Compassion focussed working in secure forensic care

Pages287-293
Published date04 December 2017
Date04 December 2017
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/JCRPP-04-2017-0016
AuthorJon Taylor
Subject MatterHealth & social care,Criminology & forensic psychology
Brief research paper
Compassion focussed working in secure
forensic care
Jon Taylor
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe practices associated with compassion focussed therapy
(CFT) in a secure forensic setting for men with a learning disability and personality disorder. The values of this
model for both therapeutic work and the organisation of residential practices in a secure setting are
considered.
Design/methodology/approach The paper presents a conceptual discussion of the use of CFT with an
offender population.
Findings The paper describes the use of CFT as a framework for working with offenders with an intellectual
disability and personality disorder. The paper discusses the organisation of service practices alongside more
formal therapeutic interventions.
Practical implications CFT offers a unique integrated model for working with offenders. The core CFT
model invites staff teams to consider the safety seeking aspects of challenging behaviours and to understand
these behaviours in the context of evolved threat processing mechanisms. The focus on emotional
processing that is central to the model invites services to develop deep understanding of the functions of
violence and other offending behaviours and to balance work in these areas alongside the development of
capacities that offer individuals methods for effective emotional regulation.
Originality/value The paper provides a unique discussion point for the organisation of forensic services for
this population. The consideration of the wider social context of offender rehabilitation in terms of the
residential settings, and the juxtaposition of this with formal treatments is rarely considered.
Keywords Personality disorder, Offenders, Learning disability, Compassion focussed therapy,
Secure care, Ward culture
Paper type Conceptual paper
Introduction
Compassionfocussed therapy(CFT) is an integrated form of psychotherapy developedfor working
with people who have high levels of shame (Gilbert, 1992). Developed from Social Mentality Theory
(SMT) (Gilbert, 1989), CFT is designed to promote resilience to shame by enhancing an individuals
ability to self-soothe and experience compassion. SMT, in turn, offer a conceptual framework to
explainhow different aspectsof our minds are activatedin differentpatterns to create different types
of relationships. Subsequently, the thoughts,feelings and motivationsstimulated by these different
relationships (or mentalities) organiseour mind and generate positive feelingswhen the relationship
is progressing and negative feelings when the relationship is not working well.It is this latter state,
where our mechanisms fail to stimulate affiliation and rather stimulate the threat system, that is
particularly pertinent in forensic populations.
Drawing on evidence from neuro-science (e.g. Panksepp, 2010), Gilbert proposes three primary
emotional processing centres. Threat focussed processing is designed to attend to and respond
Received 25 April 2017
Revised 5 June 2017
Accepted 6 June 2017
Jon Taylor is a Consultant
Forensic Psychologist and
Psychotherapist at
St Andrews Healthcare,
Mansfield, UK.
DOI 10.1108/JCRPP-04-2017-0016 VOL. 3 NO. 4 2017, pp.287-293, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 2056-3841
j
JOURNAL OF CRIMINOLOGICAL RESEARCH, POLICY AND PRACTICE
j
PAGE287

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