An exploration of the OPD pathway in one prison treatment service
Research type
Research Study
Full title
An exploration of the Offender Personality Disorder (OPD) pathway in one prison treatment service with a particular focus on understanding why some individuals do not complete the treatment programme
IRAS ID
229735
Contact name
Richard Whittington
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Liverpool
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 4 months, 1 days
Research summary
Personality disorders (PD) are difficult to treat and the rate of dropout from treatment is a cause for concern. A review of 25 studies found that there is only a 37% completion of PD treatments (McMurran, Huband, & Overton, 2010). Treatment non-completion can have a variety of adverse effects especially when it happens in offender rehabilitation treatment, which is linked with a higher risk of re-offending (Olver, Stockdale, & Wormith, 2011). This leads to the research question of why some individuals struggle to complete specialized PD offender treatment programmes. To answer this question, it is important to understand first the way in which a specialized treatment service operates. This PhD project is a collaboration between the University of Liverpool and Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust. The study will take place in The Beacon service of HMP Garth, which is a key component of the Offender Personality Disorder (OPD) pathway. The study is designed in three stages: Stage 1 is a literature review and a detailed statistical profile of the service; Stage 2 involves an ethnographic investigation of the service, and; Stage 3 is a qualitative study of treatment non-completion. The target population is prisoners with personality related needs or personality difficulties, who are or have been taking part in The Beacon treatment programme. The prisoners who no longer take part in The Beacon treatment programme are defined as de-selected men. In Stage 1, the literature review will explore what is already known about why dropout occurs in treatment programmes designed for prisoners with PD. It will also include a quantitative investigation to profile the specific service the study will use as the setting. In Stage 2 of the research, the ethnographic exploration, which will last between 6 to 9 months, will focus on understanding how a PD offender treatment programme operates in situ from the perspective of the staff and the prisoners. This will involve observations of the daily activities in the treatment unit setting, semi-structured interviews with the prisoners and staff, and analysis of the service’s policy and clinical documents. Stage 3 of the study focuses exclusively on exploring why individuals leave the programme. This stage of the research will last 3 to 6 months and will involve semi-structured interviews with the de-selected men and with the staff who have been involved with this process, alongside an analysis of relevant policy and clinical documents.
References
McMurran, M., Huband, N., & Overton, E. (2010). Non-completion of personality disorder treatments: A systematic review of correlates, consequences, and interventions. Clinical Psychology Review, 30, 277-287.
Olver, M. E., Stockdale, K. C., & Wormith, J. S. (2011). A meta-analysis of predictors of offender treatment attrition and its relationship to recidivism. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 79(1), 6-21.
REC name
North West - Liverpool Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/NW/0483
Date of REC Opinion
31 Aug 2017
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion