Joselyn Sellen

The Personal Concerns Inventory (Offender Adaptation) Measuring and Enhancing Motivation to Change

Measuring offenders’ motivation for treatment is important for selection and monitoring treatment engagement, yet few psychometrically robust measures of motivation exist. The Personal Concerns Inventory (PCI) was developed to assess motivation to change in people with addictive behaviours. It focuses on identifying goals in a wide variety of life areas, and two profiles have consistently been identified—adaptive and maladaptive. This study aimed to adapt the PCI for use with offenders and assess its suitability. Following amendment, 11 men serving prison sentences were interviewed using the PCI (Offender Adaptation, OA). Personal concerns related to self-change, and partner, family, and relationships were most commonly identified. Scores suggested that offenders show adaptive and maladaptive profiles, similar to those previously identified. The PCI (OA) has promise for use with offenders, although the issue of whether the PCI (OA) is better viewed as a measure of motivation or a motivational enhancer remains for further research.

What do prisoners want? Current concerns of adult male prisoners

Abstract Recently, positive approaches to offender rehabilitation, focusing upon offenders’ strengths, have gained prominence. Proponents have criticized existing rehabilitation models as focusing too much on offenders’ deficits. Goal perspectives, which provide a structure for therapy, may unite these two approaches. The Personal Concerns Inventory: Offender Adaptation (PCI:OA) is a semi-structured interview that identifies offenders’ current concerns or goals. The goals identified by a sample of 129 convicted adult male prisoners are reported here. A range of positive, anti-criminal goals were expressed, including stopping offending, improving self-control, finding and keeping jobs, having stable accommodation, quitting drink and drugs, changing support networks, and finding new leisure pursuits. Furthermore, prisoners expressed life-enhancing goals, such as improving their lifestyle, gaining work experience, having good family relationships, gaining skills, and getting fit and healthy. The PCI:OA may prove useful as a motivational procedure, a basis for developing positive, goal-focused interventions, and a tool for outcome evaluation.

Social problem solving in vulnerable adult prisoners: profile and intervention

Poor social problem-solving has been shown to be associated with vulnerability, distress, and suicidality in young prisoners. The objectives of this study were to compare the social problem-solving abilities of vulnerable adult prisoners and those who are coping better with imprisonment, and to examine the effectiveness of a social problem-solving intervention, Stop & Think!, with a sub-group of vulnerable prisoners. Scores on the Social Problem Solving Inventory – Revised (SPSI-R) were compared for adult prisoners on normal location (n = 47) and those on a special landing for vulnerable prisoners (n = 68). Pre- and post-treatment scores on the SPSI-R were compared for 28 vulnerable prisoners who participated in Stop & Think! The data indicate that vulnerable prisoners are poorer social problem-solvers than those who are coping with imprisonment; that Stop & Think! appears acceptable to vulnerable prisoners and the staff who work with them and is practically applicable on a special landing; and that Stop & Think! may effect positive change in social problem-solving abilities.

Validity of the offender version of the Personal Concerns Inventory with adult male prisoners

Abstract Measuring offenders’ motivation for treatment is important, yet few measures exist. The Personal Concerns Inventory (PCI), a goal-based assessment, was adapted for offenders by including items relating to offending and prison. The psychometric properties of the resulting Personal Concerns Inventory: Offender Adaptation (PCI-OA) were examined with 129 adult male prisoners. The two factors of the original PCI were replicated and analysis including the new PCI-OA items gave a three-factor solution: adaptive and maladaptive motivation and lack of direction. The adaptive and maladaptive factors were similar to those of the original PCI but showed poorer internal consistency, as did the lack of direction factor. Tests of concurrent validity upheld both the PCI and the PCI-OA factors. Both the PCI and the PCI-OA detected some modest changes over the course of treatment, with the PCI appearing more sensitive to change. We conclude that, although the original PCI has better psychometric properties, it remains important to identify the impact of offending on attainment of life goals. Hence, we believe that the PCI-OA will still be useful, albeit in a slightly different format from that described here. Importantly, offenders’ motivational structure appears similar to that of other populations, providing a basis for further investigation of offenders’ motivational structure.

An Evaluation of the HM Prison Service “Thinking Skills Programme” Using Psychometric Assessments

The most widely implemented offending behaviour programme in the United Kingdom was Enhanced Thinking Skills (ETS), a cognitive-behavioural group intervention that aimed to develop participant’s general cognitive skills. A new offending behaviour programme has been developed to replace ETS: the Thinking Skills Programme (TSP). This study reports an evaluation of the effectiveness of TSP using psychometric assessments. Phasing of the two programmes created an opportunity to compare the two programmes consecutively. Forty participants, 20 from each programme, completed a range of psychometric measures to examine cognition, attitudes, and thinking styles. Analysis of pre- and post-programme psychometric results indicated that participants of TSP demonstrated improvements on 14 of the 15 scales, 9 of which were statistically significant. Effect sizes between pre–post results were generally greater for TSP than ETS, demonstrating that TSP had a more positive impact on the thinking styles and attitudes of participants than the ETS programme.

Paradoxical individual differences in conditional inference

Paradoxical individual differences, where a dysfunctional trait correlates positively with some preconceived notion of the normatively correct answer, provide compelling evidence that the wrong norm has been adopted. We have found that logical performance on conditional inference is positively correlated with schizotypy. Following Stanovich & Wests reasoning, we conclude that logic is not normative in conditional inference, the prototypically logical task.

An initial evaluation of the Global Review Form as an approach to measuring individual change

Abstract Background: Routine assessment of individual change in forensic mental health services is increasingly recognised as important. However, existing tools have been criticised and their periodic use make them unsuited to directly measure the impact of interventions. This paper describes the initial evaluation of the Global Review Form (GRF) as a framework for measuring change over time. Specifically, measurement properties, feasibility and usefulness in routine practice are examined. Method: 28 male service users in three distinct areas of an adult secure service (low secure, locked rehabilitation and high relational support housing) were rated over a 20-week period by their multidisciplinary teams. Findings: The GRF showed promising construct validity and appropriate stability and sensitivity to change across time. It enabled measurement and understanding of individual change over time. Staff feedback suggested the GRF is a useable and practical outcome measuring tool. Conclusions: The GRF shows promise for use as a routine outcome monitoring tool within forensic mental health services.

The Personal Concerns Inventory (Offender Adaptation)

Measuring offenders’ motivation for treatment is important for selection and monitoring treatment engagement, yet few psychometrically robust measures of motivation exist. The Personal Concerns Inventory (PCI) was developed to assess motivation to change in people with addictive behaviours. It focuses on identifying goals in a wide variety of life areas, and two profiles have consistently been identified—adaptive and maladaptive. This study aimed to adapt the PCI for use with offenders and assess its suitability. Following amendment, 11 men serving prison sentences were interviewed using the PCI (Offender Adaptation, OA). Personal concerns related to self-change, and partner, family, and relationships were most commonly identified. Scores suggested that offenders show adaptive and maladaptive profiles, similar to those previously identified. The PCI (OA) has promise for use with offenders, although the issue of whether the PCI (OA) is better viewed as a measure of motivation or a motivational enhancer remains for further research.