Increasing knowledge of personality disorders in detained women with an intellectual disability
| Pages | 23-32 |
| Date | 09 March 2015 |
| Published date | 09 March 2015 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JIDOB-04-2015-0005 |
| Author | Deborah Morris,Nathalie Gray |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Learning & intellectual disabilities,Offending behaviour |
Increasing knowledge of personality
disorders in detained women with an
intellectual disability
Deborah Morris and Nathalie Gray
Dr Deborah Morris is the Lead
Consultant Clinical
Psychologist for the Learning
Disability Pathway, St Andrews
Healthcare, Northampton, UK.
Nathalie Gray is a Trainee
Clinical Psychologist at the
University of Leicester,
Leicester, UK.
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to describe the evaluation of the “Living with a Personality Disorder”
group(Morris, 2011a).This interventionis a psycho-educationgroup for womenwith an intellectualdisability (ID)
and a personality disorder (PD). It draws on ps ycho-education, biosocial theory (Linehan, 1993) and
compassionate mindapproaches (Gilbert,2009). It aims to increase knowledgeof personality,PDs, to increase
awareness of the “non-disordered”partsof self and to increaseknowledgeof psychologicaltreatments for PD’s.
Design/methodology/approach –The intervention was delivered to women detained in a specialist
women’s learning disability forensic service. It was delivered over 12 group and two individual sessions. The
Knowledge of Personality Disorders Questionnaire (D’Silva and Duggan, 2002), the Self-Compassion Scale
(Neff, 2003), the University of Rhode Island Change Assessment scale (McConnaughy et al., 1983) and a
seriesof Likert scalequestions and statements wereused to assess theutility of the intervention. Theintervention
was pilotedbetween 2012 and 2014in a series of small groups.The lead facilitatorfor each interventionwas a
registeredpsychologist with trainingin dialectical behaviourtherapy.
Findings –Completing the intervention resulted in an increase in knowledge of PDs, treatments, increased
self-compassion and therapeutic optimism and awareness of the limitations of a PD diagnosis.
Originality/value –A new intervention that may increase knowledge of PDs, of personal strengths and
increase optimism about change that may be a useful component to the treatment for service users with PDs
and an ID.
Keywords Women, Intellectual disability, Personality disorder, Forensic, Psycho-education,
Self-compassion
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
The assessment, treatment and management of co-morbid personality disorders (PD) in
individuals withan intellectual disability (ID) is a complex clinical issue. Ascertaining the prevalence
and clinical needs of PD and ID populations is confounded by a number of factors. Confounding
variables relate t o ID’s themselves with neurodevelopmental variablesimpacting on social learning,
cognition, impulsivity and emotional regulation, all of which can lead to over-estimates in the
presence of PD’s (Torr, 2008). The diagnostic method used also influences prevalence figures.
Studies have demonstrated that different criteria lead to different prevalence rates. For example,
evidence suggeststhat reliance on expert opinionleads to the highest prevalence rates and useof
the DSM-IV-TV criteria the lowest (Cooperet al., 2007). The definition of ID used, inparticular with
borderline IQ populations often, also influences prevalence figures. Finally, differences in the
sampling methods andpopulations used further compounds gaining a sense of treatment needs
that can be generalised across gender and non-detained populations.
Received 11 April 2015
Revised 28 June 2015
Accepted 20 July 2015
DOI 10.1108/JIDOB-04-2015-0005 VOL. 6 NO. 1 2015, pp.23-32, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 2050-8824
j
JOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES AND OFFENDING BEHAVIOUR
j
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