Mr Mark McGowan
1Forensic Disability Services, Australia
Biography:
Robert is a Clinician in the Youth Forensic Disability Clinical Service team of the Forensic Disability Service (Victoria’s Dept. of Families, Fairness and Housing), with responsibilities including risk assessment and treatment provision for clients aged 12-21 years, as well as providing consultation support for care teams and other stakeholders. Robert has a Masters in Educational and Developmental Psychology (Monash) and holds memberships with the Australian Psychological Society (APS) and the APS College of Educational and Developmental Psychologists. Earlier in 2025, Robert and the Youth Forensic Disability Clinical Service team presented a workshop with Prof. Paul Rhodes at the Australian Association of Family Therapy conference on the topic of ‘Working systemically with violence, sexual violence and intellectual disability.
Abstract:
Services responding to adolescents as perpetrators of sexual harm (McKibbin et al., 2024; Read, 2023) are faced with the challenge of how best to assess, manage, and treat such behaviours alongside evolving social norms within this population.
Recent reviews highlight the benefit of both family/systemic and cognitive behavioural approaches in addressing offending amongst young people. The evidence for how to address such behaviour in those with an additional cognitive disability has been inadequately explored. This presentation provides a theoretical and practical approach on how to apply both systemic and CBT approaches to young people and their support systems in a manner that is cohesive and complimentary. Assessment includes structured professional judgement approaches but also includes systemic concepts such as systemic consultation which provides its own therapeutic benefit (Rhodes et al., 2011; Rhodes et. al., 2014; Worling & Curwen, 2001; Worling & Langton, 2015). This presentation identifies how systemic interventions to address attachment and relational patterns contributing to HSB can work in tandem with structured CBT programs such as the Good Way Model (Ayland & West, 2006). Through case studies, the presentation will also highlight how conceptual models such as the Good Lives and Risk- Need-s Responsivity models are not in conflict when working in the Forensic Disability frame but can work with systemic ways of working to improve unhelpful cognitions, emotion regulation, quality of life, patterns of relating and ultimately, harmful behaviour (Bonta & Andrews, 2016; Wylie & Griffin, 2013).