Life Skills Group: increasing foundation knowledge and motivation in offenders with a learning disability
| Date | 04 March 2014 |
| Published date | 04 March 2014 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JIDOB-08-2013-0016 |
| Pages | 4-13 |
| Author | Christy Patterson,Cathy Thomas |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Learning & intellectual disabilities,Offending behaviour |
Life Skills Group: increasing foundation
knowledge and motivation in offenders
with a learning disability
Christy Patterson and Cathy Thomas
Christy Patterson is a Higher
Assistant Psychologist and
Dr Cathy Thomas is a
Consultant Clinical
Psychologist, both are based
at Psychology Department,
Partnerships in Care Learning
Disability Services, Diss, UK.
Abstract
Purpose – Offenders with a learning disability present with greater clinical need than those without a
learning disability. However, for this client group, access to and engagement with psychological and
criminogenic interventions are often limited. The purpose of this paper is to discuss a potentially useful
approach to this issue.
Design/methodology/approach – A single case study design was used to evaluate an introductory group
programme, delivered over 12 weekly sessions, in a forensic learning disability service. Semi-structured
interviews were used alongside psychometric measures, which were completed prior to, and following
completion of, the group, in order to assess the individual’s experience of the group, their emotional
understanding and difficulties, and readiness to change.
Findings – Readiness to change and emotional understanding improved following completion of the
programme. Self-reported emotional difficulties showed improvement, although not all staff reports
corroborated this. Notably, the service user reported a positive experience, with increased confidence and
motivation to attend further groups.
Research limitations/implications – Generalisation from the results of single case studies is limited.
Although results suggest that motivation to engage further has increased, more research is required to
assess whether this impacts on actual ability to engage.
Practical implications – Offering an introductory programme prior to further, more criminogenically
focused intervention may be more effective than offering these interventions as the first stage of treatment.
Originality/value – An introductory group programme may be potentially helpful in providing the
foundation knowledge, confidence and motivation necessary to attend further intervention focusing on
criminogenic need for offenders with a learning disability.
Keywords Learning disability, Offenders, Group therapy
Paper type Case study
Introduction
This paper explores a cognitive be havioural therapy (CBT)-ba sed introductory group
programme designed for individuals first entering forensic learning disability services: the Life
Skills Group (Thomas et al., 2010). It is expected that the group will support development in the
four key areas in which this client group typically experience difficulties (social skills, emotional
recognition and management, relationships and self-esteem). It is posited that such a group
will provide the foundation knowledge necessary to complete further treatment specifically
targeting criminogenic behaviours successfully (O’Mahony and Hearne, 2008); to provide a
positive experience of group attendance and thus increase motivation to attend further
treatment interventions. Although the service regularly offers the group to its service users, there
has been little research into the efficacy of the programme. The few case studies that have been
investigated (e.g. O’Mahony and Hearne, 2008) have focused on assessments of self-esteem
The authors thank Simon Botting
for his supervision of the Life Skills
Group, all staff and service users
involved in the facilitation of the
programme, and the subject of the
case study.
PAGE 4
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JOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES AND OFFENDING BEHAVIOUR
j
VOL. 5 NO. 1 2014, pp. 4-13, CEmerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 2050-8824 DOI 10.1108/JIDOB-08-2013-0016
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