View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by RMIT Research Repository i An evaluation of the efficacy of Corrections Victoria’s assessment process A thesis submitted for the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Carolyne Thompson B.A. (Psychology) Graduate Diploma Applied Child Psychology Master of Applied Science (Psychology) Discipline of Psychology School of Health Sciences RMIT University 22 March 2013 ii DECLARATION I certify that except where due acknowledgement has been made, the work is that of the author alone; the work has not been submitted previously, in whole or in part, to qualify for any other academic award; the content of this thesis is the result of work which has been carried out since the official commencement date of the approved research program; and, any editorial work, paid, or unpaid, carried out by a third party is acknowledged. Ethics procedures and guidelines have been followed throughout the research project. ………………………. Carolyne Thompson 22 March 2013 iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Despite popular opinion, the relatively recent acquisition of private bathrooms and televisions in prisons hasn’t resulted in Victorian prisoners residing in tax funded resorts. They’re still prisons (although sometimes they’re referred to as correctional facilities and occasionally provided an Indigenous title, they’re nonetheless prisons). Days are highly structured with little, if any, opportunity to exercise independence or choice, and it’s under those conditions that people like me (and there’s quite a few of us) request prisoners take time out to answer a lot of questions, ostensibly toward the greater good. Prisoners frequently reflect on how many questions of a repetitive nature they’re asked during their incarceration, yet 608 of them volunteered to be part of this research. Obviously it couldn’t happened without them, and perhaps one day all those repetitive questions will influence the enormous changes required to bring the Victorian justice system into the current century. Thankfully Ryan was on hand, with several years of forensic experience under the belt and a knack for being able to talk through wet cement if necessary, to encourage the participants to share their histories and opinions. However, it all would have remained consigned to boxes marked “confidential” if Kate hadn’t been available to place every morsel of it into an SPSS file, complete with creative coding as required. God knows what may have occurred without the both of them – probably not a lot. Malcolm who has manned the DOJ library for as long as I’ve known him (well over 15 years) never failed to locate the most abstract of information with the precision of a savant. Adrian provided sound therapeutic intervention for my long-term aversion to statistics (still a way to go, but I’m getting there). David continued to nod sagely while I changed topics like underwear, but as ever persevered and pushed me over the line, albeit while continuing to add to his brood and build a large house. Andrew, as ever, adopted sound behaviourist logic and maintained a regular, frequent reinforcing schedule mainly comprising Jamison’s Run Chardy located within easy reach at all times, with an easy exit kept in sight in the event of technical failures. And of course there were various others who felt obliged to ask for updates and then feign unwavering enthusiasm while I provided as much. In short, yay it over, and let’s agree to never speak of it again. iv Table of Contents Introduction Summary ............................................................................................................................................... 1 Overview ............................................................................................................................................... 6 The Social-Political Foundations Underlying the Perceptions of Criminal Risk ........................... 8 The influence of media ....................................................................................................................... 8 Political impact ................................................................................................................................ 11 The Deviation from the Ethos of Traditional Justice ..................................................................... 13 Risk Management and Sentencing Policy ........................................................................................ 16 Risk Management and Incarceration ............................................................................................... 21 Detention and Human Rights ........................................................................................................... 28 The international influence of preventative detention ...................................................................... 28 Preventative detention in Australia ................................................................................................... 30 The efficacy of assessment practices toward preventative detention .............................................. 32 Detention and human rights ............................................................................................................. 35 The ‘What Works’ Debate ................................................................................................................ 38 Introducing empirically supported treatment ................................................................................... 38 Resistance to what works ................................................................................................................. 40 Redefining the objectives of rehabilitation ...................................................................................... 42 Common Theoretical Approaches to Understanding Crime ......................................................... 44 The relationship between theoretical approach and assessment ...................................................... 44 Sociological-based approaches ........................................................................................................ 49 Psychological-based approaches ...................................................................................................... 54 What Works: The Role of Risk-Need-Responsivity ........................................................................ 57 Risk .................................................................................................................................................. 57 Need and responsivity ...................................................................................................................... 59 Assessment and RNR ....................................................................................................................... 61 Generations of Risk Assessment ....................................................................................................... 64 The function of risk assessment ....................................................................................................... 64 v The progression of risk assessment .................................................................................................. 65 Potential Limitations of Actuarial Assessment ............................................................................... 71 Partially clinical as opposed to partially actuarial ............................................................................ 71 Is a fundamentalist RNR approach the answer? ............................................................................... 73 The Good Lives Model ....................................................................................................................... 76 Incorporating a strength-based approach ......................................................................................... 76 Criminogenic needs versus frustrated human needs ........................................................................ 77 Compatibility between otherwise polarised approaches .................................................................. 80 Therapeutic Jurisprudence and Assenting Approaches of Behaviour Change ............................ 82 Adopting legal processes as a therapeutic agent .............................................................................. 82 Therapeutic approaches supportive of TJ ........................................................................................ 83 Criticisms of therapeutic jurisprudence ........................................................................................... 88 Corrections Victoria Reducing Re-offending Framework and Assessment Model ..................... 91 The framework rationale .................................................................................................................. 91 RRF assessment model: the Victorian Intervention Screening assessment Tool ............................. 92 The Tier 2A ...................................................................................................................................... 96 How assessment is incorporated into Victorian prisons ................................................................ 100 Case Formulation ............................................................................................................................. 102 The value of self-perception .........................................................................................................