Skip to main content

Forensic psychologists should use the behavioural experiment to facilitate cognitive change in clients who have offended

Gannon, Theresa A. (2016) Forensic psychologists should use the behavioural experiment to facilitate cognitive change in clients who have offended. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 27 . pp. 130-141. ISSN 1359-1789. (doi:10.1016/j.avb.2016.02.008) (KAR id:54578)

PDF Author's Accepted Manuscript
Language: English


Download this file
(PDF/660kB)
[thumbnail of Gannon Forensic psychologists.pdf]
Preview
Request a format suitable for use with assistive technology e.g. a screenreader
XML Word Processing Document (DOCX) Author's Accepted Manuscript
Language: English

Restricted to Repository staff only
[thumbnail of Gannon BE Paper FV_Research Gate.docx]
Official URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2016.02.008

Abstract

A key technique associated with effective cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is the behavioral experiment (BE). Within mainstream clinical psychology, the overall aim of the BE is to treat clients' problematic beliefs as a set of hypotheses to be tested. In this review, I examine the BE as a treatment technique and argue that widespread implementation of the BE could significantly improve CBT-based forensic psychological practice. I examine contemporary conceptualizations of cognition within forensic psychology as well as commonly used treatment techniques for instilling cognitive change. This analysis highlights that although some experiential techniques are used in forensic psychology to facilitate cognitive change (e.g., schema therapy), there is still a key focus on rational reasoning techniques such as Socratic questioning, psychoeducation, and thought monitoring. In this paper, I argue that current methods of instigating cognitive change within offending populations neglect key strategies necessary to generate convincing cognitive change. I offer the BE as a convincing and effective technique for facilitating change in problematic offender cognition at both the rational and experiential levels. I offer several recommendations for how to design and incorporate BEs into forensic practice and provide examples of BE use in forensic settings.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1016/j.avb.2016.02.008
Uncontrolled keywords: Offender; Cognition; CBT; Behavioral experiment
Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
H Social Sciences
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Human and Social Sciences > School of Psychology
Depositing User: Theresa Gannon
Date Deposited: 21 Mar 2016 08:43 UTC
Last Modified: 17 Aug 2022 12:20 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/54578 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

  • Depositors only (login required):

Total unique views for this document in KAR since July 2020. For more details click on the image.