essay on 8 marker about discussing how a psychological formulation can be used in a scenarion, including 3 PEEL paragraphs and links to the scenario for ao2 marks
Q9 George is a psychologist who works in a local prison. He has been asked to carry
out a case formulation on a prisoner who is due for parole. The prisoner has not been
engaging in a treatment programme.
George asks the prisoner about his childhood when he was neglected by his parents.
He also asks about his current relationships, which are unstable. George finds out
that the prisoner has an addiction and was homeless before going to prison.
Discuss how George may conduct a psychological formulation to understand the
function of offending behaviour in the prisoner.
You must make reference to the context in your answer. (8)
George may first determine causal factors in the prisoner’s offending behaviour. The
purpose of a psychological formulation is to assess the causes of criminal behaviour using
psychological theories. This is offence analysis. For example, George may record socio-
economic and psychological factors in his life which may contribute to his offending
behaviour, such as unstable relationships and neglect by his parents. This can help George
to decide the most appropriate treatments for George and his risk of re-offending based on
the factors influencing his offending behaviour. Using a psychological formulation can help
George to simplify complex offending behaviour down to different factors which can be used
to explain the prisoner’s behaviour. However, this may underplay the interconnections
between each factor since being neglected by his parents might cause the prisoner to have
unstable relationships in adulthood. This means that a psychological formulation may not
necessarily have that level of detail, therefore it may not help George to assess the exact
causes of his offending behaviour.
George then needs to understand the function of the prisoner’s offending behaviour. He
needs to get a personal story of the prisoner so that he can understand how it all links to
their pattern of events that lead to the offence. He can do this by documenting all the
significant socio-economic factors that could have contributed to the prisoner’s offending
behaviour, such as being homeless, having an addiction and unstable relationships. In this
way, George can then be able to understand the function of the prisoner’s offending
behaviour. However, the prisoner may not remember all the significant events in his life
which might have contributed to his offending behaviour unconsciously. This means that a
psychological formulation may fail to cover all the most important aspects of the prisoner’s
life that had a role in his offending behaviour.
George can assess the risk of re-offending through application treatment. This is where an
appropriate treatment is devised based on the factors in the offender’s behaviour. For
example, the prisoner’s addiction might be treated with drug replacement therapy (DRT)
which can reduce the amount of drugs they take and help restore their brain chemicals.
However, the prisoner has not been engaging in a treatment programme. This means that
any treatment for his addiction may not work, therefore the prisoner may have a higher risk
of re-offending after he is released due to parole.
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