VIOLENCE REDUCTION PROGRAM:Target Population, Lack of motivation

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Forensic Psychology (PSY - 513)

Lesson 37

VIOLENCE REDUCTION PROGRAM

Objectives

To learn about the targeted population and challenges while working with such clients.

To know about the main features of Violence Reduction Program

Violence Reduction Program

Program Objectives

The primary objectives of the Violence Reduction Program (VRP) are to decrease the frequency and

intensity of violent behaviors, to decrease or eliminate the antisocial beliefs and attitudes that support

the use of aggression and violence, and to assist the program participants to acquire appropriate

interpersonal skills that are effective in reducing the risk of recidivism, in particular, violent recidivism.

Target Population

The VRP was developed by Wong & Gordon designed to address the treatment needs of high-risk

violent offenders, in particular those who are non-compliant, lacking in motivation, resistant to

treatment, and have a history of institutional misconduct. VRP was typically developed for the offenders

who are considered untreatable and fall in personality disorder category. The program designers

recognize that this sub-group of violent offenders is highly heterogeneous with respect to their

criminogenic needs and responsivity. For example, the offenders may have a combination of

criminogenic needs such as substance use, criminal peers, antisocial/anti-authority attitudes, cognitive

distortions, impulsively, lack of social support, aggressive acting out behaviors and so on.

In addition, they may have responsivity issues such as lack of motivation, mental health issues such as

anxiety and depression, educational deficiencies, psychopathic personality features etc. The program

design, although structured and goal oriented, is flexible enough to accommodate the heterogeneity of

criminogenic needs and responsivity in this client group. Basic concern of VRP is to Change dynamic

factors. While working in prison setting a therapist has to face following challenges:

Extremely difficult client group

Unwillingness

Lack of motivation

Lack of trust

Lack of rapport

No relationship skills/abilities

Unwillingness

In forensic settings courts or other institutional pressures may require psychological treatment.

Therapists typically have viewed unwillingness to enter treatment as a unitary concept, in which clients

fall somewhere along a single dimension that ranges from highly willing and eager to highly unwilling

to engage in treatment. Therapist tries to improve their willingness to participate in this healing process.

Here again the concept of stages of change is important as client moves in the continuum of these

stages. If the person is in pre-contemplation stage the therapist try to help him to move into

contemplation, preparation and then into action and maintenance stage.

Lack of motivation

Clients often do not experience the problem for which they were referred as being a problem for them.

They believe that the behaviour that concerns others is quite reasonable and that the law has been unfair

and punitive. An example is persons who use violence instrumentally to get what they want. Their

violent behaviour is not mediated by anger and is adaptive, in that it generally serves to get them what

they want.

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Forensic Psychology (PSY - 513)

The behaviour may be normative in the environment in which they live (e.g., in prison) and within their

subculture outside prison. Their problem is that they have been caught. Clients who become angry and

then behave aggressively or violently may also enjoy their anger and the sense of energy and power that

it gives them, and believe that it is a useful and legitimate way to manage their lives.

Lack of trust

The therapeutic relationship in the forensic setting is typically not a dyad but a triad, involving the

therapist, the client and criminal justice system or by the treating team. The goals of treatment may have

been set by the court or releasing authorities rather than by the client and therapist is paid for services by

court. Mistrust is found in clients as therapist is not working to help them rather working for the court.

Sometimes clients may fear that therapy will be controlling, and that the therapist will try to dominate

them. As a consequence they often fight against what they perceive as an imposition on their freedom in

a setting in which they have few other sources of self-efficacy and mastery than the maintenance of the

private self.

Lack of rapport

Therapist has to work very extensively and hardly to build up a rapport with such clients.

No relationship skills/abilities

Another challenge is that such clients usually lack in relationship skills and abilities.

To deal with all such challenges a therapist who enters or want to employ VRP must have

clinical background with having grip over a wide range of psychotherapy.

Therapist must have some experience of forensic setting along with sound experience in clinical

training and experience.

