The Offender Personality Disorder Pathway
摘要
The Offender Personality Disorder Pathway (OPDP) is a collective of psychologically informed services available to individuals within the Criminal Justice System (CJS) who have a diagnosis of, or traits pertaining to, personality disorder and who are considered to be high or very high risk of harm. Jointly commissioned by the National Health Service (NHS) and His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS), the OPDP aims to reduce repeat, high-harm offending, improve psychological health, wellbeing, pro-social behaviour and relational outcomes, improve competence, confidence and wellbeing of staff working with people in the criminal justice system showing personality difficulties, and finally, increase cost-effectiveness and quality of OPDP services. Several key services operate within the OPDP, including Metallisation Based Treatment, Intensive Interventions and Risk Management Services and, notably, Community Consultation Services. Community Consultation Services offer a psychologically informed consultation and formulation to practitioners who work with individuals who meet the requirements for the OPDP. At the time of writing, the OPDP and particularly community consultation services, still relatively in their infancy, face challenges and must constantly adapt accordingly to attend appropriately. This chapter focuses on the challenges and the overwhelming positives of community consultation services, and in doing so, presents a balanced argument that allows us to assess the effectiveness of the OPDP and the services that operate within it.