NCJ Number
196488
Journal
Criminal Behavior and Mental Health Volume: 11 Issue: 4 Dated: 2001 Pages: 262-272
Date Published
2001
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the implementation of the Problem Solving Skills Training Program with mentally disordered offenders in a medium secure unit in the United Kingdom.
Abstract
In this paper, the implementation of the Problem Solving Skills Training (PSST) program, believed to be the most appropriate cognitive-behavioral groupwork program for use with mentally disordered offenders, is examined. Started at the Hutton Centre, a medium secure unit of largely mentally ill patients, located north of England, the PSST program was selected to amend offenders’ cognitive deficits and improve their cognitive skills. Patients with stable mental health, who had been convicted of two or more offenses, were chosen to participate in this study. Ranging in ages from 23 years to 45 years, 12 individuals participated in this study. Divided into two groups, one set of mentally ill offenders participated in the PSST program, while the other group received no cognitive-behavioral problem-solving interventions. Although the authors do not detail the psychometric findings here, assessing both groups 1 week prior to the start of the program and 1 month after its completion indicated a number of positive changes observed in the behaviors of patients who attended the program. Various implementation issues including finding an appropriate groupwork room, staffing the groupwork program, and solving communications problems among the staff conclude this article. Tables, references