#1 A lesson from Forensic Science

I am fascinated by the ways in which people can have an impact on others where it is not obvious how that is achieved; the art of persuasion, The Forer Effect, Cold Reading, some of the well-known illusions performed by Derren Brown, the use of ‘nudge’ to change behaviour, even the ethically dubious and possibly made up techniques of the PUA community. In this vein, I wonder is there another principle, from forensic science, that might have value for the forensic psychologist to consider, which could link to intuitive communication and clinical intuition?

Learning from Horatio Caine

For many of us TV programmes like CSI: Miami, with the magnificent David Caruso, are a welcome escape from work. Although they may be cliched police procedurals they have provided something of a window on the workings of forensic science, where a single fibre links someone to a murder, and justice prevails. It has also resulted in the rumour of a CSI Syndrome or CSI effect, whereby our belief in the power of forensic science is alleged to influence the behaviour of juries. There is little psychology, other than Horatio’s well-timed removal of his sunglasses to emphasise time and again that crime does not pay. So why would we think that we could learn anything from Horatio Caine?

I think there are two things we can learn, one of them really very important. The less important is that people who use the term ‘forensics’ as a short form of forensic psychology are actually referring to forensic science so appear to be confused. However, there is an important, subtle perspective we can borrow from forensic science, and one that may be of great value in circumstances where our best efforts, our assessment, formulations, and interventions, don’t seem to work. It won’t act as a solution to these situations but might offer a strategy to elicit change.

Horatio and Locard

Almost every CSI episode, and Horatio’s genius, relies on a principle described by Edmond Locard, a French forensic scientist, who suggested that whenever something comes into contact with something else, both items retain evidence of that contact. In simple terms, if two cars hit each other Locard’s Principle states that both will leave traces of their paint on the other car, or at the scene of the crash. If you can identify the paint that is on car A or at the scene, which doesn’t belong to car A, then you can identify car B.

Kirk (1953) describes it as follows;

Wherever he steps, whatever he touches, whatever he leaves, even unconsciously, will serve as a silent witness against him. Not only his fingerprints or his footprints, but his hair, the fibres from his clothes, the glass he breaks, the tool mark he leaves, the paint he scratches, the blood or semen he deposits or collects. All of these and more, bear mute witness against him.

From Locard to forensic psychology

Locard’s Principle is about contact, so where does that link to forensic psychology? At a very gross level we could imagine that we make psychological ‘contact’ through assessments and interventions, and that’s probably true, but these are interactions with the intention of producing change, leaving some kind of impact on our clients; this is not accidental. If you are able to provoke, encourage, support, engender change through your interventions you are fulfilling your role.

But what if you can’t? What if a client won’t engage with you or engages but only to tell you that they can’t change, won’t change, that they are only ‘doing psychology’ because they have been told it will impact on their release date? Is it possible that we can still influence them in a positive way, or move them to become more likely to engage with psychology, without directly doing psychology?
I think so, because I think Locard’s Principle applies simply when we are around people. You are seen and that is interpreted, you behave and that is interpreted, all manner of implications are made about you because you are present in the environment. Just by being present there is psychological transference taking place when you are seen or heard. You leave psychological traces on everyone who perceives you. This shouldn’t be such a surprise as research has suggested that there can be a great degree of ‘understanding’ between people without communication (see Bass, 2015; Campbell & Pile, 2015). It also fits rather well with Gibson’s idea of perception, that objects in the environment contain information about how they can be used, what Gibson referred to as affordances. Is it plausible that we each have psychological affordances that can be perceived by others? Isn’t this the basis of the idea that body language allows us to understand other people (yes, if she crosses her legs and her shoe points towards you, she fancies you. It’s science). If you believe that behaviour has meaning it seems to follow that you accept some sense of psychological affordances.

Normally we don’t worry about this and actually don’t have the capacity to, as it implies that you are impacting everyone in the supermarket, everyone on the train, and we can’t expect to manage so many interactions. But these impacts are likely to be slight, certainly over the short-term. We also can’t specify what works as we don’t know what is being transferred nor do we know how it will be integrated and interpreted. Wait, so you’ve just spent time reading about something that might be important only to discover you have no control over what you transmit, if anything, or how it could be interpreted, if it is… So why worry about it?

I think there are two answers to this question.

If we aren’t in control of Locard’s Principle, why worry?

1) Simply because it is happening and to deny that it is happening leaves us ignorant of a factor that will influence everything that we do with our clients and has the possibility of impacting our clients just by us being in their environment, whether specifically with them or just in their more general environment. If we naïvely believe that it is only when we plan to produce change that change happens, we are misunderstanding the complexity of human interaction and will only search for explanations in what we know that we consciously do.

2) I think we reach a point, over time and with experience, when we may not know what is working, but we know that something is working, and that intuition can be an important guide to help us manage our interactions with others. There is a growing body of evidence that clinical intuition plays an important role in working with clients (Jeffrey & Fish, 2011). My suggestion is that we do have an impact upon people, and with experience we can hypothesise what it is that is having that impact, and potentially use that in our work. A series of small changes can lead to big changes, and sometimes only small changes are required to make a big difference.

Is this just ‘modelling’?

Some people might say that this idea is just modelling by another name, but I think there is an important difference. When we use modelling, we are demonstrating specific behaviours that we hope our client will start to imitate, and even though this is carried out without verbal description the aim is to produce a defined change. For me modelling is another therapeutic tool that we purposefully engage in, whereas Locard’s Principle is not intentional at the start.

Are there downsides if Locard’s Principle is at work in forensic psychology?

Yes, for two reasons.

1) We don’t know what impressions, what traces, we may be leaving behind, or how they may become integrated into that other person’s experience and understanding. I believe that we do discover a sense of what the consequences of these transferences are as we gain more experience of clients, of work, of noticing the nuances of working as psychologists, so we can work to reduce the negative impact we might have and build on the positive.

2) It works both ways, so just as you and your behaviour can impact upon your client, they and their behaviour can impact upon you, and we don’t necessarily know how because it isn’t a conscious, intentional process – we don’t decide on what “bears mute witness against us”. That’s why supervision is so important as that process can make us aware of the unconscious influences on us, even if we cannot identify what they actually are.

I have no evidence to support this idea and am not sure I could design a study to test it. However, I find it useful for reflecting on my work with clients, to think beyond the overt communication, and consider how being present, both physically and psychologically, can be used to make a difference. It also reminds me that a lot of the time complex psychological theories are for psychologists (as Usher (1986) wrote, “Are such theories telling us something empirically necessary about the world or something subject to cultural contingency and local variation?”) and people have been learning, developing, and changing far longer than psychology has been around.

Side note

One reason why I think our current remote teaching, supervision, and meetings are so treacherously dull and empty is because much of this important unconscious transference is not taking place; it’s harder to understand people, to predict the flow of a conversation, to pick up on the important subtleties of one another when we are not physically present. Someone should do a research project on the death of humanity by Teams.

