TREATMENT OF FORENSIC POPULATIONS

1. Introduction

The main purpose of sentencing offenders for their crimes is to provide them with a setting which will have correctional effects on their behavior. In order for such effects to be attained, a number of steps must be taken in order to secure conditions that will actually produce behavioral changes in convicts. Creating the right conditions for that requires thorough consideration of what is needed for each type of offender to make progress and adopt more functional (and long-lasting) behavior.

The majority of offenders in prison at almost any given time are convicted for violent offences. Their crimes usually have considerable consequences, leaving their victims to deal with multiple issues in different domains like parenting, personal relationships and occupational functioning (Hanson et al., 2010). These facts highlight the importance of thorough consideration of treatment options of such convicts, with predefined realistic treatment outcomes in place. This topic is arguably even more important when it comes to persistent violent offenders, who tend to offend more frequently and consistently (Ware et al., 2011), and whose acts tend to leave even more serious consequences for their victims.

In the following paragraphs we will discuss factors that need to be taken into consideration while designing a treatment plan for a predominantly violent offender. By analyzing a case study, we will discuss which factors may be important in choosing the right treatment approach and outcome models for measuring the progress and success of the treatment.

2. Treatment considerations for identifying an effective approach

Case study

The present case study describes S., a 47-year-old Caucasian male who was placed in juvenile detention centers at the age of 12, and has spent most of his life in correctional settings ever since. He was convicted in the past for crimes which included assault and robbery. S. is currently serving a 15-year sentence for the conviction of armed robbery, possession of cocaine, and assault on a police officer. While he was in custody awaiting trial for the listed offenses, he was found to be in possession of child pornography, which added another 12 months to his sentence. S. has served 11,5 years of his current sentence so far, as he was denied parole each time he was eligible due to the board’s perception that he was lacking remorse for his crimes. S. has a long history of alcohol and drug abuse, which started at the age of 8. He is currently also presenting with symptoms of depressive mood accompanied by suicidal thoughts, and reports issues with controlling his temper and being afraid of accidentally killing someone, although he reports he does not wish to hurt anyone else.

First, go to the website http://www.sonic.net/~cr2/emotion.htm and...