A review of the Violent Offending Treatment Program by Murdoch researcher Dr Guy Hall is near completion.

Dr Hall developed the program with colleague Professor Kevin Howells whilst working at Edith Cowan University. It is Australia’s first attempt to examine the psychological factors leading to violent crime and to changing the attitudes of prisoners.

The program was commissioned by the Ministry of Justice in 1996 and aimed to evaluate and treat serial violent offenders through group therapy sessions. Over a period of six months, 34 prisoners underwent 400 hours of intensive treatment that focused on needs and attitudes leading to crime.

Results of psychometric tests were compared with those of non-offenders to establish a suite of factors that identified attitudes typical of high-risk violent offenders.

These factors included the attribution of hostile intent and impulsivity, emotional arousal and empathy, beliefs associated with criminal sentiments, antisocial and inflexible attitudes, and moral reasoning abilities.

A series of skills were taught in the sessions to help improve communication, conflict management, planning and consequential thinking. The importance of external factors leading to violent crime such as peer pressure, drugs and access to weapons, were also discussed.

Dr Hall explained that problems mainly fell into two dimensions – difficulty with the expression and control of anger and the display of antisocial attitudes, although the violent offenders who participated in the trial did not necessarily have problems with both areas.

Results showed, as expected, that the offending group identified far more strongly with other criminals than with non-offenders, and had a higher tolerance for violations of the law. A powerful correlation between a lack of empathy and violent offences was also identified.

Having established a collection of traits common to high-risk violent offenders, the program aimed to alter these attitudes to bring them more into line with the normal group.
By comparing assessments taken at the beginning and end of the treatment program, Dr Hall established that “the Violent Offending Treatment Program had a significant impact on a range of emotions such as controlling anger, and improved prosocial attitudes and social skills”.

“Participants in the course are able to recognise their anger and at the same time not express it in hostile and negative ways.”

Despite the positive steps the Violent Offending Treatment Program has made towards changing the attitudes of the participating prisoners, Dr Hall believes that further work is necessary to fully identify the importance of peers and the role of empathy and violent crime.

“We have learnt a lot about violent offenders but there is still a lot more to be learnt. We are establishing what to put in the treatment programs for the Ministry of Justice to implement, but there is still a long way to go,” he said.