References

Bass, A. (2015). The dialogue of unconsciousness, mutual analysis and the use of self in contemporary relational psychoanalysis. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 25, 2-17.
Campbell, J. & Pile, S. (2015). Passionate forms and the problem of subjectivity: Freud, Frau Emmy von N. and the unconscious communication of affect. Subjectivity, 8, 1-24.
Gibson, J.J. & Crooks, L.E. (1938). A Theoretical Field-Analysis of Automobile-Driving. The American Journal of Psychology, 51(3), 453-471. Gibson’s best known work appears in his various books, but this early paper gives a flavour of his idea.
Jeffrey, A. J. & Fish, L. S. (2011). Clinical intuition: A qualitative study of its use and experience among marriage and family therapists. Contemporary Family Therapy, 33, 348-363.
Kirk, P.L. (1953). Crime investigation: Physical evidence and the police laboratory. New York: Interscience Publishers, Inc.

Links

The Forer Effect

Cold Reading

Derren Brown

Nudge

David Caruso

PUA

The CSI effect

Usher, R.S. (1986)

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Coronavirus, or COVID-19, has had a significant impact on everyone’s day-to-day life. It’s hard to avoid the word unprecedented, given the shocking effects on the way we all live our lives. The stress of the situation will also have an impact on people’s mental well-being. Here at the Centre for Forensic and Family Psychology, our staff want to offer some suggestions to help people cope and to protect their mental health.

Coronavirus – tips for coping with stress and mental health

Get coronavirus information from reputable sources

Fake news about the coronavirus is rife and has the potential to spread panic rapidly. Both the UK g

government and NHS websites are updated regularly, and have the most up to date and accurate information for those of us in the UK.

Take a break from coronavirus news

Of course everyone is talking about the coronavirus, and broadcasters are providing us all with regular updates. We need to be informed, but this can make it hard to stop thinking about! Everyone needs a break from distressing information. So take some time to do something that you enjoy and can be engrossed in. Things like: painting; reading; having a long hot bath; meditation etc. can help to have a little mental break from stressful topics, and a break from screens as well.

Have good self-care

When we are stressed, we tend not to look after ourselves well, and the coronavirus has undoubtedly caused extreme stress. The bottom of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is our physiological need. So things like maintaining a healthy diet, exercising well, getting enough sleep and showering regular not only protect our physical health, but also our mental health. This is even more challenging when the gym may be closed and we cannot gather in groups. However there are some great exercises that can be done in the house, the NHS has a useful cardio workout. More and more online classes are starting up as well.

Don’t beat yourself up for not being able to do everything perfectly during the coronavirus pandemic

It is sadly true that we tend to be hardest on ourselves. Our reaction to the coronavirus is no different. I know personally: parents who are worried that they can’t teach their children well enough; students who are stressed that they can’t complete placements or exams; NHS staff who are beating themselves up because they have to isolate themselves and cannot be at work. We are all doing our best to try and manage through this crisis, some things might not be perfect when we suddenly have a whole new world of unexpected worries. That’s fine, if you’re following the government’s advice and doing your best to look after yourself and others, then you’re doing brilliantly.

Stay emotionally connected even if you are physically apart

One of the most challenging things about social distancing and self-isolation is that it risks loneliness or people becoming disconnected from friends and family. We know how important it is to stay connected to others to maintain mental well-being. Human beings evolved to work together, we are the dominant species on the planet because we co-operate (I would have no chance against a wild animal on my own!) So we have to find new ways to stay connected, there are hundreds of options for this online, via telephone and even (at a distance) in local communities. Talk to people, check in on people who might feel isolated or vulnerable, even though we may be physically apart we are in this together.

Notice the positives as well as the negatives

With so much frightening news it can become overwhelming. Human brains have evolved to pay more attention to threat or frightening things than positive, because that once helped us to survive. However, even in the midst of all the coronavirus fear there are still acts of basic human kindness every day. People are: buying groceries for more vulnerable neighbours; sharing teaching materials to help parents with children at home; sharing the humour of the clunky transition to working at home with pets and still working in vital services every day, despite the risk to self. It tends to be the people behaving worst that make the news, so actively seek out positive news and you will start to find it.

Be extra kind

When people are under extreme stress, sometimes they will act their worst. We go into survival modes when we are threatened, people might be more short-tempered, less communicative or more selfish under extreme stress. The impact of the coronavirus means that people are worried about their finances, their families and their own health. Little acts of kindness can not only improve your own mood, but other peoples. Remember that everyone is under stress at the moment, lots of people are scared, and people will cope in different ways. People working in shops have had to manage panic buying, as well as the knowledge that they will be exposed to a lot of people during a pandemic. Ask them how they are, show that you care. Support more vulnerable people if you are able, support small businesses or even just ask people how they are doing. Share things that have helped you, laugh and smile when you can, it draws us together.

The impact that the coronavirus will have on society will be profound. The uncertainty of the future is stressful in itself. But although some things might change, we will adapt and get through this together as a society. Remember to follow most up to date government guidance about the coronavirus.

This post was authored by Dr Kathleen (Kate) Green, assistant professor and HCPC registered forensic psychologist.

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Labelling is an important issue in forensic psychology. The passage from Romeo and Juliette:

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose

By any other name would smell as sweet;

So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call’d,

Retain that dear perfection which he owes

Without that title.”

is often used to support the idea that it doesn’t matter what things are called, that it doesn’t change their properties. If we called a Rose a Turnip we would still think it beautiful and fragrant.

But naming, or labelling, does matter in psychology, perhaps crucially in forensic psychology.

Labelling and Forensic Psychology

For those who keep abreast of the stalking literature you will know that names, or labels, do matter. A variety of studies show that if you ask people to judge aspects of a described series of behaviours those judgements differ quite markedly when the person carrying them out is named as either an ex-partner or a stranger (Duff & Scott, 2013; Scott, Duff, Sheridan, & Rajakaruna, 2018).

There are a variety of reasons why this might be the case, but the underlying reason is that, perhaps unlike the name ‘Rose’, names like ‘stranger’ carry with them all manner of extra information, be that based on reality or assumption. You can try this for yourselves, write two lists, one of the characteristics of your ex-partners (if you pick ones who didn’t cheat on you with your best friend and steal all your money you might have things like kind, reliable, punctual, hygienic) and of strangers (depending on your experiences you might have creepy, irrelevant, annoying, harmless). On the basis that strangers are just friends that you haven’t met yet, why would we assume that a stranger would have qualities different to that of an ex-partner, or, for that matter your current one? But we do.

These kinds of findings imply that we think of people differently depending on how they are named, and we also know that thinking can impact upon our actions, so it is entirely possible that we will behave differently towards people who are essentially the same, based purely on some category that is placed upon them. In our work as forensic psychologists, we deal with this on a daily basis, we work with people who are described as ‘violent’, ‘LD, ‘PD’, and although this might in some cases be a convenient shorthand, we have to work quite hard not to let the label define our assessments, formulations, and interventions. We learn how to fight the label in forensic psychology.

