Presented by:

Raymond Chip Tafrate

Sponsored by:

North American Correctional and Criminal Justice Psychology Conference

Continuing Education Credits:

Notes:

Cost:

Full Delegate: Early Registration ($130+tax) - Regular Registartion ($160+tax)

Student Delegate: Early Registration ($100+tax) - Regular Registartion ($125+tax)

Please note: early registration (until end-of-day April 30th, 2019) and regular registration (after April 30th, 2019)

Duration:

Half Day (13:00 – 16:30)

Target Audience:

Psychologists, other practitioners (e.g., psychiatrists, social workers, counselors, psychiatric nurses, case managers), and graduate students working with justice-involved clients.

Skill/Difficulty Level:

Intermediate

Workshop Description:

Across treatment settings, practitioners routinely see clients whose anger reactions and criminal behaviours contribute to significant loss and suffering. Although these topics may seem like a strange coupling, anger is the emotional excess most likely to be connected to criminal behaviour.

PART 1: Anger. While anger is a frequent and universal human emotion, it has received surprisingly little attention as a clinical problem. Practitioners commonly engage in unproductive conversations (e.g., clients venting about unfair actions of others) and struggle to identify clear treatment targets. In this workshop, participants will practice assessing the key features of client anger reactions by applying a 6-stage Anger Episode Model Interview to understand how anger is experienced and expressed in the client's real-life interactions.

PART 2: Criminal Behaviour. Successful forensic intervention requires a focus on a set of risk domains and thinking patterns that facilitate criminal behaviour. Step-by-step guidelines will be provided for analyzing specific criminal events to better understand the relative influence of criminogenic thinking patterns and other key risk domains encapsulated in the RNR model (e.g., substance misuse, antisocial companions, maladaptive leisure time) at the time offences were committed. The analysis of criminal events provides a unique snapshot of the potential causes and maintenance of criminal behaviour and can enhance risk assessments.

The analysis of anger episodes and criminal offences forms the groundwork for effective case formulation and collaboratively identifying relevant treatment goals. This workshop is highly interactive, incorporating structured learning activities including audio-recorded work samples, small group exercises, and "real"-plays.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Become skilled at analyzing key features of clients' anger reactions according to a 6-stage sequential anger episode model
2. Practice and learn to conduct an anger episode interview to efficiently identify relevant treatment targets
3. Learn to conceptualize forensic cases around criminal risk domains most active during recent offences to identify critical life areas to address in treatment
4. Become proficient in identifying criminogenic thoughts and thinking patterns that drive specific incidents of criminal behaviour