Write a report that evaluates the specific challenges and issues that might be faced by prison staff planning to implement a therapeutic service (as described in the hypothetical scenario provided below). Please note that an essay-style submission will not pass. Your report should be suitable for reading by a non-academic audience.
Word limit: 3000 words (if you exceed the word count by more than 10%, the marker will mark your work down by 10 marks; the title of the EMA is not included in the word count).
Your report should be based on the following scenario:
Imagine that you are a psychological consultant who has been contacted by a women’s prison. The governor of the prison wants to implement a therapeutic service and offer the prisoners therapy.
Many of the women have experienced sexual and domestic abuse and have been convicted several times for various crimes. A recent inspection of the prison reported that there were high levels of self-harm and attempted suicide by the prisoners and it was suggested that a number of the prisoners would benefit from receiving therapy.
The governor is requesting a report on the issues that need to be taken into consideration in setting up the therapeutic service.
- The report needs to not only provide the benefits of offering therapy but also any drawbacks and potential challenges that may be associated with offering therapy in a forensic setting.
- The report should present an argument in relation to which of the four therapeutic approaches in the module (attachment therapy, CBT, systemic therapy and mindfulness), should be offered to the prisoners, with an appropriate rationale. It should explain why particular therapies might be beneficial and outline any potential drawbacks associated with them.
- The report should discuss why the prisoners may not respond to therapy, how to help those who have suicidal thoughts and self-harm, and how to deal with victims of sexual and domestic abuse.
- The report should also discuss how to prevent reoffending as many have been convicted several times.
- The report should include general suggestions and recommendations for the governor rather than specific guidance on how the therapeutic service should be set up in this prison
The EMA is intended to assess your skills of evaluating an issue (specific challenges and issues of working therapeutically in a forensic setting). You are asked to write a report for the governor of a women’s prison on the issues that need to be taken into consideration in setting up a therapeutic service in the prison.
The report should discuss the benefits as well as drawbacks and potential challenges of offering therapy in a forensic context, and suggest what types of therapy might be appropriate to offer to women prisoners. It should also consider why the prisoners may not respond to therapy and how to help those who self-harm or hold suicidal ideation or intent, and how to deal with victims of sexual and domestic abuse.
You are asked to provide the governor with general suggestions and recommendations for a therapeutic service for this client cohort and these problems in a prison environment. You are not asked to come up with specific guidance on how the therapeutic service should be set up in this prison (e.g. no need to cover how to implement a therapeutic service in this prison, how many therapists, or how many sessions should be offered etc.).
The EMA must use a report structure, so you will need to format it under several headings and subheadings.
You should begin with a brief summary in which you sum up the whole report and the recommendations you came up with for the governor of the prison. The next section is a very brief introduction informing the reader of the situation. This should be followed by several discussion sections, and it is up to you to decide what exactly you feel should be covered here to inform the governor and underpin your recommendations. You could, for example, include sections on types of services (e.g. individual/group therapy, therapeutic community) and therapeutic approaches available with benefits/challenges of each. You could also cover therapy for specific problems. In these sections you also need to discuss/consider the specific challenges and issues of working therapeutically in a forensic setting (or cover these in a specific section), such as for example risk and risk assessment, confidentiality, self-disclosure and consent. The final section should, based on the evidence you have presented throughout your report, outline the recommendations you have arrived at. There is no need for an additional conclusion section at the end of the report.
The report could be set out as the example below, although you may want to change the titles of the headings, and/or include other sections.
- Summary: brief summing up of the whole report, including a summary of your recommendations.
- Introduction: a fairly brief introduction informing the reader of the situation (not more than two or three sentences).
- Possible types of service provision: e.g. discussion of the suitability of individual/group therapy and therapeutic community for the setting described in the scenario.
- Therapeutic approaches and their application in the work with women prisoners: discuss the different therapeutic approaches (attachment therapy, CBT, systemic therapy and mindfulness) for therapeutic work with women prisoners. While all four approaches should be considered, at least to some extent, it is not necessary for all four approaches to be discussed in the same depth. You may, for example, choose to elaborate on the approach(es) you recommend, and the rationale for this selection, and offer only a brief discussion of the approaches that are not recommended.
- Therapeutic work with self-harm and suicide/victims of sexual and domestic abuse: consider some of the issues involved in working with woman prisoners who self-harm or hold suicidal ideation or intent, and how to deal with victims of sexual and domestic abuse.
- Recommendations: include your opinion, based on evidence, about what kind of therapeutic service (e.g. individual and group therapy, therapeutic community) and therapeutic approach(es) might be the most effective in the given context. You should also consider the specific challenges that those working in the prison might face if your recommendations are implemented.
- Reference list: as with any assessment you need to include a reference list.