If we’re quite good at not being so swayed by labels (NB quite good is not perfect, and we are as prone to biases as anyone) why should we care? We should care because it is not just us that our clients have to deal with, they have to manage being around the general public, being around the legal system, the health and social care systems, and labels may be used and may cause issues. Perhaps most pervasive, or most obviously pervasive, is the use of the term ‘paedophile’ when referring to someone who has been convicted of a sexual offence against a child (sometimes they use the term, ‘convicted paedophile’). Metro does it, the Daily Telegraph does it, the radio station LBC does it, the BBC does it.

In the public discourse paedophile becomes synonymous with offender, and consider all of the other terms often used to describe people who have offended against a child, such as nonce, paedo, pervert, scum, predator… and what extra information that carries with it. Perhaps you want to write a third list to add to stranger and ex-partner and see what you come up with under the category paedophile. I dare you.

The issue is that paedophilia does not imply offending.

The DSM-V definition is:

1. Over a period of at least six months, recurrent, intense sexually arousing fantasies, sexual urges or behaviours involving sexual activity with a prepubescent child or children (generally age 13 years or younger). B. The person has acted on these sexual urges, or the sexual urges or fantasies cause marked distress or interpersonal difficulty. C. The person is at least age 16 years and at least five years older than the child or children in Criterion A.

It might imply a greater risk, but on that basis I am a rapist as I am a male heterosexual.

We know from research, some of it recently carried out at The Centre for Forensic and Family Psychology by Harriet Dymond, that there are individuals who identify as paedophiles who do not offend and do not intend to offend. To achieve this many recognise that they would benefit from support, but the conflation of paedophilia with offending makes them scared, and scared people hide and don’t get the help that they need. We could consider that it is the misuse of the term paedophile that is increasing risk.

Similarly, offending does not imply paedophilia. The DSM-V definition alone implies that, clinical experience suggests it too. Offending against children is more complex and nuanced than a sexual attraction to children, and this should not surprise us given the recognition that rape is not simply about sex, and some authors believe that is not about sex at all, but rather power.

We need to be thoughtful when we categorise and when we hear categories.

As an aside, we have written to newspapers about their use of paedophile to identify convicted sexual offenders and suggested that they are being inaccurate and unhelpful. They do not plan to change their policy, despite the fact that it is idiotic. So when people talk about the bias in the media and fake news remember that sometimes this is an active decision taken by the media to continue to misinform the public, no matter the potential cost to the victims whom they so stridently pretend to stand up for.

Visit our website to find out more about Dr Duff’s research 

Or read more thoughts from our staff and students!

References

Duff, S.C. & Scott, A.J. (2013). Understanding perceptions of stalking: The impact of additional contextual information regarding the breakdown of relationships. Journal of Criminal Psychology, 3(2), 136-144.

Scott, A.J., Duff, S. C., Sheridan, L., & Rajakaruna, N., (2018). The Influence of Contextual Information regarding the Breakdown of Relationships and Perpetrator-Target Sex Composition on Perceptions of Relational Stalking. Psychology, Crime & Law, 12, 1-36.

If you want to learn more, you can find the documentary ‘the Paedophile Next Door’on youtube.

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This post was authored by staff at the Centre for Forensic and Family Psychology, University of Nottingham. An experienced psychologist discusses his thoughts of being asked to provide an expert opinion on the relationship between Valentine’s day and sexual assault.

Valentine’s day and sexual assault

As your career develops as a Forensic Psychologist you may be asked for your views and opinions. You might be asked to provide a book chapter or maybe something for a journalist. That’s very positive; someone thinks that our field has something interesting to say and that you have something of value to contribute. It might also get your name out there. Of course this results in a potential dilemma because we want to engage with the world, share our expertise, but remain professional – and our profession prides itself on a capacity to think. I expect we’ve all seen examples of professionals who are ready to speak but have nothing of value to add!

I occasionally get asked for an opinion and thought it might be interesting to share my most recent one. A journalist contacted me, I took some time to respond, and ultimately none of it was used. My suspicion is that was because the response didn’t lend itself to a shouty headline that Valentine’s Day was like a market for perverts, but I don’t know. What I was trying to suggest was that what seemed like a simple relationship might be more complex and be worthy of some sensible consideration. There’s no commentary, just the journalist’s email question and my response*. I don’t claim it is exhaustive or perfect but hopefully it does represent a thoughtful, rather than ill-informed impulsive response just to get a mention in the media. I remain anonymous and under-appreciated.

*Please note this has been edited for length 

The question

I have a news story from a Freedom of Information request which showed that on Valentine’s Day last year, those committing sexual offences went up eight times, averaging of sex per day to almost 40 on February 14.

I was looking for a criminal psychologist’s perspective on why an offender may strike more on this day in particular, is this something you may be able to help with at all?

My response

First, it is worth having a think about the numbers. This is to rule out this being an effect of something other than Valentine’s Day being peculiar for sexual assaults. If you can rule these kinds of things out then you have to think about ‘why that day’:

1) Are those numbers reflective of male assault on females only, or any form of sexual assault? You need to be sure that the reported increase is an increase in the same thing. Similarly it might be important to check that things like the age ranges are the same for the compared numbers.

The next thing worth thinking about is what is being compared to the frequency of sexual assaults on Valentine’s Day. Six per day might be an average taken over the whole year, just excluding Valentine’s Day. This could be hiding the fact that there are similar peaks or days with no sexual assaults at all on other days. It could be coincidence that a peak happened on 14/2. Similarly, we could look at other special days, such as Halloween, Bonfire Night, New Year’s Eve, to get a sense of whether it is something specific to Valentine’s Day.

If it seems that Valentine’s Day stands out, then it would be worth thinking about whether there is a pattern across years. The things that I am going to suggest that will have been similar for a number of years. If these are important factors then you might expect to see a peak regularly. If you don’t then there may be some other factor, that was specific to 2018.

Last year valentine’s Day was on a Wednesday, if it had been a Saturday then that might important. We might expect more sexual assaults to happen when more people are going out late and drinking alcohol. A brief look at the news doesn’t suggest that there was anything else particularly going on that day.

There may be other important features to consider that help to distinguish between a real effect of Valentine’s Day and something about the data or a coincidence. But these are the ones that come to mind.

2) If it really seems that it was Valentine’s Day then here are some things that might help us understand why:

There are a few things that come to mind here. The first is that Valentine’s is typically seen as a day to go out. The public are bombarded with themes of love, romance, and sex. So you might have two sets of expectations, which in some will be met and bring great pleasure and happiness. In others they won’t be, or they might act as painful reminders of previous experiences. This could result in people making more risky decisions which make them more vulnerable to be both perpetrators and victims.

For the people where expectations are met, whether it is within an existing relationship or something that happens that day, it’s probably reasonable to assume that they are not of concern. Of course, people in relationships won’t necessarily have their expectations met. So being in a relationship is not necessarily going to prevent an assault from happening.

So, the kinds of vulnerabilities that exist on days when people might be out are the typical things like: drink; drugs; being out late; peer pressure etc. This is not about victim blame, this is just the simple fact that if I stay at home, on my own, sober, I am less likely to be a victim of an assault or to assault someone than if I go out, get drunk, take drugs, and am around more people for longer.

