Forensic psychologists should use the behavioral experiment to facilitate cognitive change in clients who have offended

Abstract

The version in the Kent Academic Repository may differ from the final published version. Users are advised to check http://kar.kent.ac.uk for the status of the paper. Users should always cite the published version of record. EnquiriesFor any further enquiries regarding the licence status of this document, please contact: researchsupport@kent.ac.uk If you believe this document infringes copyright then please contact the KAR admin team with the take-down information provided at http://kar.kent.ac.uk/contact.html Gannon, Theresa A. (2016) examine the BE as a treatment technique and argue that widespread implementation of the BE could significantly improve CBT-based forensic psychological practice. I examine contemporary conceptualizations of cognition within forensic psychology as well as commonly used treatment techniques for instilling cognitive change. This analysis highlights that although some experiential techniques are used in forensic psychology to facilitate cognitive change (e.g., schema therapy), there is still a key focus on rational reasoning techniques such as Socratic questioning, psychoeducation, and thought monitoring. In this paper, I argue that current methods of instigating cognitive change within offending populations neglect key strategies necessary to generate convincing cognitive change. I offer the BE as a convincing and effective technique for facilitating change in problematic offender cognition at both the rational and experiential level. I offer several recommendations for how to design and incorporate BEs into forensic practice and provide examples of BE use in forensic settings. Citation for published version

Transition to Non-Offender Self-Narratives: The Emotional Closure Model of Desistance

“…Thus the ECM suggests that for transition from both maladaptive selfnarrative types, treatment should be aimed at an emotional as well as the cognitive level. This aligns with recent research with offender populations (Gannon, 2016), which suggests that cognitive focused treatments can be overly superficial and are unlikely on their own to support fundamental changes to lifestyle. Thus working with emotions is more likely to effect fundamental, long-term change, rather than superficial, limited change which is the extent that changed thinking patterns achieves for most offenders (Gannon & Polaschek, 2006;Maruna & Copes, 2005;Stanley, 2009).…”

“…The ECM would suggest that emotional disturbances need to be addressed before cognitively focused interventions will be effective. The idea of inappropriate emotional closure may contribute to the understanding of the cognitive explanation for offending, which has been criticised as being oversimplisitic (e.g., Gannon, 2016).…”

Ameliorative effects of olibanum essential oil on learning and memory in Aβ1-42-induced Alzheimer’s disease mouse model

“…Animal behavioral experiments are useful and reliable ways of evaluating the effects of candidate drugs on cognitive functions [23]. The neurodegenerative disease AD is characterized by cognitive dysfunction, which commonly results in deterioration of memory and difficulties in learning [6,24].…”

Development of Attribution-Based Scales Associated With Proactive, Reactive, and Acquisitive Offending

“…Consequently, interventions that use alternative cognitions (i.e., Socratic questioning, through records) and skill-based methods to challenge offending rationales and values may be of greater benefit (Fite et al, 2010; Walters, 2006). This may include behavioral experiments that make alternative cognitions believable (Bennett-Levy, 2003; Gannon, 2016).…”