NCJ Number
135574
Date Published
1989
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This Chapter reviews some current attitudes toward the psychotherapeutic treatment of antisocial and other personality disorders in a correctional setting and then discusses issues and techniques in such treatment.
Abstract
Current circumstances and attitudes are not conducive for the treatment of offenders with antisocial personalities and other personality disorders. This is not a popular group even under the best of times in corrections; when resources are limited as they are now, it is even more difficult to obtain needed resources for the treatment of such offenders. Corrections is also in an era of therapeutic nihilism which considers that any problem that cannot be corrected in brief therapy or with psychotropic medication is not worth the treatment effort. Long-term psychotherapy has generally come into disrepute. Difficulties in doing research in psychotherapy have been incorrectly interpreted as proof that psychotherapy does not work. In the treatment of personality disorders, the first issue is an accurate assessment and diagnosis of the problem. This involves determining which disorders can be corrected through medication and which require long-term psychotherapy. It is unclear whether treatment in a correctional institution can ever be therapeutic unless a special unit is created for the management and treatment of those with personality disorders. One of the most difficult problems in the treatment of such offenders is negative countertransference toward patients who have committed crimes or been violent. Effective treatment requires the therapist to see some potential in the patient and to wish to become the patient's ally in the fight against mental illness. Another important treatment issue is the development of parole programs that are designed to reintegrate offenders into the community. 53 references