Enactive Emotion In Forensic Practice: The Application of Embodied Cognitive and Affective Science to Offender Rehabilitation Programs

<p>In recent years, affective science has seen a shift in the understanding of emotion and its relationship to cognition. No longer is cognition viewed as the only significant factor in determining emotional experience, and as fundamentally distinct from bodily feeling. Rather than a linear causal relationship between one and the other, the philosophy and cognitive science of Enactivism suggests that the cognitive and emotional elements of experience, along with the body and surrounding environment, are constitutive of each other, and continuously influence each other in a dynamic, multidirectional manner to produce the experience of emotional patterns (Colombetti & Thompson, 2008). However, despite these advances in emotion theory, current rehabilitation programs such as the Reasoning and Rehabilitation (R&R, Ross et al., 2016) program continue to understand cognition and emotion as functionally distinct components of experience, with deficits conceptualised in mainly cognitive terms, and targeted through Cognitive Skills, which largely neglect the emotional elements of experience. This thesis explores how an enactivist understanding of emotion can be applied to offender rehabilitation programs, with specific reference to the R&R program. It is concluded that R&R and similar programs would benefit significantly from revisions to conceptualisations of cognitive deficits, and in treatment components, which should integrate emotional and cognitive techniques.</p>

Enactive Emotion In Forensic Practice: The Application of Embodied Cognitive and Affective Science to Offender Rehabilitation Programs

<p>In recent years, affective science has seen a shift in the understanding of emotion and its relationship to cognition. No longer is cognition viewed as the only significant factor in determining emotional experience, and as fundamentally distinct from bodily feeling. Rather than a linear causal relationship between one and the other, the philosophy and cognitive science of Enactivism suggests that the cognitive and emotional elements of experience, along with the body and surrounding environment, are constitutive of each other, and continuously influence each other in a dynamic, multidirectional manner to produce the experience of emotional patterns (Colombetti & Thompson, 2008). However, despite these advances in emotion theory, current rehabilitation programs such as the Reasoning and Rehabilitation (R&R, Ross et al., 2016) program continue to understand cognition and emotion as functionally distinct components of experience, with deficits conceptualised in mainly cognitive terms, and targeted through Cognitive Skills, which largely neglect the emotional elements of experience. This thesis explores how an enactivist understanding of emotion can be applied to offender rehabilitation programs, with specific reference to the R&R program. It is concluded that R&R and similar programs would benefit significantly from revisions to conceptualisations of cognitive deficits, and in treatment components, which should integrate emotional and cognitive techniques.</p>

