Discovering Balance
Abstracts - Interventions stream
Session 10 Breakout 12, 9.45-11.00am, ECL3 - Chair: TBA.
Question time is included at the end of the breakout session
Working with perpetrators of domestic violence: Getting the Balance Right
Ms Magie Woodhead
The bulk of most Community Corrections Officers' caseloads comprises clients whose childhood histories are replete with stories of violence and abuse; a fact confirmed by Departmental data on the backgrounds of community-based clients in WA on orders for domestic violence offences. The contention of this paper is that to work helpfully with clients who perpetrate domestic violence we need to get the balance right; attending to their stories of victimisation whilst ensuring that the focus of the intervention is always directed at enabling them to take responsibility for the violence they have perpetrated on others. The overall efficacy of Domestic Violence Group work Programs is generally problematic - meta analysis suggests a re-offending rate of 40% within five years of program completion (Gondolf 2005). Therefore, this presentation will also include a proposal for a radically different type of Domestic Violence Perpetrators Program; one that attempts to reduce the recidivism rate via utilising past histories as the pathway for offenders to take responsibility for their own domestic violence offending as adults.
Session 10, Breakout 12
Date & Time: Saturday 4 October (9.45am)
Location: ECL3
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Incarceration
Ms Meg Perkins (Coordinator and Principal Psychologist of The Bridge Network)
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is proposed as the link between child abuse and offending, between victimization and offending and as the disorder underlying substance abuse in many cases. If many offenders with traumatic backgrounds have PTSD, then the work of Dr Lisa Najavits at Harvard University in developing a treatment program which reduces the symptoms of both PTSD and substance abuse is of major importance for the prevention of crime. According to the DSM IV TR incarceration is a traumatic stressor which may well activate or exacerbate the symptoms of PTSD. Thus incarceration may lead to increased substance abuse and more offending behaviour. Restoration of the mental health of the offender ought to be a high priority for our society, especially in the case of youth at risk.
Session 10, Breakout 12
Date & Time: Saturday 4 October (10.05am)
Location: ECL3
An attempt to balance risks and rights in offender rehabilitation: A drug treatment prison in Australia.
Astrid Birgden (Compulsory Drug Treatment Correctional Centre, NSW Department of Corrective Services)
In August 2006 a drug treatment prison was established under the Compulsory Drug Treatment Correctional Centre Act 2004. This legislation is unique in Australia. An interagency program of compulsory treatment and rehabilitation to repeat drug-related offenders is being implemented to: (1) provide ongoing judicial supervision from the NSW Drug Court, (2) treat drug dependency with the aim of abstinence, (3) prevent and reduce re-offending, and (4) promote community reintegration. The Compulsory Drug Treatment Order does not require consent and cannot be appealed. Recently, Ward and Birgden (2007) proposed a human rights model for offender rehabilitation in corrections. The model argues that while the core value of freedom may be curtailed, the core value of well-being is required to protect the inherent dignity of offenders. The proposed model goes beyond legal rights generally espoused by policy statements and considers social and moral rights that guide offender rehabilitation. To manage the compulsory nature of the Order, various strategies have been put in place to address dynamic risk factors (the risk-need model), meet human needs (the good lives model), and apply the law to engage change (therapeutic jurisprudence). These strategies are designed to enhance well-being while ensuring that any constraints on freedom are rationally justified. The correctional centre aims to provide a rehabilitative environment that supports drug-related offenders in balancing their roles as both rights-holders and rights-violators.
Session 10, Breakout 12
Date & Time: Saturday 4 October (10.25am)
Location: ECL3