The extra vulnerabilities may be about Valentine’s Day having these expectations of romance, love, and sex. If someone is more likely to want to find a partner/kiss someone/have sex they may make themselves more vulnerable than they typically would. They may be more inclined to take risks, for example: meeting people via dating apps without going through any usual checks they would make; being more impulsive about meeting someone that night; having had a drink then agreeing to leave a club/their friends to be with someone; having that extra drink; staying out that bit later etc. People may ‘try too hard’ to hook up with someone, resulting in uncharacteristic and potentially sexually abusive behaviour. Some may be more vulnerable to peer pressure on this particular day.

People may be misreading social cues. Someone may dress up because it is Valentine’s Day, not because they have a date, but just going out. For people who think that what someone wears is somehow significant to their intentions, they might interpret something incorrectly. This could again lead to escalations in unwanted, even abusive behaviour.

People’s expectations of what they want on Valentine’s Day may make them more likely to report an assault. If someone is hoping to meet someone, but that person is more sexually aggressive than they wanted perhaps they are more likely to report. Perhaps someone’s peer group are more supportive of a victim on days that are ‘special’ in some way. Perhaps the police are more sensitive on days that stand out in the calendar.

Similarly, if someone has the expectation that they will have sex on Valentine’s Day they may be more likely to push for that. So escalating the sexual nature of the interaction without the other person’s consent, and this might lead to assault. Some people might sexually assault because their expectations are frustrated, either by a particular person or repeatedly by many people during the day.

Given that there are all these vulnerabilities it is important to acknowledge that some people will know that they can take advantage of these; they are not engaging in the Valentine’s Day partying but rather are looking for opportunities to sexually assault people. Plus there will be some assaults that are coincidental on Valentine’s Day rather than in any way linked to it.

Many of these ideas could be examined – for example do people make more impulsive, riskier decisions when using dating apps on Valentine’s Day or New Year’s Eve, or when they have been drinking, or when out with friends? There’s always room for more research!

If you would like support regarding sexual assault, the NHS has advice and resources .

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You can participate in our research here! Both our staff and students conduct research into all aspects of forensic   psychology. Sometimes this includes using online surveys to gather anonymous data. This page hosts our current   online projects, if you are interested in participating click the links to go directly to the surveys. All projects have   ethical approval from an appropriate research ethics committee, if you have any concerns all surveys include details of how to contact the author. You can also get in touch with Kate at: kathleen.green@nottingham.ac.uk.

Research is really important to us, it can help us to understand why people behave in certain ways or which interventions might be helpful for particular populations. We are very grateful to everyone who participates in our research.

Participate in Forensic Psychology Research

Current projects

Female Attitudes & Behaviours following Exposure to Soft-Core Pornography:– Africa Gil Socorro

I am looking for 18+ females to complete an online study.

My research is looking at female attitudes and behaviours following exposure to soft-core pornography (not to worry though, everything shown is legal and obtained from R-Rated commercial US films!). Studies on pornography are not seldom, yet most use male samples. In order to fill the knowledge gap, I am interested in collecting data from a female sample.

Please be aware that the survey deals with sensitive topics, such as sex and questions about your own attitudes and behaviours.

All data collected is anonymous.

Participation is really simple: just click the link below!.

https://nottingham.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/the-influence-of-aggressive-and-non-aggressive-soft-core-p-2

Also, if you know of any other females who might be willing to complete the survey, please share the link with them.

Thank you!

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Functional analysis

Functional analysis is a model of psychological formulation designed to understand the functions of human behaviour. It has its origins in behavioural psychology. At its core, functional analysis assumes that all behaviour is learned, and that all behaviours serve some purpose. This applies equally to challenging behaviours (such as violence or self-harm) as to more socially acceptable acts.

The NICE guidelines describe functional analysis as “A method for understanding the causes and consequences of behaviour and its relationship to particular stimuli, and the function of the behaviour”. They recommend the use of functional analysis in the assessment of challenging behaviour in adults with autism spectrum disorder and learning disability. As with any formulation, one of the primary aims of a functional analysis is to guide interventions to help people. This might include things like positive behavioural support plans.

Functional analysis is a way of helping us to understand why someone is acting in a certain way.

So for this example, imagine you are a psychologist working at a medium secure unit. You have been asked to complete a functional analysis for Rob, who has been displaying regular verbal aggression since he came to the unit.

The case background

Rob is a 27 year old man, he has been diagnosed with a mild learning disability. He is currently detained in a medium secure unit, due to sudden outbursts of verbal aggression and, sometimes, physical violence.

Rob grew up with his mother in the countryside. He was an only child; his father was arrested after hitting his mother when Rob was aged 7. Rob’s mother has described finding his behaviour difficult to manage when he was younger, although she loved him very much.

Rob found primary school difficult. Teachers reported that he found it hard to keep up with the other children, and would ‘act-out’ when he got frustrated. As he got older, his behaviour got worse, including throwing things at teachers and hitting other children. He was eventually transferred to a special school and diagnosed with a learning disability. Rob first got into trouble with the police when he was caught stealing from a local shop as a teenager, he said that his friends had encouraged him to do this. His Mum has said that she thinks some of Rob’s friends were bad influences, as he started smoking to try and impress them. Rob started getting into fights and was eventually arrested after punching a stranger.

Rob’s IQ test (the WAIS-IV) suggests that he has some problems with processing speed. This means that it takes him more time to take in and process new information, and it may take him longer than most people to perform mental tasks. He had a relative strength in verbal comprehension, suggesting he has good skills with words and language.

An assessment of Rob’s adaptive functioning suggested that he had strengths in social skills and leisure activities. However, he had some deficits in communication and practical skills including self-care. He also has some problems with academic skills and limited independence and self-control.

Assessment

Our job is to try and work out what function verbal aggression is serving for Rob. In order to do this, we need to gather as much information as possible about the behaviour itself. We also need to know what happens immediately before and after. So we need to understand:

Antecedents

What is going on immediately before Rob is aggressive?

Behaviour

What exactly is the behaviour? We need a really clear description in order to be able to monitor and understand it.

Consequences

What happens immediately after the behaviour?

First of all we need to clearly define the behaviour. So rather than just the general term ‘aggression’ we need to think about what Rob actually does, and explain it in a clear and concise way.

There are lots of different ways to try and gather information, and we want our investigation to be as thorough as possible. So we use different methods to gather information:

Indirect observation – This means asking other people about the behaviour. In this case we might interview Rob himself and speak to nursing staff and people that work with him. There are some helpful (and free!) questionnaires that can help. A couple that I have found useful are:

• The modified overt aggression scale which helps to describe and categorise aggressive behaviour and monitor its frequency.
• The motivation assessment scale which asks an informant (observer) questions about a behaviour to try and work out the motivations.

There are several others though!

