Forensic and Mental Health C83FMH

Lecture 2: Interventions for offending behaviour

Dr Ellen Townsend

NB. You do not have all my slides on handouts: make notes!

Aims

To evaluate whether interventions designed to rehabilitate offenders are effective

To explore this question using an ‘evidence-based’ approach

Punishment or rehabilitation?

Should we try to rehabilitate young offenders or should we just punish them?

If rehabilitation – what should this involve– how should it be done– by whom and where?

Consider– Risk factors for

offending?– Age?– Gender?

Risk factors include - Troubled home life

Peer-group pressure

Poor attainment at school

Drug and alcohol use or mental illness

Deprivation

What should we do about young offenders?

'Prison not working' for young offenders

Matt Weaver

Monday May 8, 2006Guardian Unlimited

‘Government's young offender scheme fails’

Daily Mail

27th October 2005

Punishment and rehabilitation

The Youth Justice Board (YJB)

The YJB oversees the youth justice system in England and Wales.

Prevent offending and re-offending by children and young people < 18 

Youth justice facts in England and Wales

A child can be responsible for criminal behaviour in the England and Wales at age 10.

15 to 17 year-olds in prison - more than doubled in last ten years

What happens to them?

YOTS (Youth Offending Team) community orders e.g. Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programme (ISSP) and intensive fostering.

Custody – LASCH (Local Authority Secure Children’s

Home)– YOI– Secure Training Centres.

Interventions for offending behaviour

Family and parenting interventions

Multisystemic treatment

Cognitive behavioural interventions

Tackle re-offending and anti-social behaviour

Lack of randomized studies (eg. Farrington, 2003)

Effectiveness uncertain

Evidence-based approach required?

What is the best evidence?

Observational study without control groups e.g. Cross-sectional study?

Expert opinion? Experimental study without randomisation? E.g. Case control

Experimental study with random allocatione.g. RCT?

Evidence-based practice

Use of current best evidence in making decisions about practice (eg. healthcare)Systematic reviews of evidence Steps involvedHierarchy of study designs (Highest quality first)1. Experimental studies (RCT with concealed allocation).2. Experimental study without randomisation

Observational study with control groupCohort studyCase control

3. Observational study without control groupsCross-sectional studyBefore-and-after studyCase series

4. Expert opinion or consensus; Case reports

Study quality: design, conduct and analysis minimize bias.

Source: Khan et al (2003)

Bias eg. 1: Transcutaneous nerve stimulation for post-operative pain relief

Methodological issue Exaggeration of odds ratio (%)

Inadequate allocation (e.g. alternation)

Larger by 41%

Unclear treatment allocation Larger by 30%

Trials not double blind Larger by 17%

Bias eg. 2 : Methodological quality and estimates of treatment effects in controlled trials

(Schulz et al 1995)

Trials were compared with those with adequately concealed treatment allocation

Deciphering the allocation concealment scheme (Lancet, 2002)

Evidence for offending and antisocial behaviour: multisystemic therapy (MST)

One of few empirically supported interventionsWidely disseminated USA and EuropeStrong research base with multiple randomised controlled trialsMST:– Multifaceted, short term, community-based – Social and family systems theories and

causes/correlates of antisocial behaviour– Manual-based– Time-limited – Professional mental health therapists deliver – Small caseloads – Intervention strategies integrated – USA

Main goals of MST

Reduce– criminal activity in young people– antisocial behavior such as drug abuse and

sexual offending

Financial– decreasing rates of incarceration and out-of-

home placements

Needs of young offenders and families

Improve – parents discipline practices– family-community relations– school/vocational performance

Increase– family affection– association with pro-social peers

Decrease – association with deviant peers

Engage in positive recreational activities

Empower family to solve future difficulties

Nine MST Treatment Principles.

1. Finding the Fit

2. Positive & Strength Focused

3. Increasing Responsibility

4. Present-focused, action-oriented & well-defined

5. Targeting Sequences

Nine MST Treatment Principles…

6. Developmentally Appropriate.

7. Continuous Effort.

8. Evaluation & Accountability.

9. Generalization.

Missouri Delinquency Project (Bourdain et al)

MSTCompleters

MSTDropouts

IT Completers

IT Dropouts

Refusers0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%

0 0.6 1.1 1.7 2.2 2.8 3.3 3.9 4.4 5

Years Past Treatment Termination

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No

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MST Effectiveness 1: meta-analysis

Curtis et al (2004) meta-analysis.

Henggeler (2004) comments on Curtis.

See reading list for references.

MST effectiveness 2: Systematic reviewLittell, Popa & Forsythe (2005) systematic review*.

Littell (2005). Lessons from a systematic review of MST.

Henggeler (2006) response.

Littell (2006)

See reading list for references – Littell et al (2005) see* * Cochrane Library: available via e-library gateway

Other interventions

Family and parenting (see Sukhodolsky and Ruchkin, 2006).

CBT (Felizer et al 2004). – Armelius and Andreassen (2007)

Find published effectiveness studies yourself.

*PDFs of papers in FMH practicals folder on Spsych

Quality assessment/critical appraisal

See the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) statement.

A checklist that authors of trials should use when writing up results.

Useful quality assessment/critiquing tool.

Reference: Moher et al (2001). The CONSORT statement: revised recommendations for improving the quality of reports of parallel-group randomised trials. The Lancet, 357, 1191-1194. Available via e-library gateway.

Summary

A number of types of intervention have been tested with young offenders

Experimental (randomized) evidence-base is lacking

Some interventions are promising (eg. MST) but results are equivocal.

Seek out effectiveness evidence for CBT and family interventions.

Video case studies

As you watch the video case studies make a note of the risk factors for– Offending– Mental health problems in offenders

Protective factors?

Implications for intervention?

Interventions tried?

Discussion at end