Developing probation staff competency for working with high risk of harm offenders with personality disorder: An evaluation of the Pathways Project

Abstract

Background A model of psychologically informed offender management for high risk of harm offenders with personality disorder (PD) was piloted, in which NHS psychologists worked alongside London probation staff. Aim The aim of the study was to evaluate the initiatives taken to develop probation staff's capability to work effectively with the group of offenders. Method Self-report measures assessing competency for working with PD and team climate were administered to the probation staff (N = 150) at baseline and at 1 year follow-up. At follow-up, qualitative data was also collected from a subset of Public Protection Unit staff (N = 17), evaluating their experience of the project. Results The probation staff significantly improved across a range of generic and forensic PD-related competencies. The largest improvements were found in the Public Protection Unit, which received the highest level of support. There was also a significant improvement in one facet of team climate (team vision). The qualitative findings suggested that the primary areas of skills development were in the participants' understanding of PD and their capacity to identify PD and to develop treatment and management pathways. Conclusions The results provide evidence for the effectiveness of the project model that supports its implementation on a broader scale.Indicates a significant difference between PPU and non-PPU staff at the p < 0.001 level. 91Developing probation staff competency for working with personality disorder

A systematic review of team formulation in clinical psychology practice: Definition, implementation, and outcomes

“…Ramsden et al . () highlight an increased willingness to work with service users and an increased understanding of service users and risk over time, measured by the Personality Disorder Knowledge and Skills Questionnaire (Shaw, Minoudis, Craissati, & Bannerman, ). However, this finding emerged in a study with only 12 participants and an unexplained attrition rate.…”

Case formulation in personality disordered offenders – A Delphi survey of professionals

“…Not surprisingly, the experts surveyed here felt that probation staff would require a considerable amount of training to perform CF. Work by Shaw et al () as well as findings from our Programme Development Grant (Brown et al, ) suggests that probation staff may benefit from such training. Following a brief input by Shaw et al (), staff assessed their competency in working with PD offenders on the PD – Knowledge, Attitude and Skills Questionnaire as improved.…”

“…Work by Shaw et al () as well as findings from our Programme Development Grant (Brown et al, ) suggests that probation staff may benefit from such training. Following a brief input by Shaw et al (), staff assessed their competency in working with PD offenders on the PD – Knowledge, Attitude and Skills Questionnaire as improved. Following a 5‐day training, we found additional evidence of an objective improvement on CF produced by probation staff (Brown et al, ).…”

Exploring therapeutic engagement with individuals with a diagnosis of personality disorder in acute psychiatric inpatient settings: A nursing team perspective

“…Personality Disorders Knowledge, Attitudes and Skills Questionnaire (PD‐KASQ; Bolton, Feigenbaum, Jones & Woodward, ) contains three subscales; understanding, capability, and emotional reactions towards individuals with a diagnosis of PD. Good reliability, with Cronbach’s alpha ( r = 0.82) for the overall scale and the subscales ( r = 0.70 to r = 0.93; Shaw, Minoudis, Craissati & Bannerman, ), has been reported. Higher scores indicate greater perceived understanding, capability, and negative emotions towards PD.…”