Direct observation – This means that we observe the behaviour ourselves, so in this case we might spend time on the ward so that we can watch Rob’s behaviour in different circumstances. People sometimes use ABC charts  to record the antecedents and consequences of a behaviour of interest. There are lots of examples online, or you can make your own!

So, after gathering data from staff on the ward and completing our own observations, we start to realise that Rob seems to become aggressive more often in loud situations with lots of people present. We come up with the following information:

Antecedents:

• Social situations – Rob becomes verbally aggressive more often when other people are present
• Male staff present – This tends to happen when male staff are on duty
• Loud, noisy environment – This tends to happen at times of day when the ward is more noisy and busy (including mealtimes and medication times)

Behaviour:

• Rob stands up, raises his voice and swears at staff who are physically close to him

Consequences:

• Staff typically respond immediately by asking Rob to sit down, lower his voice and stop swearing (verbal de-escalation)
• Rob rarely responds to this, and so staff will then take his arm and escort him to his room or a lower stimulus environment
• Staff will then sit and talk to Rob about his behaviour

Functions of the behaviour

So, now that we have a clearer idea of what’s happening, we need to understand the function. We usually think about several plausible functions:

Attention

Gaining attention, affiliation or interaction with other people. For example, someone hurting themselves because they will then receive medical attention – this is positive reinforcement.

Self-stimulation

Gaining an internal positive feeling that is not dependent on other people. For example, getting a buzz from driving too quickly – again positive reinforcement, although sometimes called intrinsic reinforcement.

Tangible rewards

Gaining actual ‘stuff’ that someone wants. For example,  if you give a child sweeties when he/she cries to try and get them to be quiet, they may be louder to get the sweeties! Again this is positive reinforcement.

Escape or avoidance

This is about finding ways to get away from (escape) or not be exposed to (avoid) unpleasant things. For example, a student not attending classes where they have to present as it makes them anxious – this is negative reinforcement.

So in Rob’s case, there are two functions that seem to make sense:

Escape – when he starts shouting he is removed from a noisy, social environment. We know from his case history that it sometimes takes Rob a bit of time to take in information, and that he generally has good social skills. So it makes sense that he might find busy noisy environments stressful, particularly when he is in social settings.

Attention – Another possible function is that when Rob behaves in this way he gets individual attention from male members of staff. We might wonder from his case history whether Rob has had positive male caring figures in his life, and so again this is a plausible function of behaviour.

Depending on the circumstances, it might be that we stop with this functional assessment, and use what we have found out so far to inform our treatment planning. However, there is another step we can take which is to manipulate the antecedents or consequences of Rob’s behaviour in assessment sessions to find out the primary function.

Functional analysis

A true functional analysis includes in some way manipulating either the antecedents or consequences of a behaviour, to see if this effects how frequently the behaviour is used. This is an experimental method which allows us to more confidently establish what is causing a behaviour.

This can pose ethical and practical challenges in secure environments, and throughout our practice we have to consider the safety and well-being of everyone.

So in order to get the best data, we could conduct an experiment to test the functions of Rob’s behaviour. This might include devising conditions where Rob is told off when he becomes threatening (attention), or is allowed to stop doing something he does not like when he becomes aggressive (escape). We would then monitor the frequency of the behaviour in each of these conditions (as well as a control condition). We would use this information to establish the primary function. However, in Rob’s case, this behaviour might cause distress for Rob or for other people, and so we have to think about how ethical this is.

One alternative is to use something called naturalistic experiments. This means monitoring behaviour in circumstances that arise naturally. So in Rob’s case, imagine that in order to manage risk he is put on second sitting at mealtimes (meaning that he eats later, with fewer patients present). We know that one time he seems to become verbally aggressive is mealtimes. So we could see what happens if Rob eats with fewer other patients present, but the same number of staff. If the primary function is attention, then we would expect the behaviour to occur as frequently. If the function is to escape a noisy social environment, then we might expect the frequency of the behaviour to reduce.

So we monitor the frequency of Rob’s verbal aggression. We can see that when he is put on second sitting the frequency of verbal aggression decreases. So we conclude that the primary function is to escape an uncomfortable environment.

Applying our findings to treatment plans

Now that we’ve established the function of Rob’s behaviour, we have to design plans to try and reduce the behaviour and increase Rob’s well-being. There are a few different ways we can do this:

• We can consider environmental changes in order to reduce Rob’s exposure to stressful situations. This might include reducing Rob’s exposure to loud busy social environments
• We can think about alternative strategies Rob can use to communicate his distress, and work with him to develop these strategies – for example holding up a red card if he is finding a situation too difficult to manage
• We can consider the ways staff working with Rob respond to his behaviour, to ensure that we all respond in ways likely to reduce aggression.

Once we design our plans, it is really important that we continue to monitor the frequency of the behaviour to see if our plans are working!

Pros and cons of functional analysis

Pros:

• Leads clearly to treatment recommendations
• Can be used with people who struggle to express themselves verbally
• Has a great deal of research support – it works!

Cons:

• Focuses on a specific problem behaviour (the people we work with may have multiple presenting difficulties)
• Does not consider underlying factors which may be contributing to the need for the behaviour – e.g. if a behaviour reduces distress then functional analysis should be able to identify this, but it is not able to identify the underlying source of the distress, such as unresolved trauma.

Functional analysis can be an incredibly useful tool, but often it is part of a wider formulation. For example in Rob’s case, we might have successfully identified the function of his verbal aggression and be able to design interventions to reduce this. However, we might be interested in other aspects of the case. Rob’s father was violent, it might help to understand his early attachment relationships and associated core beliefs (or cognitive schema). It looks like social relationships come up a lot in this case, so we might also be interested in his social self-esteem and vulnerability to peer pressure.

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Careers in forensic psychology in the UK are both challenging and rewarding. I became a forensic psychologist because I believe that sometimes the people in the most distress will come to the criminal justice system before any other service. I’ve put together this post to explain a bit about what we do, and some of the routes into forensic psychology as a career. If you want to learn more, the British Psychological Society (BPS) has some great resources for aspiring forensic psychologists.

Careers in forensic psychology: What do forensic psychologists do and how do you become one?

Broadly speaking, forensic psychologists work with victims of crime, offenders and staff in forensic settings. This can include hospitals, prisons, offender management services, the courts, children’s services etc. It can be a varied career depending on the areas you chose to specialise in, however there are core competencies, defined by the BPS, which all forensic psychologists must demonstrate in order to be registered with the health and care professions council (HCPC). These are the four core roles:

Core Role 1: Conducting psychological applications and interventions

All forensic psychologists must be competent to deliver therapies and interventions to individuals and groups. In my practice, I have delivered therapies to people detained under the mental health act focussing on things like self-esteem, trauma, offending behaviours and managing distressing emotions. While training, forensic psychologists are exposed to a range of therapies. These will typically include cognitive behavioural approaches. Other commonly used therapies in forensic settings include: dialectical behavioural therapy; schema therapy; cognitive analytical therapy; eye-movement desensitisation and reprocessing; compassion focussed therapy; systemic therapy etc. Post-qualification, many forensic psychologists chose to have additional training in order to become chartered in a particular therapeutic approach.