Exploring Mechanisms of Change in the Rehabilitation of High-Risk Offenders

<p>The success or failure of many different types of treatment is often measured by one type of outcome. For example, treatment for substance abuse might be judged to have failed if a patient “goes on a bender” some time after completing the programme. The same is true for offender rehabilitation. Treatment success or failure is usually determined by whether or not an offender is reconvicted of a new offence in a specified follow-up period. We know from the literature that offender rehabilitation can have modest but significant effects on reducing recidivism. Yet we know little about what brings about these reductions (i.e., how the treatment worked). This thesis explores possible mechanisms of change in offender rehabilitation. I propose that although a reduction in recidivism is an important long-term outcome of treatment, there are a number of additional outcomes that have the potential to explain not only if but how treatment works and why it is unsuccessful in leading to a reduction in reoffending for some offenders. Study 1 is a typical outcome evaluation of New Zealand’s rehabilitation programmes for high-risk male offenders: the High Risk Special Treatment Units (HRSTUs). I compared the recidivism rates of a sample of HRSTU completers with a comparison sample of high-risk offenders who had not completed the programme (a between-subjects design). I found that relative to the comparison group, treatment completers had significantly lower rates of four different indices of recidivism, varying in severity. The remainder of the thesis explored possible mechanisms of change within the HRSTU sample (a within-subjects design). Study 2 examined immediate outcomes of treatment, which I defined as within-treatment change on dynamic risk factors. I found that offenders made significant change on the Violence Risk Scale during treatment, but there was no significant relationship between treatment change and recidivism. Studies 3 and 4 examined intermediate outcomes of treatment, which I defined as barriers (risk factors) and facilitators (protective factors) that influence the process of offender re-entry. Study 3 validated an instrument designed to measure these factors: the Dynamic Risk Assessment for Offender Re-entry (DRAOR). I found that the tool had good convergent validity and reliably predicted recidivism above a static risk estimate. Study 4 used the newly validated DRAOR to test an explanation for the lack of a direct relationship between treatment change and recidivism. I tested whether treatment change had an indirect relationship with recidivism through its influence on the re-entry process. I found that treatment change was related to a number of re-entry outcomes; however, only two models could be tested for mediation because the re-entry outcomes themselves lacked predictive ability. Nevertheless, findings from Study 4 suggest the re-entry process is an area worthy of further investigation. Taken together, the findings from this thesis highlight the importance of considering alternative treatment outcomes in addition to whether or not a programme leads to a reduction in long-term recidivism outcomes. Answering the question of how treatment works requires an exploration into possible mechanisms of change. This thesis was only a preliminary investigation into such mechanisms; however, the findings have both practical and theoretical implications for the way we conceptualise how treatment programmes work. Developing a greater understanding of mechanisms of change in offender rehabilitation has the potential to lead to the design and delivery of more effective programmes.</p>

Dehumanisation and attitudes toward the punishment and rehabilitation of child sex offenders: A New Zealand study

<p>Child sex offenders are a group often regarded as dangerous and high risk, leading to increased support for offender registration policies which monitor the whereabouts of offenders after release. These policies have the intended aim of increasing public safety, however a wide body of research supports the idea that negative attitudes towards offenders underlie the creation of these policies more than empirical evidence of their success. Dehumanisation is a psychological process that deprives others of characteristics unique to both human beings and human nature, which has been established to predict increased support for punishment and decreased support for rehabilitation for child sex offenders. The current study aimed to examine the role of dehumanisation in support for punishment and rehabilitation of child sex offenders throughout two studies: first via the undertaking of an online survey using a sample of 228 university students and members of the public, second throughout three focus groups containing a total of 22 university students and members of the public. Dehumanising attitudes in relation to preference between the RNR and GLM models, two key frameworks for child sex offender rehabilitation, were also examined for the first time in the current study. Findings indicated that: 1) both moral outrage and dehumanisation predicted support for harsher forms of punishment and withdrawn support for rehabilitation, 2) victim age did not impact dehumanisation scores, 3) type of offense impacted both dehumanisation and support for post-release monitoring and 4) dehumanisation did not predict RNR over GLM preference. Limitations of the current study and implications for policy and practice, future research regarding uniquely human characteristics, victim age and RNR/GLM preference are discussed.</p>

Parkour/Freerunning as a Pathway to Prosocial Change: A Theoretical Analysis

<p>Parkour/freerunning is a training method for overcoming physical and mental obstacles, and has been proposed as a unique tool to engage youth in healthy leisure activities (e.g., Gilchrist & Wheaton, 2011). Although practitioners have started to utilise parkour/freerunning in programmes for youth at risk of antisocial behaviour, this claim is insufficiently grounded in theory and research to date. In fact, the common misrepresentation of the practice in the media has led to confusion and debate about the nature of parkour/freerunning. In a conceptual and historical analysis, I explore what parkour/freerunning is, and how it can impact on the practitioner. Results from the analysis reveal values, goals and assumptions that parkour/freerunning is built upon, as well as a set of physical, mental, socio-moral and cognitive-behavioural skills developed through the practice. As illustrated by its history, parkour/freerunning has emerged as a highly versatile tool for self-development and change. These insights are used to discuss how parkour/freerunning relates to contemporary frameworks of offender rehabilitation. A comparative analysis demonstrates that parkour/freerunning is largely capable of meeting the standards of rehabilitation practice guided by the Risk-Need-Responsivity model. Moreover, key goals, assumptions and general approach in parkour/freerunning are naturally in line with those in the Good Lives Model of offender rehabilitation. The major overlaps of parkour/freerunning with both frameworks suggest that the practice can increase the individual’s capacity to live a healthy and prosocial life, and reduce the risk of reoffending. Particularly when applied within the GLM, parkour/freerunning offers a pathway to identity formation and transformation. Although this claim is in need of further exploration, I propose that parkour/freerunning can be utilised to enhance the practice of offender rehabilitation as an engaging and easily accessible tool for prosocial change.</p>

