Mr. David PRESCOTT(Director of Professional Developmentand Quality Improvement,
Becket Family of Services)
KEY STRATEGIES FOR WORKING WITH JUVENILE OFFENDERSKEY STRATEGIES FOR
WORKING WITH JUVENILE
OFFENDERSDavid S. Prescott, LICSW
Welcome!

CONTACTDavid S. Prescott, LICSW
Clinical Director and Director of Professional
Development and Quality Improvement,
Becket Family of Services
VTPrescott@Earthlink.net
www.davidprescott.net
www.becket.org

Healthy lives,

Safe communities
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INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
And the responsivity principle

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WHAT’S OUR GOAL?

• Stopping the behavior?
• Justice for the victim?

• Preventing re-offense?

WHAT WORKS?

• Do we want them to re-offendor not?

• What can we do?

• Who should we be?
• Is that enough?
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BEFORE YOU PAINT YOURHOME…
 This is the first step to change This is treatment

This is awakening motivation

This is maintaining motivation

REALITY We need to …

• build willing partners in change• build treatment completers• build responsivity

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EFFECTIVE PROGRAMSRESPONSIVITY principle effective programs are those which areresponsive to client characteristics••••••

cognitive abilities
maturity
motivation
mode of intervention
scheduling concerns
neurological impact of trauma

RELATIONSHIP PROBLEMS

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VISITING EXPERTSʼ PAPERSLEARNING DIFFICULTIESHYPERACTIVITY

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COMMUNICATION DIFFICULTIESCOGNITIVE RIGIDITY

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164TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSE
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 I want to work with you, and I don’t want tosacrifice myself
 I want to change, and I want to be respected I want to be in treatment, and I don’t want to be in a
one-down position
 I want to look at myself, and I don’t want to feel lessof a man
 etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.

MARSHALL, 2005

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MARSHALL, 2005

• Warm
• Empathic• Rewarding• Directive

Problem: Many people think they have thesequalities, but don’t

Telling “The Hard Truth”• Feedback Sandwich– Affirm => Feedback => Affirm• Elicit => Provide => Elicit– Ask permission to give feedback, give the feedback,then elicit the client’s thoughts about your feedback• Motivational approaches are not necessarily

warm and fuzzy

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USE APPROACH GOALS

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APPROACH/AVOIDANCE••
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

I don’t want any more victims.

I don’t want to smoke anymore.
I don’t want any more troublewith the law.

I don’t want any more violence
towards my partner.

••••

I don’t want to use drugs oralcohol to excess any more.

•I have been ordered to stay awayfrom the victim of my crime.

•I don’t want to gamble any more.
I don’t want to be on probation.
I don’t want to look stupid.

•••(FROM PRESCOTT/WILSON)

I want people to be able to trustme.
I want to be clean and sober.

I want to get my health back.

I want a respectful relationshipwith my partner.
I want to save money.

I want to complete all myobligations to the court.

I want to be good at my job orgood in school.

I want to be able to keep myself
calm.

I want activities in my life that I’m
good at (like hobbies).

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FROM MY CASELOAD• Mr. X will demonstrate to others that he haschanged• Mr. X will become the person he wants to be• Mr. X will improve his relationships with others• Mr. X will work to prevent further allegations

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BE TRAUMA-INFORMED
And I mean really traumainformed

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WHAT IS TRAUMA?

• PTSD• Complex PTSD
• DESNOS• Complex trauma• Developmental Trauma Disorder
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WHAT IS TRAUMA?

• Trauma is the desperate hopethat the past was somehow
different.

• -- Jan Hindman

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WHAT IS TRAUMA?
• APA:• Trauma is an emotional response to a terrible

event like an accident, rape or natural disaster.
Immediately after the event, shock and denial
are typical. Longer term reactions include
unpredictable emotions, flashbacks, strained
relationships and even physical symptoms likeheadaches or nausea. While these feelings arenormal, some people have difficulty moving onwith their lives. Psychologists can help theseindividuals find constructive ways of managing
their emotions.

TRAUMA (FORD ET AL., 2012)• Approximately 90% of youth in juvenile

detention facilities reported at least one
potentially traumatic event in two independent
surveys.
– E.g., being threatened with a weapon (58%),

traumatic loss (48%), and physical assault (35%)

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TRAUMA (FORD ET AL., 2012)• Two complex trauma sub-groups:• 20% reported some combination of sexual or

physical abuse or family violence• 15% emotional abuse and family violence but

not physical or sexual abuse• 35% for complex trauma history– about three times higher than the 10-13% estimatesof other children and adolescentsREAVIS ET AL., 2013

• 9.3% of the sample reported no adverse eventsin childhood,• compared with 38% of the male sample in theACE study.

• As well, 48% reported four or more adverse

experiences, compared with 9% of the men inthe ACE study.
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LEVENSON, PRESCOTT, & WILLIS,
2014• 679 Adult male sex offenders• ACE questionnaire• Compared with males in the general population:– Three times the odds of child sexual abuse– nearly twice the odds of physical abuse– 13 times the odds of verbal abuse– > 4 times the odds of emotional neglect/broken home
16% endorsed no ACEs, and nearly half endorsed four ormore
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ABSENCE OF CURIOSITY

TRAUMA• Relational issues• Somatic challenges

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WHAT IS TRAUMA?