Any intervention would typically include the following stages:

• Assessment – Using sources of information like file data, interviews with a person and possibly psychometric assessments to establish a person’s strengths and areas of difficulty. This helps us to understand which intervention(s) might help a person and to develop a formulation.
• Formulation – Forensic psychologists use formulations to develop working hypotheses about factors which may influence a person’s well-being or behaviour. This is a way of synthesising our assessment data, using psychological theory and published research, to try and understand what might be causing and maintaining distress for a person. This should be developed in collaboration with the client/service-user where possible.
• Intervention – A forensic psychologist must be skilled in delivering group and individual interventions, the nature of the intervention will be driven by the formulation. However, any therapy requires the psychologist to have skills including: developing and establishing a therapeutic rapport; responding empathically to the individual; managing distress and ensuring safety.
• Evaluation – Once an intervention is complete, it is very important to evaluate its impact and consider how this changes the person’s formulation. An individual in a forensic setting may complete several interventions, by re-formulating we can consider the impact of each intervention.

Core role 2 – Research

In my (subjective) experience, forensic psychology trainees either love or hate research! But the ability to contribute to the knowledge base surrounding forensic psychology is a core competency. Both service evaluation and applied research allow us to help to develop the field of forensic psychology. This might include evaluating specific interventions, identifying factors that protect against recidivism, considering the impact of service models on staff well-being, understanding the predictive validity of risk assessment tools etc. etc.

Conducting research in forensic settings requires fairly advanced skills in quantitative and qualitative methods, research design and data-analysis. But, it also gives forensic psychology trainees an opportunity to be creative and generate new knowledge about something they feel passionate about. At the centre for forensic and family psychology, our students have developed some fascinating research projects, including things like the impact of dog-walking groups on forensic psychiatric patients; the impact of attachment style on sub-clinical symptoms of psychosis and factors influencing the identification of child neglect. I enjoy research because it gives me the chance to make a wider contribution to forensic psychology, and (I believe) to answer fascinating and important questions about why people might behave in certain ways.

Core role 3 – Communicating psychological knowledge and advice to other professionals

Multi-disciplinary working is central to forensic psychology. If I see a patient in a forensic hospital for 1 hour per week, they will probably spend more than a hundred (waking) hours with staff on the ward and from other disciplines. This means that communicating psychological knowledge to other professionals is vital, and is rightly a core competency in forensic psychology.

In my practice, this most often takes the form of reports and attendance at multi-disciplinary meetings. In this way, we ensure that decisions taken are informed by psychological knowledge. In other settings, this might include presenting evidence to the courts or the parole board. Alternatively, this may take the form of giving advice on policy and consultancy work. This core role also involves giving feedback to clients, agencies and staff members (for example assistant psychologists under supervision).

Whatever the setting, the core skill is communication. There is no point in my writing an assessment report to share with a client and a multi-disciplinary team if you need a masters in psychology to understand it (even if it might make me feel very clever!). All this would achieve is disempowering the client and possibly alienating a multi-disciplinary team. So part of our training is learning to communicate psychological principles effectively to people from various backgrounds and disciplines.

Core role 4 – Training other professionals in psychological skills and knowledge

As you develop as a forensic psychologist, you will learn skills and knowledge that can be valuable to others.  In order to have a career in forensic psychology, you have to develop skills in identifying training needs, designing and delivering training and evaluating the impact of programmes. This can be a big challenge for people early in their careers, but can also be a chance to share your knowledge and experience and see its value to others. A trainee will develop these skills throughout their training, and post-qualification!

Other key skills for a forensic psychologist

Reflective practice

In order to demonstrate you are competent as a forensic psychologist, you have to show that you are a reflective practitioner. This means that you think about your experiences, your own actions and emotions and the way you manage various challenges. By applying psychological theory to ourselves, we can continue to develop and grow as practitioners.

This was a personal challenge for me (I was quite happy avoiding my own emotions and hiding behind reports thank you very much!) but possibly the most important aspect of my own training. We have to have an understanding of ourselves, our own strengths and limitations and our role within a system in order to be able to practice safely. I found developing a self-formulation (with the support of supervisors) a really useful exercise, which helped me to understand my own emotional experience and I believe made me a better practitioner. You can develop your reflective practice skills via training, supervision and reflective reports.

Supervision

When you are training, you will be supervised by a qualified forensic psychologist (and possibly other qualified psychologists) for a minimum of an hour per week. Using this time effectively is central to working towards qualification. This can be a space to develop therapeutic skills, reflect on your own experiences, receive feedback on your work or simply to explore your own ideas and thoughts. There are various models of supervision, usually you and your supervisor will agree what is helpful for both of you early in the relationship.

Once you are qualified you will begin supervising others, and supporting them in their own development. You will also continue to receive supervision yourself, as this is one of the safeguards of our profession. In this way you continue to develop while supporting others.

Careers in forensic psychology: How do I get there?

In order to become a forensic psychologist, you will first need a good (usually 2-1 or 1^st class) undergraduate degree in psychology which is accredited by the BPS. Then you need to complete stage 1 and stage 2 training in forensic psychology:

Stage 1 – Masters in Forensic psychology

The first step is to complete a masters level (usually MSc) course in forensic psychology, again which is accredited by the BPS as stage 1 training. There are a wide variety of masters programmes available in the UK, the majority include both research and teaching in a variety of areas related to forensic psychology.

At the centre for forensic and family psychology, our masters programme incorporates an applied research project and teaching in: theories of criminal behaviour; forensic child psychology; forensic mental health; law and criminal justice; forensic organisational psychology and forensic practice interventions. We try to give students a realistic understanding of forensic psychology as a career, including inviting guest speakers from different disciplines, in order to support our students in developing research and practice skills.

I completed my MSc level training at Nottingham, for me the most important part was being exposed to practitioners from various disciplines and understanding the different aspects of forensic psychology as a career. It wasn’t until I completed my MSc level training that I was really sure I wanted to be a forensic psychologist. Some of our MSc students chose to go into different areas once they have graduated, including teaching and clinical psychology.

Gaining experience is a well-known challenge early in a forensic psychology career. Gaining an MSc can increase your chances of securing employment as an assistant psychologist, or a similar post in a forensic setting. Lots of our students complete voluntary experience or shadowing work while studying.

Stage 2 – Qualification in forensic psychology

There are several different routes to becoming a qualified forensic psychologist, and it is important that you think carefully about the right one for you. All involve supervised practice and demonstrating competency in the core roles. You will need some experience in forensic settings as well as an MSc (at Nottingham, we ask for a minimum of 100 days supervised practice to begin our doctorate courses).

