Editorial

Citation

(2013), "Editorial", The Journal of Forensic Practice, Vol. 15 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFP-04-2013-0026

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: Journal of Forensic Practice, Volume 15, Issue 4

Welcome to the last issue of The Journal of Forensic Practice for 2013. This has been another positive year with a range of papers reflecting the diverse nature of forensic practice internationally. The current issue presents an eclectic range of papers. The invited paper by Patricia Crittenden and colleagues considers the role of attachment in child care proceedings. Given inconsistencies in methods of assessment of attachment, this paper reflects on the Family Attachment Court Protocol developed by The International Association for the Study of Attachment. Based on the Dynamic-Maturational Model of Attachment and Adaptation, the paper reflects on the application of the protocol which has been adapted for forensic use. The authors note that the primary practical implication is that through the use of the protocol, courts will receive verifiable evidence on attachment that can be tested and, thus, validated or disproven. Furthermore, it is argued that good assessments of attachment can also be useful for intervention planning. As such, this paper encourages reflection on a number of areas of consideration in the assessment of attachment in family court and offers suggestions for developments in this area.

The following paper continues on the broad theme of assessment. This paper by Chris Beeley and Jaydip Sarkar explores the experiences and perspectives of nursing staff using an algorithmic approach to managing self-harm. The paper outlines the model's application within a women's enhanced medium secure service, expanding on some of the complexities of managing self-harm day-to-day in this challenging environment. The authors outline the perceived success of the model in effectively addressing the challenge of managing self harm alongside the risk of violence, in addition to marrying individualised assessment and planning with the algorithmic approach.

The focus of this issue changes in the next paper by Calem De Burca, Helen Miles and Eduardo Vasquez which focuses on the prevalence of substance use amongst mentally disordered offenders (MDOs) in medium security and the relationship to offending behaviour. Although anecdotally substance use is known to be high and likely to be related to offending behaviour amongst MDOs, there is little previous research highlighting this. The results highlight a high prevalence of substance use among a sample of MDOs, with significant correlations reported between heavy past use of alcohol and use of alcohol at time of offending. Past heavy use of alcohol significantly predicted whether or not the individual was convicted of a violent offence. Again, despite the research using a small sample from one area, the preliminary findings indicate the importance of assessing substance use in MDOs and considering its relationship to offending behaviour in treatment and risk management.

There is a further change of focus in the paper of Luncinda Flinn, Danielle Grey and Louise Braham which uses qualitative methodology to explore participants’ experiences of a motivational group in a high secure hospital. Given the limited amount of research involving service users within secure settings, it is the service user experiences and suggestions for programme development that are considered within this paper. From a methodological perspective, the paper supports the use of qualitative methods in understanding the experiences of service users, and further highlights the value of service user involvement for those interested in conducting research within secure settings.

The final paper in this issue is by Sharon Ruck, Nic Bowes and Noreen Tehrani. It presents a study designed to evaluate the effectiveness of a programme of support for prison service staff following a traumatic incident within a prison environment. This paper focuses on an important area of research given the wide debate around early interventions following traumatic exposures. Within this study, prison staff exposed to a range of traumatic events were offered debriefing with measurements taken soon after the incident and again one month later. The scores of those receiving debriefing were compared with those who did not receive debriefing and the results indicated that the prison staff receiving debriefing showed a significant reduction in their traumatic stress, anxiety and depression scores. There was no significant difference in the symptoms of the non-debriefed group. As such, the findings suggest that well structured group-based debrief sessions can be useful in reducing symptoms of post-traumatic stress following exposure to critical incidents in the workplace.

Carol A. Ireland and Neil Gredecki