PSY4470 Forensic Psychology SU01
Introduction
In the US, the available program for the offenders is the Violent Offender Treatment Program (VOTP), which is a program that is aimed at enhancing the welfare of the offenders in the community. The VOTP was established in the 80s to minimize recidivism amongst the youth offenders. This program provides six months of comprehensive therapeutic management programs to the youths before releasing them from the Youth Services Agency (YSA) institution. The program entails elements like therapeutic philosophy that concentrates on cognitive reform, prolonged duration and intensive treatment dosage, and target populace of high-risk youths who have committed severe and violent crimes. The primary focus of this program is to alleviate the mental health of the patients or inmates who possess violent behaviors. In this program, the central aspect of treatment is cognitive, and they focus on changing the behavior. The treatment program is related to psychology because of the nature of the procedure. The inmates are exposed to the treatment that is used in the management of patients with mental concerns. Additionally, the specialists included in the treatment program are the counselors and other individuals with the knowledge of mental disorders. The activity involved in this program relates it to psychology.
Body
The treatment programs for sex offenders are based on three main categories, which include psychological, medical, and physical approaches. The psychological method employed is a cognitive behavioral therapy that is conducted in a group setting, and it entails tackling the irrational beliefs and thoughts of the prisoners that motivated them to commit the sex-related crime. This approach involves a component that endeavors to assist the offenders in correcting their antisocial behavior by eliminating their deviant ways of thinking by exercising the prospects to take part in prosaically as well as problem-solving skills and behaviors. From the medical perspective, it is believed that sex offenders have issues related to the balance of hormones in their bodies. Some may be exposed to the treatment to suppress the excess hormones that drives them to deviant behaviors. This treatment focuses on balancing the hormones among the offenders and reducing their chances of going back to their old behaviors. Finally, there is the physical treatment, which includes medical castration and supervision. In medical castration, the male testicles may be amputated, rendering the offenders sexually inactive, this prevents them from recidivism. The close supervision from the authority keeps track of the behavior depicted by the offenders to ensure that they do not go back to their old behavior.
The forensic medical specialist monitors the mentally sick, imprisoned person who is at great peril for dedication to the department dealing with families and children matters. This person counsels the attorneys and courts about the right treatment for felony criminals, entailing the conditional release, community restoration services, and civil diversion. This specialist upholds close working correlations with local prison medical providers to manage services and handle mental health issues like local mental well-being providers and families. This specialist has the role of maintaining present jail formularies and gives the office of mental health the copies for allocation to state mental health management institutions.
Conclusion
This specialist upholds close work relations with circuit judicial assistant, Clerk of Court’s Office, the Office of the State Attorney, and others. The professional establishes a prompt notification program regarding orders selecting specialists and commitment orders. The forensic medical specialist attends the planned court hearing that includes the persons that are likely to be arbitrated or those who have been arbitrated inexperienced to continue or not guilty following the issue of psychosis, entailing recognition of competency hearing. Finally, the specialist delineates substitute disposition at the hearing.
References
Papalia, N., Spivak, B., Daffern, M., & Ogloff, J. R. (2019). A meta‐analytic review of the efficacy of psychological treatments for violent offenders in correctional and forensic mental health settings. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, e12282.
Ruback, R. B. &Wroblewski, J. (2001). The Federal sentencing guidelines: Psychological and policy reasons for simplification. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 7(4), 739–775.