Training probation officers in case formulation for personality disordered offenders

Area of Science:

• Forensic Psychology
• Criminal Justice Training

Background:

• The UK strategy emphasizes case formulation for managing high-risk offenders with severe personality disorder.
• Evidence for offender managers' ability to complete case formulations is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop, implement, and evaluate training in case formulation for offender managers.
• To assess changes in offender managers' attitudes towards working with personality disordered offenders post-training.

Main Methods:

• A 5-day training program was delivered to 20 offender managers.
• Case formulation ability was assessed using a 10-point quality checklist before and after training.
• Attitudes towards personality disorder were also assessed pre- and post-training.

Main Results:

• Offender managers demonstrated significant improvement in case formulation skills post-training.
• Seven of ten quality domains met 'satisfactory' ratings after the training.
• Attitudes towards working with personality disordered offenders improved in two of three assessed domains.

Conclusions:

• Training offender managers in case formulation is effective.
• Findings support the extension of the Offender Personality Disorder Pathway.
• Further research with larger, randomized samples is recommended to assess optimal training and sustained effects.