To be given information on the background context
of the Adapted Thinking Skills Project (ATSP).
To understand the ATSP programme.
To understand the adaptations made to the Thinking
Skills Programme.
To be introduced to preliminary evaluation results.
The
general
consensus
among
professionals is that there exists an
overrepresentation of people with LD in the
criminal justice system.
20-30% of people involved in the criminal
justice system have a learning disability or
difficulty (Talbot, 2008).
Prisoners with learning disabilities/difficulties
were three times more likely to suffer with
depression & anxiety compared to the
comparison group.
Prisoners with learning disabilities/difficulties
were three times more likely to have spent time
in segregation.
 Prisoners with learning disabilities/difficulties
were least likely to access offending behaviour
programmes, and were the least likely to know
when their release date was and were more
likely to have been bullied.
Poor identification procedures
Lack of diversionary options
AA provision
Lack of staff training (police, court staff)
OBP’s are designed to facilitate the rehabilitation
of offenders.
Through a series of activities the programmes
help the offender reduce their chances of
reoffending.
Programmes vary in complexity and length and
range from sexual offender programmes to
general offending behaviour programmes.
Accredited programmes are evidenced based.
The Thinking Skills Programme is a NOMS
accredited offending behaviour programme that
aims to help offenders address their offending
behaviour.
The programme targets deficits that are linked to
offending behaviour such as impulse control,
interpersonal relating and cognitive distortions.
The current Thinking Skills Programme is designed
for offenders with an IQ of 80 or above. Eligibility is
also based on the offenders level of risk and whether
their offending needs match what the programme
can offer.
3 modules of 5 sessions each (The self-control,
problem solving and relationships module). In
addition, there are four 1:1 sessions, with each
offender being assigned a facilitator to work with
during ‘private sessions’.
 Due to the programmes IQ criteria it means that
offenders with an IQ below 80 will be unable to
benefit from the programme. This is a real problem
because 25% of prisoners have an IQ between
70-79 (Talbot, 2012).
This has led to concerns that NOMS were
potentially failing in their duty to provide a service
to all prisoners.
It could be argued that professionals at all levels
are starting to develop an awareness of the
difficulties that LD persons are facing in the
Criminal Justice System.
My manager (Alison Giraud-Saunders) applied for
funding in 2009 from DH to adapt the Thinking Skills
Programme. Funding was granted in 2010.
Dr. Peter Oakes and Professor Glynis Murphy
were our project consultants.
NOMS were very much an active part of the
adaptation process. They were keen to ensure that we
stayed true to the integrity of the programme and the
underlying theory base.
The adapted version of the Thinking Skills
Programme is 26 sessions long.
Module 1 self-control: 10 sessions long.
Module 2 Problem solving: 5 sessions long.
Module 3 Positive relationships: 6 sessions long.
There are five 1:1 sessions: one pre-group
meeting, three in between module sessions and
one end of programme session.
Self-control
This module focuses on the offender with learning
disabilities thinking and talking about all of the risk factors
that led to his index offence. We use a combination of
pictures and role plays to help the offender identify and
manage their risk factors. The programme therefore
teaches self-control, i.e. to stop and think before a
decision is made. The identification of risk of offending
and a lack of impulse control is very often what is missing
within the offender’s skill sets.
The problem solving module
This module helps the offender to become good problem
solvers. It conceptualises a problem into four stages: 1. knowing
the problem 2. brainstorming 3. choose an option 4. Make a
plan. Through various exercises the offender basically goes
through the skills steps several times over with their own
problems and through exercises generated by the facilitator.
The positive relationships module
This module is concerned with the offender identifying
pro-social and non pro-social people within their current
social circle. The second half of the module then focuses
on the offender developing specific skills in order to
maintain and develop pro-social connections. The skills
looked at include perspective taking, negotiation and
assertive communication.
The main adaptations therefore included:
Eligibility
Increase in programme length
Language
Memory
Fictional characters
Easy read
The evaluation was led by Dr. Peter Oakes and was
conducted on all three prisons we worked in.
The evaluation we used is known as realistic
evaluation (Tiley, 1997) and included collecting
specific pieces of information regarding the prison.
this was all with the aim of trying to ascertain
whether the programme could be successfully
implemented in different environments.
Feasibility not effectiveness
Although evaluating the effectiveness of the
programme was not a project aim, Professor
Glynis Murphy and I carried out some pre and
post testing on offenders who underwent ATSP.
The post psychometrics included 1. Locus of
control: (Goodman, Leggett & Garett, 2007).
The locus of control comprises of 16 questions,
each answered yes or no along with cartoon
based scenarios in which the offender has to
ascertain responsibility for the characters action.
14
12
10
Post Loc scores
8
Pre Loc scores
6
4
2
0
wy1
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wy8
The problem solving measure consists of 10 problem
statements which require the offender to generate a
number of alternatives to solving the problem.
The measure is scored for number of assertive ideas,
passive ideas, aggressive ideas & total number of ideas.
35
30
25
20
No. of assertive ideas (Pre prog)
No. of assertive ideas (post prog)
15
10
5
0
wy1
wy2
wy3
wy4
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CSAAP
Publications
Reports and evaluation
Promote the work