The doctorate routes confer a professional doctorate degree from a University as well as eligibility for registration with the HCPC and chartership with the BPS as a forensic psychologist. This means that they have a strong research element in addition to supervised practice. At Nottingham, our doctorate programme (the top-up DForenPsy) includes supervised practice in a minimum of three placements across two years (we support students in finding placements); trainees develop a ‘practice portfolio’ which demonstrates their competency to practice. Our trainees also develop a research portfolio (with the support of supervisors from the University of Nottingham), and are examined on both portfolios at the end of the course. We also run a full programme that includes both the stage 1 (MSc) and stage 2 (supervised practice and research) elements of training (the full DForenPsy)

The BPS qualification in forensic psychology also requires trainees to demonstrate their competencies in the core roles via written exemplars (which are assessed). This also confers eligibility to register with the HCPC and  chartership with the BPS as a forensic psychologist. This is an independent route to becoming a qualified forensic psychologist, suitable for those who are working in an area where they can gain the required  competencies.

Some Universities are now offering practitioner programmes in forensic psychology (post-graduate diplomas) which allow trainees to demonstrate their competency to practice (and achieve HCPC registration) via a University without completing a doctorate. Some education providers also allow people who are already qualified as forensic psychologists to complete a research project in an area of specialism to achieve a doctorate degree.

Choosing the right route for you can be confusing, possibly the best advice I can offer is speak to people who have qualified through various routes and think about whether or not they suit your needs. This decision may also depend on your circumstances. I chose to complete the doctorate at Nottingham because I wanted to develop my applied research skills (and have the option of an academic career) and to increase my breadth of experience via placements. I have some very talented colleagues who chose to qualify via the BPS and other routes as it suited their current needs, interests and employment. While I am a strong advocate for the Nottingham programmes, being a trainee is a significant personal and professional challenge, and I believe it is important that everyone makes an informed choice before beginning their stage 2 training.

Careers in forensic psychology: Post-qualification jobs

In the UK, one of the biggest employers of forensic psychologists is the prison service. However, graduates from our DForenPsy courses at Nottingham are most frequently employed in NHS and private hospitals. At our last survey, 100% of our graduates were employed as forensic psychologists, practicing in areas including:

• Secure hospitals (both NHS and private)
• Prisons
• Child and adolescent mental health services
• Probation services
• Medico-legal services
• Academic institutions

Throughout training, forensic psychologists tend to find areas that they enjoy and want to develop post-qualification. Some may find that they love assessment work, and so go in to private practice completing assessments for the courts. Others find that they value delivering therapies, and go on to complete specialist training (and even chartership) and practice as private therapists or in hospitals and the NHS. Some of our graduates (including our very own Kate and Lydia) have taken on academic posts to allow them to continue to develop research and teaching skills in addition to applied practice. It can be a very varied profession!

People do not generally get into psychology for the money, but being a trainee can be a substantial financial commitment among other things, and you need to know if it is going to be worth it in terms of career progression. At the time of writing, a newly qualified psychologist in the NHS would have a starting salary of £33,222, with good opportunities for progression over the first five years of qualification. A similar role in HM prison service would be paid approximate £35,000 per year. Working for private companies can pay substantially more, although may not have such favourable arrangements for things like pension and sick pay.

I can say with absolute honesty that qualifying as a forensic psychologist has changed my life and has given me a vocation as well as a job. While there are substantial challenges, my work is varied, interesting and rewarding. If it is something you are considering, I would strongly advise you find out more!

This post was authored by Dr Kathleen (Kate!) Green of the Centre for Forensic and Family Psychology at the University of Nottingham

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Dr Vincent Egan, Clinical and Forensic Psychologist at the Centre for Forensic and Family Psychology (University of Nottingham), was invited to speak at the International Congress on Applied Psychology (ICAP) conference in a symposium on sadism.

The ICAP conference

The ICAP conference was held in Montreal over five very hot days in late June, 2018; one would not have known Montreal is more northern than Moscow. The conference was held in the Palais de congrès de Montréal, a venue I last attended in 1989 for the International AIDS Conference, and capable of holding 10 000 people then (I was told the building had even more capacity now).  ICAP was a huge event, with about 20 parallel sessions as well as plenary talks, master lectures, workshops, invited symposia, and poster sessions in rooms the size of football fields.  Academic events occurred from 8 am to 8 pm. Experts from all areas of applied psychology – occupational, clinical, health, forensic, educational – attended.  Given the size of the event, it could be difficult to fraternise across disciplines outside of coffee queues, as the venue took 10 minutes to get from one end of the building to another.  Other times, sessions you wished to attend were already very full.

I was invited to speak in the symposium on sadism (“The Sadistic Personality: Measurement and Interactions with Context”) within the Social and Personality Psychology stream of the meeting.  This was a great honour, as all other speakers were from the Canadian researchers on the topic, who circulate around Professor Delroy Paulhus, who devised the concept of the Dark Triad (DT; psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and Narcissism, all parts of general antagonism) and is based in Vancouver.  Paulhus is testing whether the DT should be extended to include sadism (i.e., deriving pleasure from another’s distress), and included me as a friendly critic, as my own work suggests that sadism adds very little to DT measurement, and is more a behavioural description of psychopathy.  The symposium went very well, with a full room, many questions, and other speakers finding their results upheld my argument (without wanting to sound narcissistic, it is always nice to be right).  One speaker invited me to be a plenary speaker at next year’s International Society for the study of Individual Differences conference in Florence, Italy, which I was very happy to accept.

Conferences provide an opportunity to learn about current research in the field of forensic psychology

I also attended symposia on violent extremism and terrorism, and was pleased to find that I have not missed new findings and discoveries in this field, which remains as broad and fraught with the problems of doing research in the field as ever.  (Terrorists and violent extremists often kill themselves in pursuit of their acts, and when in custody are often disinclined to speak to psychologists any more than they need to, making systematic and broad data gathering from such cohorts difficult.) At the other end of the offending range, I also attended sessions on dangerous driving, which probably kills more than terrorism, and has more personal impact on most people.  There is good work being done on developing the cognitive dissonance associated with the notion that “your speeding is acceptable whilst others is dangerous”, and discussing the hypocrisy of this position leads people to drive more cautiously – though they continue to keep their false belief in their own speeding being acceptable.

As a clinical psychologist, I took the opportunity to revise some of my basics, and enjoyed a session reiterating that mental illness is more than negative affect, and the depressive pathways to addictive behaviour, the latter research being experimental and longitudinal, so carrying a firmer scientific basis than the often-descriptive work done in such fields.  I also saw a talk on cognitive biases in practitioners; patients of practitioners who have more self-doubt and self-criticism about their own practice have better clinical outcomes – perhaps because such practitioners do not become complacent about their performance and allow deterioration and downward drift of performance.

Conferences also great places to network and learn about new assessments and methods

I met many colleagues at the conference, along with given the size of the event, missing others who I subsequently heard had attended.  I was particularly pleased to renew friendships with Scott Lillenfeld, whose work I have followed since I discovered it 20 years ago, and is a strong proponent of the need for evidence-based practice in psychology, and a keen debunker of pseudoscientific influences within psychology and it’s applications.  I also caught up with Adele Forth, who is a major researcher in the field of psychopathy, and whom I had not seen in some years.

