A systematic review of measures of therapeutic engagement in psychosocial and psychological treatment.

This article reports a systematic review of engagement measures for psychosocial therapy. MEDLINE, EMBASE, and PsycINFO databases were searched to identify English-language studies (published 1980 to February 2010) that reported on an instrument/rating scale to measure engagement in psychosocial treatment for mental health difficulties. Forty-seven studies were identified, reporting information on 40 measures of treatment engagement. Although our findings suggest that therapeutic engagement appears to be considered an important construct to assess, they also reveal that there is little consensus in the definition of engagement employed. Few measures are generalizable across treatment settings and clinical populations, and limited information is reported on the indices of reliability and validity. It is concluded that further work is required to develop adequate measures of therapeutic engagement.

Alcohol-related violence defined by ultimate goals: a qualitative analysis of the features of three different types of violence by intoxicated young male offenders.

Based upon a functional approach to understanding aggression, we aimed to identify the occurrence of and to describe the features of three types of alcohol-related violence defined a priori by ultimate goals: (1) violence in pursuit of nonsocial profit-based goals, (2) violence in pursuit of social dominance goals, and (3) violence as defence in response to threat. A sample of 149 young men with offences of violence that were alcohol related was interviewed. Cases were classified and detailed information from the first ten cases in each class (N=30) was subjected to thematic analysis. Intoxicated violence in pursuit of nonsocial profit-based goals was opportunistic and motivated by the desire for more alcohol or drugs. Violence, in these cases, although serious, appeared to be brief. Intoxicated violence in pursuit of social dominance goals was typically precipitated by past or current insult or injury, and was accompanied by strong anger and an adrenaline rush. Attacks were ferocious, and robbing the victim was not uncommon, perhaps to inflict additional humiliation. Feelings of pride and satisfaction were typical and expressions of remorse were uncommon. Regarding intoxicated violence as defence in response to threat, attacks were often expected, and in some cases the respondent made a pre-emptive strike. Weapon use was common in this group. Fear was experienced, but so too was anger. Feelings of excitement were not reported and remorse was common. Further validation of these types is warranted, and the potential implications of these findings for prevention and treatment are discussed.

Substance use, mental health, and relationships: A comparison of male and female offenders serving community sentences.

This study examined criminogenic need in the areas of drug use, alcohol use, mental health, and relationships, in 6453 male and 1045 female probationers, using data from the Offender Assessment System (OASys). It also examined the associations between these four areas. Females had significantly higher levels of need than males for mental health and relationships, and males had significantly higher levels of need for alcohol use. There was no group difference for drug use. For both males and females, there were significant positive correlations for scores between all pairs of needs, except for drug and alcohol use. The strength of the association between relationships and drug use was significantly stronger among females as compared to males. The results are discussed in light of the previous research and their implications for interventions to reduce offending.