A/Prof. Ashley Batastini1, Dr. Ashley Jones2, Ms. Kaylee Cook3
1Centre For Forensic Behavioural Science, Swinburne University of Technology, Alphington, Australia, 2School of Psychology, University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, United States, 3Department of Counselling, Educational Psychology & Research, University of Memphis, Memphis, United States
Biography:
Ashley Batastini is an Associate Professor in the Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science at Swinburne University of Technology. Her work focuses on improving access to appropriate interventions at various stages of criminal legal involvement and addressing systemic factors that can diminish the efficacy of interventions. Dr. Batastini has over 60 academic publications and is a past recipient of the Early Career Achievement Award given by Division 18 (Psychologists in Public Service) of the American Psychological Association and the Saleem Shah Early Career Achievement award jointly given by the American Psychology-Law Society and the American Academy of Forensic Psychology.
Abstract:
In the Act (ITA) is a novel training program that teaches custody staff brief and evidence-informed strategies to promptly address instances of criminal thinking that occur beyond the view of treatment providers. Psychosocial interventions focused on reducing criminal thinking typically do not involve frontline staff as essential change agents. This presentation will discuss the rationale for this training, the developmental process, and preliminary implementation results from a metropolitan detention centre in the U.S. (N = 15 trainees) and the Department of Correctional Services in South Australia (N = 52 trainees). Post-training knowledge quiz scores (M = 87.9%; SD = 11.04) suggested that most participants attended to relevant information. Qualitative feedback from participants suggested overall favourability (M = 120 out of 140; SD = 14.72), as well as mostly positive opinions regarding the specific learning objectives (M = 16.73/20), program content (M = 40.34/48), the trainer (M = 48.02/52), and how the training was administered (M=15.65/20). Constructive qualitative feedback tended to focus on increasing real-world examples, some complaints about content repetition, and feeling the skills might be more difficult to implement on the job than in the training session. Overall, however, most people who provided written feedback believed it would be a useful training, especially for newer officers. Future directions and implications for improving continuity and fidelity of treatment programs will also be discussed.