Sixteen years of the Brooklands Thinking Skills Offender Programme

Pages132-143
Published date11 September 2017
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/JIDOB-03-2017-0002
Date11 September 2017
AuthorGareth Hickman,Su Thrift,Rani Dhaliwal,Chénelle Taylor
Subject MatterHealth & social care,Learning & intellectual disabilities,Offending behaviour,Sociology,Sociology of crime & law,Deviant behaviour,Education,Special education/gifted education,Emotional/behavioural disorders
Sixteen years of the Brooklands Thinking
Skills Offender Programme
Gareth Hickman, Su Thrift, Rani Dhaliwal and Chénelle Taylor
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to report on the Brooklands Thinking Skills Offender
Programme (BTSOP), a social problem-solving skills group programme developed and provided to
people with intellectual disabilities (IDs) detained in conditions of medium and low security. The programme
has been running and evolving since 2001 and has undergone consistent development over this time.
Within the past five years, there have been significant developments of the Secur e Service
Treatment Pathway and the current paper describes the integration of the BTSOP within this new
pathway model.
Design/methodology/approach The programme was evaluated over five years using self-report
psychometric measures related to treatment targets. Evaluation data in relation to attrition rates, discharges,
transfers, treatment engagement and recidivism are also provided from a 16-year period. The updated
treatment pathway and a description of the programme are provided.
Findings Results showed statistically significant improvements in Rational Problem Solving, increased
internal locus of control and decreased external locus of control. Reflection on the limitations and challenges
to outcome assessment in this area is offered.
Originality/value This paper builds on the existing evidence base of interventions focused on developing
social problem-solving skills in offenders and presents evidence of the effectiveness of such programmes
with offenders with IDs.
Keywords CBT, Intervention, Offenders, Intellectual disabilities, Group programme,
Social and interpersonal problem solving
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Maladaptive or fau lty thinking patterns and cognit ive deficits have been demonstra bly linked to
recidivism in offenders (Dodge and Frame, 1982; Zamble and Porporino, 1988; Porporino and
Fabiano, 2000; Friendship et al., 2003). In mainstream a dult offenders, a nu mber of
programmes have bee n developed to help improve cognitive sk ills and decrease re-offending
rates. The two accredited cognitive skills programmes most widely delivered in prisons
are Reasoning and Rehabilitation (R&R; Ross et al., 1988) and Enhanced Thinking Skills
(ETS; Clark, 2000). Both programmes use cognitive-behavioural modification techniques to
replace well-established, maladaptive patterns of thinking with cognitive skills that promote
appropriate reactions and pro-social behaviour by teaching offenders to stop and think
before acting.
Goodman et al. (2011) suggest that mainstream offending behaviour programmes, such as the
ETS programme, could be a useful treatment for offenders with intellectual disabilities (IDs).
However, such prog rammes are often inaccessible to o ffenders with an ID due to programme
complexity, with high literacy and comprehension demands being made of participants
(Davies et al., 2004; Loucks, 2007 ). As such, a review of th e literature revea ls only a
small number of cogni tive skills progr ammes being delive red for patients det ained under the
Mental Health Act (1983, 2007) in medium- or high-security conditions. These include
delivery of R&R, R&R2MHP and ETS in secure inpatient settings with mentally disordered
Received 14 March 2017
Revised 3 August 2017
Accepted 4 August 2017
The authors would like to
acknowledge the contribution of
the Programme Development Unit
and Offender Group Treatment
Team staff, in particular the
contributions of Andrew Hordell
and Claire Carberry, who have
been integral to the development
and facilitation of the BTSOP.
Gareth Hickman and Su Thrift
are Clinical Psychologists, both
at the Coventry and
Warwickshire Partnership
Trust, Brooklands Hospital,
Birmingham, UK.
Rani Dhaliwal and Chénelle
Taylor are Trainee Forensic
Psychologists, both at the
Coventry and Warwickshire
Partnership NHS Trust,
Brooklands Hospital,
Birmingham, UK.
PAGE132
j
JOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES AND OFFENDING BEHAVIOUR
j
VOL. 8 NO. 3 2017, pp.132-143, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 2050-8824 DOI 10.1108/JIDOB-03-2017-0002

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