• The goal of (trauma) treatment isto help people live in the present,
without feeling or behaving
according to irrelevant demands
belonging to the past.
• -- Bessel van der Kolk

ULTIMATELY

No intervention that takes power away fromthe survivor can possibly foster her recovery,no matter how much it appears to be in (hisor) her immediate best interest.
-- Judith Herman, M.D.

• Reframe: Interventions that empower survivors

foster recovery

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POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER

POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER• Traumatic event including– Actual or threat of death or serious injury– Threat to physical integrity– Response of intense fear, helplessness, horror• Persistent re-experiencing of events• Persistent avoidance of associated stimuli & numbing ofresponsiveness• Persistent symptoms of increased arousal• Duration >1 month, significant disturbance in functioning
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POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER• Re-experiencing distress– Recollections, images, thoughts, perceptions– Dreams– Flashbacks, illusions, hallucinations• Avoidance of related stimuli– Thoughts, feelings, conversations– Activities, places or people

POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER• Numbing of general responsiveness– Inability to recall important aspects of event– Diminished interest/participation in activities– Detachment/estrangement from others– Restricted range of emotions (e.g., love)– Sense of foreshortened future• Arousal symptoms– Insomnia, anger, hypervigilance, difficulty concentrating,exaggerated startle response94164TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSE
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POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER• Events– Military combat– Violent personal assault (physical, sexual, mugging)– Kidnapping, terrorism, torture, incarceration, disasters,

auto accidents, terminal diagnosis)– Witnessing fatal accident, body parts• Typically worse when event is of human design• Typically worse when stressor is repeated, chronic

IMPORTANT• Not all trauma results in PTSD

• Trauma can have a devastating effect on life

outside of PTSD

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PREPARE MORE THAN YOU
THINK YOU SHOULD
Strategy #541

SPECIFIC STEPS

1. Get into the mindset that you are creating newmindsets

2. 10,000 foot rule

3. Relax your body

4. Lower your shoulders
5. Slow your breathing

6. Reject all distractions

7. Spend 1st 20% of every interaction engaging
8. It’s hard to argue with a relaxed person
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PRACTICE SPECIFIC
MOTIVATIONALTECHNIQUESStrategy #643

WHEN YOU’RE
WITH ME…

You always have options97

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Options Menu

Options Menu

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ARE WE READY?
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10MOTIVATION = IMPORTANCE + CONFIDENCE

Backwards Questions

TAKE-AWAY MESSAGES• People change• Punishment alone does not

reduce recidivism• When all else fails, get back tothe basics

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TAKE-HOME MESSAGES• Change Talk

“No, no, no…”
TAKE-HOME MESSAGES• Change Talk
• Acceptance• Less Is More

• Righting Reflex• Michelangelo Belief100• Autonomy and Choice

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LET’S START WITH

STRENGTHS

STRENGTHS• CASE SUMMARY A• 46, female, 2 children, second marriage;

grossly obese for many years; leads aninactive life. Moderate to heavy drinker,
smokes 15+ a day, and has a diet that is highin fried food, with little fruit or vegetables.

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STRENGTHS• CASE SUMMARY B• 46, account manager and mother of two; very

determined person. Its her second marriage,
and she keeps a keen eye on her children’s wellbeing. It’s a happy house. They work and play
hard. She has lots of friends, smokes and drinksin the pub, and gets little exercise. She likes tomake sure everyone has a good filling meal, andthis often means fried food.

FIND THE
STRENGTH

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FIND THE
STRENGTH

FIND THE
STRENGTH

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FIND THE
STRENGTH

FIND THE
STRENGTH

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FIND THE
STRENGTH

UP TO THIS POINT…

• Options menu
• Readiness ruler• Basic MI concepts• Importance offinding strengths

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PRACTITIONER’S DEFINITION• Motivational interviewing is aperson-centered counselingstyle for addressing thecommon problemof ambivalence
about change.

THE SPIRIT OF
MOTIVATIONAL INTERVIEWING

106• Partnership• Acceptance• Compassion• Evocation

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FOUR PROCESSES•Engaging•Focusing•Evoking•PlanningTHESE PROCESSES ARE…

• Somewhat linear• And also recursive

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TALK-----------------------------------------------------

SustainChangeCommit

There is no such thing as “resistance”

CHANGE TALK• Desire “I want to…”
• Ability “I can…”• Reason “There are goodreasons to…”
• Need “I need to”
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VISITING EXPERTSʼ PAPERSRESPONDING TO CHANGE TALK

• When you hear change talk, don’t juststand there!

• Elaborate (tell me more)• Affirm• Reflect• Summarize
GETTING MOVING: OARS

• Open questions• Affirmations• Reflections• Summaries

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REFLECTIVE LISTENING• Simple Reflection▫ Exact words▫ Closely related words• Complex Reflection▫ Continuing the paragraph▫ Reflecting emotion
TO BE CONTINUED…

• By you110