Prato 2023 – Stronger Trajectories, Safer Communities: Improving welfare, mental health and legal responses to crime

Following on from the conference, four workshops will be held on Thursday 28 September – two in the morning (9am to 12.30pm) and two in the afternoon (1pm to 4.30pm).

Tickets can be purchased via the conference registration page.
 

Working with trauma-offending links in clinical practice

• Time: 9am–12.30pm
• Speaker: Lawrence Jones
   

There is increasing recognition that trauma of different kinds is ubiquitous in the backgrounds of people who have offended. Historically there has been a clinical focus on the mental health consequences of different kinds of trauma and adversity, but the relationships with propensity to offend has been a more recent development.

In this workshop, practitioners will be invited to explore the range of different ways in which traumatic experiences can impact on ‘risk processes’ with a view to thinking about how to intervene with these. In addition, consideration will be given to resilience and positive post-traumatic outcomes with a view to thinking about strengths-based working.

Attendees will explore:

• links between trauma-derived impacts on fear-based systems and offending
• exploration of cumulative impact of experiences of oppressive experiences such as micro-aggressions linked with being part of a minoritised community
• links between adverse experiences involving exposure to sexual offending, violent abuse, neglect involving lack of boundaries, emotional abuse, relational ruptures on sexuality, violence as coping, use of dominance behaviours to achieve safety and attachment
• altered states and emotional processes linked with both trauma and offending
• the impact of trauma-related dissociation and altered states of consciousness in different ways on offending processes and felt agency.
   

Suggestions for intervention linked with trauma and adversity-related offending will be explored. The limited evidence base in this area will be outlined. Possibilities for incorporating insights from a forensic perspective on trauma into developing trauma-informed care will be discussed. Possibilities of harmful interventions will be discussed and strategies for avoiding these explored.

Attendees will:

• develop a more nuanced understanding of trauma and the ways in which it can be linked with offending
• have a better conceptualisation of ways in which interventions can build resilience and offset adverse impacts of trauma
• recognise the importance of contextual interventions in preventing relapse and supporting resilience (not just intervening with the person)
• begin to acknowledge more the impact of adversity linked with being subjected to oppressive experiences.
   

Answering the big questions in forensic psychology – A workshop on causal inference with observational data

• Time: 9am–12.30pm
• Speaker: Ben Spivak
   

Clinical services and clinicians often want to understand the effectiveness of their interventions on offending behaviour or learn about the link between mental health problems and outcomes like offending. Answering these questions has historically been either impossible or very difficult to answer due to the presence of confounding factors, for example, something that influences both selection into treatment and re-offending (e.g. motivation).

Randomised control trials (RCTs) have generally been regarded as the most rigorous method for answering these questions, at least within human service settings. However, conducting RCTs is often not feasible or ethical in these settings. In the past two decades, a framework and set of methods for establishing cause and effect relationships outside of RCTs has become increasingly popular in disciplines such as epidemiology and econometrics.

This workshop will introduce researchers to a framework for establishing causal inference and a suite of methods that can be utilised to draw causal inferences where RCTs are not feasible or ethical. The workshop requires no background in statistics or methodology. The workshop will cover:

• models of causation and treatment effects
  
• understanding causal relationships through directed acyclic graphs
• when to control and not to control for variables in establishing a causal relationship
• instrumental variable designs
• difference-in-difference designs
• regression discontinuity designs

Dr Ben Spivak (Senior Lecturer, Forensic Psychology, Swinburne University of Technology) will present this workshop.

Treating stalking - Principles and practice guidance for clinicians

• Time: 1pm–4.30pm
• Speaker: Troy McEwan, Michele Galietta, Alan Underwood
  

Psychologists, psychiatrists and other helping professionals working at the intersection of law and mental health are often asked to assess and treat people who stalk. However, there is very limited evidence to inform treatment and what exists can be difficult to find and integrate.

This workshop draws on recent work by the facilitators to develop a principle-based approach to treating stalking with the goal of reducing harm and ultimately stopping the behaviour. Participants will be introduced to a cognitive behavioural approach to treating people who stalk and guided through 10 principles of stalking treatment based on the presenters’ experience and research with people who stalk over the past two decades.

The workshop will focus on:

• key assessment strategies to inform treatment
• the role of risk assessment and management in stalking treatment
• treatment planning and specific strategies for common treatment needs
• structuring and managing the treatment relationship to maintain focus and safety.

While primarily focused on psychological interventions, the role of multidisciplinary treatment and management will be discussed. This workshop will provide a practical, research-based and essentially hopeful approach to the treatment of stalking.

On completing the workshop, participants will:

• be better able to recognise, assess and formulate stalking behaviour
• have a framework for planning and conducting stalking treatment
• be aware of common treatment needs and specific strategies
• be better able to integrate risk management into treatment of stalking.

This workshop will be presented by:

• Professor Troy McEwan (Professor of Clinical and Forensic Psychology, Swinburne University of Technology and Senior Psychologist, Problem Behaviour Program, Forensicare)
• Associate Professor Michele Galietta (John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY, New York)
• Dr Alan Underwood (University of London and Specialist Clinical Psychologist at the Stalking Threat Assessment Centre, London).

Forensicare welcome reception

Thanks to our partner and event sponsor Forensicare.

• Date: Monday 25 September 
• Time: 5.30pm–7.30pm
• Venue: Interludio il Ristorante (walled-garden restaurant)
• Fee: The fee is included for all delegates. Tickets for guests can be purchased for A$45 per person.

Forensicare (Victorian Institute of Forensic Mental Health) is the state-wide specialist provider of forensic mental health services in Victoria, Australia. Forensicare is the only agency in Victoria that provides clinical forensic mental health services which span all components of the mental health and criminal justice sectors – giving Forensicare a unique perspective on mental health and public safety issues. Visit the Forensicare website for more information.

Conference dinner

• Date: Tuesday 26 September
• Time: Buses depart from Piazza Santa Maria delle Carceri at 5.30pm sharp
• Venue: Villa Medici ‘La Ferdinanda
• Fee: The fee is included for all delegates. Tickets for guests can be purchased for A$145 per person.
   

Villa Medici ‘La Ferdinanda, located in the medieval village of Artimino, is a magnificent villa where Ferdinando I De’ Medici took residency with his whole court in 1594. Today, it is a UNESCO World Heritage-listed villa that provides a tranquil setting for special functions. Delegates will be transported from the Monash University Prato Centre directly to the venue via bus.