Dehumanisation and attitudes toward the punishment and rehabilitation of child sex offenders: A New Zealand study

<p>Child sex offenders are a group often regarded as dangerous and high risk, leading to increased support for offender registration policies which monitor the whereabouts of offenders after release. These policies have the intended aim of increasing public safety, however a wide body of research supports the idea that negative attitudes towards offenders underlie the creation of these policies more than empirical evidence of their success. Dehumanisation is a psychological process that deprives others of characteristics unique to both human beings and human nature, which has been established to predict increased support for punishment and decreased support for rehabilitation for child sex offenders. The current study aimed to examine the role of dehumanisation in support for punishment and rehabilitation of child sex offenders throughout two studies: first via the undertaking of an online survey using a sample of 228 university students and members of the public, second throughout three focus groups containing a total of 22 university students and members of the public. Dehumanising attitudes in relation to preference between the RNR and GLM models, two key frameworks for child sex offender rehabilitation, were also examined for the first time in the current study. Findings indicated that: 1) both moral outrage and dehumanisation predicted support for harsher forms of punishment and withdrawn support for rehabilitation, 2) victim age did not impact dehumanisation scores, 3) type of offense impacted both dehumanisation and support for post-release monitoring and 4) dehumanisation did not predict RNR over GLM preference. Limitations of the current study and implications for policy and practice, future research regarding uniquely human characteristics, victim age and RNR/GLM preference are discussed.</p>

Exploring Mechanisms of Change in the Rehabilitation of High-Risk Offenders

<p>The success or failure of many different types of treatment is often measured by one type of outcome. For example, treatment for substance abuse might be judged to have failed if a patient “goes on a bender” some time after completing the programme. The same is true for offender rehabilitation. Treatment success or failure is usually determined by whether or not an offender is reconvicted of a new offence in a specified follow-up period. We know from the literature that offender rehabilitation can have modest but significant effects on reducing recidivism. Yet we know little about what brings about these reductions (i.e., how the treatment worked). This thesis explores possible mechanisms of change in offender rehabilitation. I propose that although a reduction in recidivism is an important long-term outcome of treatment, there are a number of additional outcomes that have the potential to explain not only if but how treatment works and why it is unsuccessful in leading to a reduction in reoffending for some offenders. Study 1 is a typical outcome evaluation of New Zealand’s rehabilitation programmes for high-risk male offenders: the High Risk Special Treatment Units (HRSTUs). I compared the recidivism rates of a sample of HRSTU completers with a comparison sample of high-risk offenders who had not completed the programme (a between-subjects design). I found that relative to the comparison group, treatment completers had significantly lower rates of four different indices of recidivism, varying in severity. The remainder of the thesis explored possible mechanisms of change within the HRSTU sample (a within-subjects design). Study 2 examined immediate outcomes of treatment, which I defined as within-treatment change on dynamic risk factors. I found that offenders made significant change on the Violence Risk Scale during treatment, but there was no significant relationship between treatment change and recidivism. Studies 3 and 4 examined intermediate outcomes of treatment, which I defined as barriers (risk factors) and facilitators (protective factors) that influence the process of offender re-entry. Study 3 validated an instrument designed to measure these factors: the Dynamic Risk Assessment for Offender Re-entry (DRAOR). I found that the tool had good convergent validity and reliably predicted recidivism above a static risk estimate. Study 4 used the newly validated DRAOR to test an explanation for the lack of a direct relationship between treatment change and recidivism. I tested whether treatment change had an indirect relationship with recidivism through its influence on the re-entry process. I found that treatment change was related to a number of re-entry outcomes; however, only two models could be tested for mediation because the re-entry outcomes themselves lacked predictive ability. Nevertheless, findings from Study 4 suggest the re-entry process is an area worthy of further investigation. Taken together, the findings from this thesis highlight the importance of considering alternative treatment outcomes in addition to whether or not a programme leads to a reduction in long-term recidivism outcomes. Answering the question of how treatment works requires an exploration into possible mechanisms of change. This thesis was only a preliminary investigation into such mechanisms; however, the findings have both practical and theoretical implications for the way we conceptualise how treatment programmes work. Developing a greater understanding of mechanisms of change in offender rehabilitation has the potential to lead to the design and delivery of more effective programmes.</p>

