Measuring and enhancing offenders' motivation for treatment and change

View/ open
Author
Campbell, Jacqueline Aneen
Date
2009Type
Thesis
Publisher
Cardiff Metropolitan University
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Motivating offenders to engage in a treatment programme is important as engagement in treatment is often seen as an intermediate goal before behaviour change (Ward, Day, Howells & Birgden, 2004). A lack of motivation is a reason why some offenders drop out of treatment (McMurran & McCulloch, 2007; Pelisser, 2007) and dropping out of treatment can lead to an increased risk of recidivism (Cann, Falshaw, Nugent, & Friendship, 2003; Hanson & Bussiere, 1998; McMurran & Theodosi, 2007; Hanson & Harris, 2000).
This thesis reports on the construction, on-going development and testing of a goal-based semi-structured interview procedure that holds potential to explore an offender's treatment motivation: the Personal Aspirations and Concerns Inventory – for Offenders (PACI-O). A pilot study confirmed the suitability of the PACI-O for use with offenders. Psychometric testing indicated that the PACI-O can identify adaptive and maladaptive motivation profiles in an offender. These motivation profiles were found to be related to the degree to which the offenders in the general prison population engaged in a cognitive skills treatment programme. This indicates that the PACI-O has potential as a measure of offender treatment motivation. Results of a randomised controlled trial indicated that some offenders who complete the PACI-O before treatment engage more in treatment, finish with a better motivation structure and have reduced impulsivity levels (high impulsivity has been linked to recidivism risk; Wong & Gordon, 1998) compared to offenders who attend treatment as usual.
It was concluded that the PACI-O may have utility as an initial assessment of treatment motivation that can highlight problems with an offender's motivation structure which, if not attended to, may impede on their treatment engagement. Furthermore, due to the additional focus on personal goals, the PACI-O interview procedure may have utility as a brief, time-efficient pre-treatment motivation enhancer.
Description
PhD
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, subject and abstract.
-
A feasibility study for a randomised controlled trial using the Personal Aspirations and Concerns Inventory for Offenders (PACIO) to improve short-term offenders’ motivation for, and participation in, custodial education and to reduce reconviction
Nekovarova, Iva (Cardiff Metropolitan University, 2016)Offenders’ treatment motivation has been linked to improved treatment engagement (Sellen et al, 2009; Campbell et al., 2010) and in turn treatment completion is associated with better rehabilitation outcomes (McMurran & ... -
To contemplate or not to contemplate evaluating a preliminary intervention proposal in an outpatient setting: the contemplation therapy group
Sanford-Opatz, Lea; Woodward, Debbie; O'Reilly, Clare; Brooks, Elizabeth; Limbert, Caroline (Springer Nature, 2018-11-09)Purpose = The concept for the contemplation group intervention was derived from motivational interviewing (MI) to support people suffering from an eating disorder who are reluctant to engage with treatment. This evaluation ... -
Can perceptions of sex offenders be influenced by primacy effects in impression formation?
Robinson, Jade Louise (Cardiff Metropolitan University, 2017-06-01)Background research: Previous research has indicated that the primacy effect influences much of what is integral within society, policy makers have often been criticised within literature for enforcing policies that isn’t ...