mentally disordered offenders (MDOs). However, to date there have been no randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of such programmes with this population. In the first RCT of a cognitive skills programme with MDOs we aimed to determine if participation in the Reasoning and Rehabilitation (R&R) programme was associated with improvements in social–cognitive skills and thinking styles.MethodA total of 84 men with a primary diagnosis of psychotic disorder and a history of violence were recruited from medium-secure forensic units and allocated to receive R&R (n=44) or treatment as usual (TAU; n=40). At baseline and post-treatment interviews, participants completed questionnaires to assess social problem-solving, criminal attitudes, anger experience, blame externalizing and perspective-taking. Researchers were not blind to group status.ResultsThe R&R group demonstrated significant improvements on measures of social problem-solving relative to the TAU group, some of which were maintained at 12 months post-treatment. Only half of those allocated to receive R&R completed the full programme. In post-hoc analyses programme completers showed improvements in social problem-solving at the end of treatment and changes in criminal attitudes at 12 months post-treatment.ConclusionsAmong male MDOs, R&R participation was associated with improvements in social–cognitive skills, some of which were maintained for up to 12 months post-treatment. Our finding that programme completers do better may reflect pre-treatment patient characteristics. This study establishes that multi-site RCTs can be conducted in medium-secure forensic units.

Mentally disordered offenders: A national survey of patients and facilities.

1982 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry J. Steadman ◽  
John Monahan ◽  
Eliot Hartstone ◽  
Sharon Kantorowski Davis ◽  
Pamela Clark Robbins
Keyword(s):  
National Survey ◽  
Mentally Disordered Offenders ◽  
Mentally Disordered

The Antisocial Personality Questionnaire: An Inventory for Assessing Personality Deviation in Offender Populations1 * An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Fifth European Conference on Law and Psychology, Budapest, Hungary, August 1995.

1999 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald Blackburn ◽  
Diane Fawcett
Keyword(s):  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Social Withdrawal ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Criminal Career ◽  
Big Five Personality ◽  
Personality Questionnaire ◽  
Antisocial Personality ◽  
Mentally Disordered Offenders ◽  
Mentally Disordered

Summary: The development is described of the Antisocial Personality Questionnaire (APQ), a short multitrait, self-report inventory that measures intrapersonal and interpersonal dispositions of relevance to antisocial populations. Scales were generated through factor analysis of an item pool adapted from the MMPI, Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory, and a self-report scale of Psychopathy, using samples of male mentally disordered offenders (N = 499) and male volunteer nonoffenders (N = 238). Eight factors extracted were identified as Self-Control, Self-Esteem, Avoidance, Paranoid Suspicion, Resentment, Aggression, Deviance, and Extraversion. Short scales constructed to measure these have satisfactory reliability (α), and correlations with measures of personality disorder, observer ratings of interpersonal style, and criminal career data support their construct validity. Scale intercorrelations yield two higher-order dimensions of hostile impulsivity and social withdrawal that reflect orientations towards others and the self, respectively. The APQ provides comprehensive coverage of the deviant traits implicated in personality disorder and antisocial behavior, and appears to tap three of the Big Five personality dimensions (Neuroticism, Extraversion and Agreeableness). The questionnaire has satisfactory psychometric properties and can aid research and intervention with offenders.

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