ENHANCED THINKING SKILLS

1
ENHANCED THINKING
SKILLS

• What is Enhanced
• Thinking Skills?

2

• Developed by Canadian Correctional Services.
  Based on the Reasoning and Rehabilitation
  Programme
• Introduced in the Prison Service in 1993 in the
  UK
• Utilises work of researchers such as DeBono,
  Kohlberg, Ross and Fabiano to improve cognitive
  skills
• Based on premise that much anti-social behaviour
  is a result of deficits in thinking styles

3
(No Transcript)
4
A ACTIVATOR B BELIEF C CONSEQUENCE
5
COGNITIVE SKILLS PROGRAMMESRESEARCH FINDINGS

• 2002 FINDINGS (Pre-accreditation)
• UP TO 14 DROP IN RECONVICTIONS (HORF 161)
• 2003 FINDINGS (ACCREDITED)
• NO DIFFERENCE IN TWO YEAR RECONVICTION FOR
  ETS/RR (HORF 206)
• UP TO 4.1 REDUCTION OVER 1 YEAR, NOT SUSTAINED
  (HORF 226)
• WHY DO WE HAVE THESE RESULTS?

6
COGNITIVE SKILLS PROGRAMMESRESEARCH FINDINGS

• DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
• Targeting correct group members
• Programme expansion - Quality of delivery
• Motivation Group and Tutors
• Differences between ETS and RR
• Inclusion of non-completions in research
• Dynamic risk factors matched comparative group
• Type of reconviction

• A Cognitive Skills Booster programme has been
  developed from the results of HORF.

7
SELECTION FOR ETS

• The Sentence Planning Risk Predictor Score is all
  important
• We look at previous offending history
• History of - poor education / employment
• - poor family
  relationships
• - unstable living
  conditions
• - drink / drugs
• Interview - designed to examine thinking deficits

8
COGNITIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF OFFENDERS
COGNITIVE STYLE
INTERPERSONAL PROBLEM SOLVING
SELF CONTROL

• Impulsive
• Non-Reflective

• Concrete
• Present Orientated

• Poor problem recognition,
• consequential thinking,
• alternative thinking

SOCIAL PERSPECTIVE TAKING
VALUES
CRITICAL REASONING

• Egocentric
• Non-empathic

• Thinking errors

• Poor / Inconsistent
• reasoning

9
PROGRAMME STRUCTURE

• Pre-course psychometrics /assessment checklist
• 21 sessions, 2 hours each, 4-5 weeks
• Mid-course Review
• Post-course psychometrics / assessment checklist
• Post-Programme Report
• Post Programme Progress Review

10
TREATMENT MANAGER

• Integrity of the treatment programme
• Recruiting and assessing prisoners attending the
• programme
• Providing supervision to tutors
• Selection of tutors
• Quality of the Post Programme Report
• Core Competencies
• Understanding of the theoretical model
  underpinning cognitive skills
• Expertise in running cognitive skills programmes
• Skill based competencies
• Organisational skills

11
COURSE EXERCISES
5 Key Areas -

• Problem Solving
• Social Skills
• Creative Thinking

• Perspective Taking
• Moral Reasoning

Practice part of an exercise which treatment
targets does it aim to address and why?