One good aspect of conferences is picking up new methods and assessments, and ICAP was very fruitful in this respect.  There were a number of student posters on statistical methods which were pragmatically focussed, and showed that even ordinary psychology post-graduates can produce sophisticated but practical tools.  I discovered that there is now a large video database of YouTube clips rated for affective content analysis, called LIRIS-ACCEDE which will be very useful for studies requiring realistic emotional stimulus material, and which I hope to implement in student projects from September.  I also intend to pursue more on sadism using the “Fear Enjoyment Questionnaire”, which was discussed in one of the sessions.

Poster at the The International Congress on Applied Psychology (ICAP) conference

Overall, the conference was very successful; one is often frustrated at what one has to miss at events of this size, but it is a context to promote one’s work and the quality of one’s institution and in that respect, I think North American applied psychologists saw that we are serious counterparts to for future collaborative research.  I would recommend that other researchers attended this meeting, provided they do not seek to do too much, as if so, they will only be disappointed; even reading the conference abstracts (376 pages) is overwhelming.

This post was authored by Dr Vincent Egan of the Centre for Forensic and Family Psychology, University of Nottingham.

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Psychometric tests can be hard to find, we have collated some helpful links to free online resources that our staff and students have found helpful.

Psychometric tools

Psychometric tools include the questionnaires we use for psychological assessments. In both research and practice, psychometrics allow us to objectively measure things like personality traits, behaviours, emotional experiences and psychological symptoms. Psychometrics are big business, for example the most accurate IQ tests cost over £1000 and require specialist training to administer. Students and trainees often can’t afford to fork out for expensive licences and manuals for their research. Luckily some very kind researchers make their measures freely available online to support research and the development of new knowledge. We’ve compiled a list of some of our favourites (with links!) that our staff and students have found helpful.

Please remember that it is your responsibility to check the validity (how accurately it measures what it is supposed to measure) and reliability (how consistent the measurement is) of tools before you use them for research purposes!

Empathy, systemising and the autism spectrum

Understanding and assessing empathy is an important area in forensic psychology.  People’s different experiences of empathy have been shown to affect things like jury decision making and offending behaviours. Aspects of empathy, like the ability to recognise other people’s emotions, are thought to be compromised in autism spectrum disorder. However, individuals with autistic spectrum traits may have strengths in skills like systemising.

The amazing researchers at the Autism Research Centre have made a wide range of psychometric tests and tools freely available for research purposes. Find them here!

Personality traits

Since the ancient Greeks, mankind has tried to understand and quantify personality. Modern trait based theories view personality as made up of a small number of traits which people possess to a greater or lesser degree. These traits can be measured with a variety of psychometric tools.

The International Personality Item Pool is a public domain collection of items that can be used in personality tests. Various psychometric tools for personality assessment have been created from these items, and are available right here!

Alternatively, the HEXACO is a psychometric tool which assesses six major dimensions of personality. The test has been translated into various languages, and is available here

Psychopathy, sadism and all things dark

The ‘dark triad’ refers to psychopathy, Machiavellianism and narcissism, which are personality traits thought to be linked to antisocial behaviour (and a particular research interest of our very own Dr Egan). A psychometric tool to assess these traits has been created by Delroy Paulhus. In an act of infinite kindness, this, and other tools assessing deception, antisocial behaviour and sadism have been made freely available here.

Assessing symptoms of mental disorder

The American Psychiatric Association (APA) publish the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM), which provides diagnostic criteria for mental health problems. It is possibly the most commonly used tool for classifying mental disorders (along with the International Classification of Diseases). The latest edition (DSM-5) offered a number of “emerging measures” for further clinical evaluation and research* and these are available here.

*Please be aware that some of these tools require further permissions to be used for research purposes (some do not). When you download a tool, the first page tells you about  permissions to use the psychometric for research purposes.

Adverse childhood experiences

Traumatic childhood experiences are sadly common, and can have a negative impact on people as adults. Understanding the influence that these experiences can have, and particularly searching for protective factors and helpful interventions, is my personal passion in both practice and research.

The world health organisation have published a helpful (2016) handbook on measuring and monitoring the prevalence of childhood maltreatment. Their Adverse Childhood Experiences International Questionnaire (ACE-IQ), which asks adults about their experiences in childhood, is available here.

The national centre for PTSD (part of the US department of veteran affairs) also provides some really helpful training and assessment tools. They offer various psychometric tools including adult and child measures of childhood adversity, and screening tools for post-traumatic stress disorder, available here.

This post was authored by Dr Kathleen (Kate!) Green for the Centre for Forensic and Family Psychology, if you know of any more helpful resources, please do let us know!

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Supervisor training

I’m fairly certain that anyone who has worked in forensic services or in mental healthcare will testify that it can be a challenging and yet hugely rewarding field. Working as a junior (or even senior!) clinician in such an area can be a steep learning curve and can take its toll on even the most experienced of us. As such, clinical supervision has an important (many would say critical) role to play in ensuring a clinician’s practice remains up to date and robust, and that we have a support structure to protect against stress and burnout.

The University of Nottingham’s Professional Doctorate in Forensic Psychology (DForenPsy) requires trainees to complete a number of clinical placements in a variety of settings in order to develop a breadth and depth of experience and knowledge in the field. The challenge for trainees, and the university, is to ensure that they receive good quality supervision during their placements. However, we also have a responsibility to ensure that any clinicians acting as placement supervisors are also provided with support to perform their role effectively.

Aiming to support existing and prospective supervisors, we held the now annual Supervisor Training day on 10th July 2018. Chaired by Dr Simon Duff, the day provided a number of sessions from core members of the department including Dr Shihning Chou, Dr Kate Green, Dr Vince Egan and Lydia Bullock. I was also asked to join the team in order to provide my dual perspective as someone with an honorary role at the University, but who has also (with my clinical hat) hosted and supervised a number of placement students in various services.

It was exciting to see such a cross section of attendees on the day, mixing Forensic and Clinical Psychologists from the NHS and independent sector, as well as clinicians from psychotherapy and nursing backgrounds. The day comprised a detailed look at the DForenPsy course structure and overview of trainee needs, as regards clinical placements, as well as break out sessions to outline the expectations and realities of taking the role of the ‘coordinating’ and ‘designated’ supervisor. There were also sessions from past trainees (Lydia Bullock and Dr Kate Green) to reflect on their experience of receiving supervision while juggling the competing demands of the training route, and also from myself to provide a clinician’s view of supervising doctoral students.

The training day left me reflecting on my own experiences of clinical supervision, which have (thankfully) been almost exclusively positive; for most of my career, I have been blessed with immensely talented and knowledgeable supervisors, without whom I would not have had the formative experiences that have led me to where I am today. Given the nature of the DForenPsy – specifically the development of the next generation of Forensic Psychologists – we feel that have a massive responsibility to ensure our trainees receive this same level of nurturance and support, and doing so will continue to be one of the greatest of privileges.

This post was authored by Paul Mooney, Lead Consultant Forensic Psychologist at Elysium Healthcare, Chartered Scientist & Assistant Professor

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