Objectives

Violent offences, such as murder, manslaughter, wounding, domestic violence and child abuse, may cause grave and irreversible harm to the victims and the society. As such, Psychological Services Section 1 (PSS1) has specifically designed the Violence Prevention Programme (VPP) for adult male persons in custody (PIC) who have committed violent offences with a view to managing their violent re-offending risk after discharge. The programme includes systematic psychological assessment and treatment provided by clinical psychologists, which aims at enhancing prosocial thinking, assertive communication and effective problem solving. They are guided to practise the newly learned skills during their incarceration so as to live a non-violent life upon re-integration into society.

Programme Content

With reference to the best practices of renowned international correctional institutions and taken into account the characteristics of violent offenders in Hong Kong, the VPP is developed as a comprehensive treatment programme based on psychological theories and scientific evidence. The VPP consists of ten modules.

Figure 1. The core and selective modules of the treatment programme

“Cognitive Restructuring” and “Relapse Prevention” are the two core modules arranged for every participant; the other modules are assigned to participants according to the assessed violent reoffending risk and treatment needs. Participants assessed to have higher risk and needs will be assigned more treatment modules and a longer treatment period. The VPP is grounded in Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy. Through a series of activities, including group therapy, treatment manuals and role-play, participants will be able to learn and consolidate various psychological skills to reduce the use of violence in future. Participation in the VPP is on a voluntary basis.

Programme Characteristics

1. Maintenance Programme

Some PIC who have committed violent offences are given a longer sentence. Some are even sentenced to life imprisonment. It is not uncommon that some programme participants have to continue to serve their sentence after completion of the VPP. To meet such specific need, clinical psychologists render the Maintenance Programme on a regular basis. Based on the Good Lives Model, the programme promotes their strengths and resources on the road to rehabilitation through various group activities in order to consolidate their treatment gains and sustain their motivation for positive change.

2. Mindfulness Training

With reference to the latest scientific research, new elements have been incorporated in the VPP to enhance the treatment effectiveness. In recent years, clinical psychologists have employed mindfulness meditation to improve participants' moment-to-moment awareness and self control when experiencing intense emotions like anger arousal. Through mindfulness training, it is hoped that participants will be able to rebuild autonomy towards their thinking, emotions and behaviours, and refrain from habitual violence.

Future Direction

1. Violent Offenders Orientation Programme

PIC who have been sentenced to life imprisonment for serious violent offences commonly experience immense psychological stress during their early stage of incarceration. In particular, they usually have major adjustment difficulties with a strong sense of hopelessness and loneliness. The Violent Offenders Orientation Programme is therefore specifically developed for the newly admitted life-sentenced violent offenders with a view to facilitating their adjustment in correctional institutions, acceptance of life sentence and adaptive coping with emotional distress. Another objective is to enhance their motivation for psychological treatment at the early stage of incarceration.

2. Local Assessment Scales

In order to better accommodate the psychological attributes of the violent offenders in Hong Kong and further enhance the validity and reliability of psychological evaluation, CSD has collaborated with The Chinese University of Hong Kong to conduct a rigorous scientific research on the construction and validation of a set of local assessment scales on violent re-offending risk and treatment needs. On one hand, the PIC will be able to gain a more in-depth understanding of their own psychological functioning and treatment needs. On the other hand, the local violent risks and needs assessment scales will be useful to clinical psychologists for providing professional opinions to various statutory boards.

Honorary Advisor

CSD is honoured to have Professor Patrick LEUNG Wing-leung, Chairperson of the Department of Psychology of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, to be the honorary advisor of the research project on the construction of local violent risks and needs assessment tools for violent offenders.

Honorary Advisor, Professor Patrick LEUNG (2nd from the left),

Senior Clinical Psychologist of PSS1, Dr. Judy HUI (centre),

and other Clinical Psychologists