Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 25 Jun 1998

Vol. 493 No. 2

Written Answers. - Programmes for Offenders.

Derek McDowell

Ceist:

19 Mr. McDowell asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the programmes, if any, available to work with perpetrators of violence against women and children; the extent these programmes are availed of by those found guilty of such violence; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15449/98]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. O'Donoghue)

Persons convicted by the courts of offences involving violence against women or children may, as in the case of other crimes, be made subject to supervision by the probation and welfare service or may be committed to a term of imprisonment.

The probation and welfare service does not operate programmes dedicated solely to dealing with violence against women and children but anger management or attitudes to violence is an integral core module in several projects organised by the service. The intention is to address the origins and violent manifestations of offending. Every offender participating in any of these programmes is exposed to this module and results show significant attitudinal change in the majority of offenders completing the course.

At Mountjoy Prison a programme called The Alternatives To Violence Programme has been running for the past four years. It is delivered by a small number of volunteer workers including members of the Society of Friends. Programmes are aimed at confronting individual prisoners' propensity to violence and helping them overcome their violent tendencies. There continues to be a high level of interest in these programmes which are run over a weekend. Each session is restricted to 20 and in all some 500 inmates have participated to date. Similar programmes have commenced recently in Limerick Prison and Wheatfield place of detention.

A new non-therapeutic programme for offenders, the thinking skills training programme, was introduced in Arbour Hill Prison earlier this year. It is hoped to introduce a similar programme in Cork Prison in the near future. The thinking skills programme is designed to target a range of offenders including those convicted of sex offences and other offences involving violence against women and children. The programme is run by multi-disciplinary teams, including prison officers, probation and welfare staff and teaching staff under the guidance of my

Department's clinical psychology service. The skills addressed in this new programme include: general strategies for recognising problems, analysing them and considering non-criminal and non-violent alternatives; how to consider the consequences of their behaviour including violent behaviour — to think before they act; how to go beyond their own view of the world and consider the thoughts and feelings of other people; and how to develop the ability to control their own behaviour and avoid acting impulsively and violent.

Acts of violence against women and children can be of a sexual nature. Within the prison system there are, at present, two forms of therapeutic intervention available to all prisoners committed for such sex offences. Both forms of treatment are aimed at enabling such offenders gain a measure of control over their offending behaviour.

The first is individual counselling from my Department's clinical psychology service and from the probation and welfare service. This form of therapeutic intervention is available in each institution to sex offenders who seek it, with the temporary exception of those in the Curragh place of detention where it will be provided at the earliest opportunity. The number of offenders who have received this type of treatment cannot readily be quantified without a comprehensive survey which is not feasible at present. However, l can say that this service is provided to all offenders who seek it.

The second type of therapeutic intervention is a highly intensive psycho-therapeuautic group treatment programme aimed specifically at addressing the conscious and unconscious motivation of sex offenders. It has been operating at Arbour Hill Prison for the past four years.

This programme can cater for up to ten offenders at one time and takes ten to 11 months to complete. The emphasis is on the offender accepting personal responsibility for the offence and on developing effective relapse prevention strategies. All convicted sex offenders who are in custody, irrespective of the institution in which they are accommodated, are invited to apply to participate in the programme. Those who apply are considered by the treatment team but not all are deemed suitable. Where more than ten offenders who have applied are deemed suitable, the places on the programme are allocated to those nearest the end of their sentence. The others are offered a place on a subsequent programme. To date 40 prisoners have participated in this programme with the fourth group due to finish in July next. A further group will begin the programme in the autumn.