Salient features of VRP

The major idea put forward is that correctional programs should target the criminogenic risk/need areas.

More specifically, programs should target that risk/need areas that are "Dynamic" (i.e. changeable) as

opposed to "Static" (unchangeable).

Stages of change were used by Wong and Gordon. "Application of stages of change on Violence

Reduction Scale is called Violence Reduction Program.

Dynamic Factors

Emotional Control

Emotional control is very important feature, training to control emotions like anger is provided during

VRP through role playing, coping statements and anger management skills.

Clients also have the issue of less experienced emotions like happiness, or even anxiety and depression

so instead of feeling the real emotion they only experience anger. Absolute emotional control is not

possible but efforts can helping controlling behaviour, incase if anger is not controlled but consequences

of that emotion in form of behaviour can be controlled.the idea is behind that we are not responsible for

the thoughts but responsible for behaviour and even no court in the world can punish just for thinking

any thing.

Violence during institutionalization

If we succeeds in controlling one's aggression and violence in here and now, if we can help one person

to change and control his violence. We will succeed in keeping him away out side of the prison. Change

in violent behaviour is brought through reinforcements like smoking is a luxury in prisons and if client

shows non violent behaviour through out the day; he can be given an additional (or depending on

situation) cigarette on that day.

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Forensic Psychology (PSY - 513)

Weapon use

In the same way client can be persuaded through reinforcements for having no weapon with him in

prison.

Insight into violence

There are two types of violence one is instrumental violence and other is emotional violence.

Understanding one's own violence as insights builds reduces the risk of future violence.

A major task of treatment is to enable patients to develop an awareness of their mind and its functions.

Through treatment, they can acquire an awareness of who they are, what they have done and the impact

of this on their own minds and the minds of others. In providing patients with an understanding of their

own mind, the forensic psychotherapist aims to increase patients' capacity to contain unpalatable

thoughts and emotional states rather than impulsively acting on them. Benefits for the patients may

include a more realistic perception of their self-worth, a firmer sense of identity and a decrease in

psychotic and paranoid anxieties. Patients' capacity to make and sustain more-mature interpersonal

relationships may also improve as their view of the external world becomes more realistic and less

distorted by the configuration of their internal world.

Mental Disorder

Usually psychotics are not violent but a person having criminal history and having sever depression can

kill other co-prisoner or can show other kinds of violence under effect of his mental disorder. So mental

disorders are treated using medications and psychotherapies.

Substance Abuse

Substance abuse is a fundamental problem and requires a program on it's on. What ever we eat have

different impact on our brain and ultimately to our thoughts and behaviour. This is a very important

dynamic factor usually it is initiated in bad company to reduce painful emotional states and for soothing

if a person is very violent and addict, until or unless he does not quit this addiction no other

improvements are possible because first of all he will commit crime to get those drugs and then will

commit violence and offences under the influence of that crime so no training of emotional control or

other behavioral controls is workable or effective under such conditions.

The client is given the chance to find other copying strategies to deal with emotional pains rather than

using drugs. Drug addiction is one of the most difficult dynamic factors to treat. Comparatively non

drug addicts have far more chances to improve as a result of VRP.

Stability of relationship with significant other

It means relationship with wife or husband or a person who is very close. As we have also discussed

earlier that addiction is a reaction to negative relationships. So working to solve relationship problems

can help in two ways:

a. If a person has already good relationship then this can be used to strengthen the healing process

because for motivation and improvements this relationship is very important.

b. And if the relationship problems exist then the therapist try to solve them not just for motivation

but also for community support as well.

Violent Lifestyle

Violent life style is not only monitored in prisons but also out side the prison world. So VRP is very

effective because it helps in staying away from old violent life style in non prison settings.

Criminal Personality

Crimnogenic personalities are considered, diagnosed and treated accordingly by using the wide range of

techniques and therapies.

Remember all dynamic factors are interrelated, improvement in one factor have effect on other

factors as well.

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