Parkour/Freerunning as a Pathway to Prosocial Change: A Theoretical Analysis

<p>Parkour/freerunning is a training method for overcoming physical and mental obstacles, and has been proposed as a unique tool to engage youth in healthy leisure activities (e.g., Gilchrist & Wheaton, 2011). Although practitioners have started to utilise parkour/freerunning in programmes for youth at risk of antisocial behaviour, this claim is insufficiently grounded in theory and research to date. In fact, the common misrepresentation of the practice in the media has led to confusion and debate about the nature of parkour/freerunning. In a conceptual and historical analysis, I explore what parkour/freerunning is, and how it can impact on the practitioner. Results from the analysis reveal values, goals and assumptions that parkour/freerunning is built upon, as well as a set of physical, mental, socio-moral and cognitive-behavioural skills developed through the practice. As illustrated by its history, parkour/freerunning has emerged as a highly versatile tool for self-development and change. These insights are used to discuss how parkour/freerunning relates to contemporary frameworks of offender rehabilitation. A comparative analysis demonstrates that parkour/freerunning is largely capable of meeting the standards of rehabilitation practice guided by the Risk-Need-Responsivity model. Moreover, key goals, assumptions and general approach in parkour/freerunning are naturally in line with those in the Good Lives Model of offender rehabilitation. The major overlaps of parkour/freerunning with both frameworks suggest that the practice can increase the individual’s capacity to live a healthy and prosocial life, and reduce the risk of reoffending. Particularly when applied within the GLM, parkour/freerunning offers a pathway to identity formation and transformation. Although this claim is in need of further exploration, I propose that parkour/freerunning can be utilised to enhance the practice of offender rehabilitation as an engaging and easily accessible tool for prosocial change.</p>

Investigating the heterogeneity of violent crimes: A descriptive analysis of offence characteristics

<p>Informed by theories on offending behaviour, violent offender rehabilitation programmes aim to provide treatment to a group of individuals who have committed a diverse range of offences, from assault to aggravated robbery to murder. Yet despite progress with specific offence types (e.g., homicide, robbery, assault), there is no research describing the offence chain characteristics of such a heterogeneous sample of violent offences. This exploratory study uses the structured approach of the Pathways Model of Assault (PMA; Chambers, 2006) to code and catalogue similarities and differences in the offence characteristics of an archival heterogeneous sample of violent offences. Cluster analysis was also utilised to investigate whether it was possible to construct a parsimonious series of pathways to represent the offence process for this diverse sample. The resultant model, the Pathways Model of Violent Offences (PMVO) was constructed and 12 pathways were revealed. The results suggest that upon initial investigation, there appear to be common, shared characteristics among a heterogeneous sample of violent offences.</p>