PSYCHOTHERAPIES IN FORENSIC SETTINGS:Narrative Therapy

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Forensic Psychology (PSY - 513)

Lesson 32

PSYCHOTHERAPIES IN FORENSIC SETTINGS

Objectives

To explore the effective psychotherapies, used frequently in forensic area

To understand the basic assumptions and application of systemic intervention in group

settings

To find out the use and effectiveness of family therapy

To unveil the basic assumptions, and application of Narrative therapy

Systemic Interventions Therapy

SIT considers the importance of system in which an individual is living. No one can live in a vacuum.

Although In Individual Therapy, not minimizing the importance of society but focus is on one

individual. SI occupies the idea that no single being can form the whole system. Man is a part of

society; any offender is not solely responsible for the criminal acts.

SIT is an intensive family- and community-based treatment that addresses the multiple determinants of

serious antisocial behavior. The multisystemic approach views individuals as being nested within a

complex network of interconnected systems that encompass individual, family, and extra familial (peer,

school, neighborhood) factors. Intervention may be necessary in any one or a combination of these

systems.

SIT considers human relationship dynamics to help people change dysfunctional or unhealthy aspects of

human relationship systems. It postulates that if one representative of a human system can recognize and

change dysfunctional patterns, other members of that human system can also change.

For instance a man leaving in indigent condition with wife working as maid for house holds of other

people. Both face the cruel and inhuman behaviours of their employers with insufficient working

conditions (working out side in hot summer), man had a row with co worker and injured him badly.

Many times childhood, past experiences is not that much important in violence than the current system

and conditions. SIT occupies the idea that one individual is not separate from system so, transform the

system for violence and crime reduction.

1. First of all SIT Analyze the system, in which person is living.

2. Working with staff (working conditions, salary, temperature, degree of consistent humiliation

from employer is analyzed) if person is already incarcerated then prison staff can be trained

accordingly. There is a crucial need to transform our jail system, as this place has become den

of crimes. The real aim of jail was to educate the criminals so when they come out of jail would

live with enough skills and earnings. But perversely prisons have become the first places like

where:

Offenders use drugs first time

Homosexuality

People learn to make contacts with other gangs and become serial murderers, terrorist

and so on.

So if we know that a problem exists then why do not try to change prison system? SI approach knows

the reality that the whole jail system would not change over night into university. So SI advocates a

gradual and step by step approach.

To employ SI ideas two things are important:

a. You should belong to that group in some way in which changes are required

b. Spend a lot of time in listening and responding to the problems with consistency.

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Forensic Psychology (PSY - 513)

Training and education at following levels are targeted in Systemic intervention approach

3. Running staff training groups

Trainings to senior officers, decision makers can help in gradual change.

4. Educating managers

5. Workshops for relatives/friends

6. Using groups as pivots

Family Therapy

Another name o f systemic intervention is family therapy and therapist usually meets several members

of the family at the same time. This has the advantage of making differences between the ways family

members perceive mutual relations as well as interaction patterns in the session apparent both for the

therapist and the family. These patterns frequently mirror habitual interaction patterns at home, even

though the therapist is now incorporated into the family system. Therapy interventions usually focus on

relationship patterns rather than on analyzing impulses of the unconscious mind or early childhood

trauma of individuals as a Freudian therapist would do. The transference and counter transference is

meticulously analyzed.

The whole family becomes the client.

Interaction is observed.

Therapy is also provided

Family is asked to maintain a life history book of family, so as a result the whole family

works together and many times solutions become easier because of mutual interaction and

understanding.

Narrative Therapy

NT is developed by Michael White who intensively worked with severe offenders/criminals. Michael

believes that we live in our stories and make small scripts through out the life.

'Narrative therapy is premised on the idea that the lives and the relationships of persons are

shaped by:

The knowledge and stories that communities of persons negotiate and engage in to give

meaning to their experiences

Certain practices of self and of relationship that make up ways of life associated with these

knowledge and stories.

Most criminals have negative stories so living an unlawful, unethical, inhuman life.

A narrative therapy assists persons to resolve problems by:

Encouraging persons to re-author their own lives according to alternative and preferred

stories of identity, and according to preferred ways of life.

Enabling them to separate their lives and relationships from those knowledge and stories

that they judge to be depriving

Assisting them to challenge the ways of life that they find quashing.

How to rewrite the life stories?

Therapists try to re author the client's stories with the help of:

a. Questions

b. Compliments

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Forensic Psychology (PSY - 513)

This is not as easy as it seems, but therapist tries to enhance the positivity of a criminal and every person

experiences create many different stories in their life. These stories may be separate from each other, but

often they occur at the same time or even overlap. It is even possible that the same event creates many

different stories in a person's life. No single story can summarize a person's life, and so many stories

and examination of these stories is required to help understand the person telling them. Narrative

therapy finds ways of developing insight into the stories of the client's life. A therapist using narrative

therapy is interested in the history of their client. They are searching for an in depth account of the

problems that are affecting the client's life. Narrative therapy is sometimes identified as having the

client "re-authoring" or "re-storying" their experiences. These descriptions emphasize that the stories of

people's lives are pivotal to an understanding of the individual.

Phases of narrative therapy

The basic assumption of NT is that people are the experts of their own lives. When they examine

themselves they view their problems as separate from themselves. Within Narrative therapy, people's

beliefs, skills, principles, and knowledge will assist them in reducing the severity of their problems in

their lives.

Therapists can assist their clients in telling their story by acting like an "investigative reporter". The

person who is telling the story is intimately aware of the story they are about to tell to the therapist.

Opening space questions

Asking the client about the time when he/she was happy. Therapist tries to explore the glittering, bright

and shiny period of life. There must be an era, a phase when stars were shining in the lives of those

criminals, now habitual of viewing the world in the darkness of crime. So before problematic area we

can find the opening space for our new positive, non-criminal, healthy story. This approach is contritely

to other approaches as we are all the time focusing on child hood traumas, abuse, and other bad

experiences of criminal's life.

The therapist, as an investigative reporter, has many options for questions in the effort of exposing the

successes the client has accomplished against their problems. These questions can open an examination

of how the problem has influenced the person's life and what aspects of the problem keep the client

from having a productive non-criminal life. The therapist can also examine the characters in the client's

story to determine which are helping the booster, those who are assisting the problem, and what are their

plans in the story. (e.g who were the best friends in childhood and how the offender used to play and

enjoy with them, description of favorite teacher, favorite birthday gift e.t.c)but remember in narrative

therapy focus is on positive events and experiences and negative experiences are deemphasized.

Therapists have many options for questions that are helpful in discovering successes that the client has

achieved. The therapist can help the client identify the aspects of their life that are unaffected by their

current problem and discover why they are safe. The therapist can also look into client's issues and find

what skills and knowledge they currently posses to combat the problem and establish new ways to

strengthen these skills. Identifying the client's desires for a better life can also give insights on successes

that has had over their problem, as well as views on how they would like their story to turn out

Developing stories questions

With all exploratory and investigative questions new stories are developed gradually, you will be

surprised to find so many good things in violent, bad, evil minded offenders, anti social personalities

and murderers. This therapy is no more mechanist rather artistic and humanistic.

Meanings and values questions

New meanings and values and vision of world is created through exploring and stressing on positive

events and rewriting the story.

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