Trauma and PAI

 Unfortunately, trauma work will likely be a common practice in my work as a forensic psychologist. Especially if I focus my practice and research with women, they are likely to report a history of trauma. Trauma is often overlooked in our field because it is not seen as a predictive factor in committing crimes. Therefore, people put more resources toward the predictive factors to lower the risk of reoffending. Though their recidivism risk may be lower, are they leaving jail or prison better than they came in if we aren't addressing mental health issues such as trauma? We are treating the criminal, but are we helping the person? Barlow describes the impact experiencing traumatic events has on one's life. Not addressing trauma could prevent this person from not living up to their fullest, "crime-free," potential. I also wondered how assessing for trauma may be different in correctional settings? For example, people may experience abuse after abuse, witness death after death, or think they will die again and again. Besides their case file, no additional information or contacts may be available to support the client's claim.  I do think that putting traumatic events in a lifespan context is an essential step, especially when dealing with complex trauma.

 A few ethical issues with treating PTSD in forensic settings when reading. First, as I stated before, is it ethical to deliberately not treat trauma because it has not been found to be predictive of re-offense? On the other hand, should clinicians try to treat complex trauma when the person is only incarcerated for a few months? Studies show that short, immediate intervention to reduce the risk of re-offense does not involve trauma work- would we be setting them up to fail again? What if the treatment wasn't completed- would someone be released in a worse state than when they entered the jail? This book is framed for adults, but assisting in child testimonies can also be a role as a forensic psychologist that would be interesting to learn. Assessing trauma in kids is a very tricky, very cautious task that requires intense training from my understanding.

I have not used the PAI before, but the reading got me excited to take and interpret the test. It has some key advantages, in my opinion, over the MMPI. I like that it is not a true or false scale, therefore, it allows for more variability. The RXR and TPI would be very useful scales to have, especially in correctional settings. Clinicians can infer how the client may be based on the MMPI results, but the PAI allows for a more direct understanding. The use of a "bias panel" was interesting. We often used numbers and statistical test after statistical test to ensure our measure is not biased and we forget that we could just ask people! However, I think it would be a bold move to just rely on that panel's interpretation because cultural experiences can differ from person to person. Just like with anything else, an individual's culture needs to be taken into account. 

Grade: 19/20