Editorial

Citation

Ireland, C.A. and Gredecki, N. (2017), "Editorial", The Journal of Forensic Practice, Vol. 19 No. 1, pp. 1-1. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFP-08-2016-0043

Welcome to Issue 19(1). We are pleased to start this issue with an invited paper by Courvoisier, looking at the procedural changes in Switzerland. This highlights how police officers, lawyers and prosecutors experienced the implementation of the mandatory presence of a lawyer during police interrogation since 2011. This offers an engaging paper, with valuable insight and some considered ways forward to maximise this approach effectively, with value to all those working in the criminal justice system. This paper is then followed by the work of Gill and Brookes, looking at an outcome measure based on the START risk assessment. This explores the relationship between the clusters of items on the START risk assessment along with the psychological progress of patients. They argue well the value of transparent outcome measures with empirical backing. An empirically driven paper follows, by Gibson and Clarbour, looking at the factorial structure of the Resilience Scale for Children and Adolescents in an adolescent male offender sample. Their paper offers an interesting read, providing support for the internal structure of this measure when applying to this sample, and offers further indication as to the value of this for practitioners.

This second part of this issue then moves to look at training and service evaluations. It first looks at an evaluation by Ramsden et al. on probation staff, focussing on the value of psychological thinking when evaluating a regional training model. This qualitative paper observed improvements in regard to enhanced understanding as to the internal motivations and the importance of effective evaluations. This is followed by Russell and Coulston’s paper, focussing on adult males in forensic services, aimed as an exploratory study examining the experience of these individuals in dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT). This is a small scale qualitative study, yet adds value by considering the experiences of a small group of patients who had engaged in DBT. They note a number of emerging themes, such as the importance of motivation, shared learning, professionalism, reinforcement and reflection in creating a positive experience of engagement for the client group. Finally, they argue for the importance of group cohesion and supportive factors for the client. This paper is then followed by a further evaluation paper, by Annesley et al. This looks at the development and evaluation of interventions for female firesetters in high secure mental healthcare. They offer an engaging paper, summarising the implementation and evaluation of these interventions. They note the importance of maximising engagement with the client group and how this may be achieved, ultimately guiding clinicians in establishing and delivering interventions for this population.

The last paper in this issue by Trivasse re-focusses towards the young offender, which again looks at evaluation. This time it notes a service evaluation aimed to fulfil national guidelines for greater participation of young people within children’s services and specifically explores young offenders’ views and experiences of the Youth Justice Service (YJS). This uses thematic analysis to identify two main themes: how participants perceived their journey through the YJS, and the relationships participants had with both the professionals and activities. Trivasse argues well the importance of creating an environment of care and how this may be achieved.