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The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale – Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV) (Wechsler, 2008) is a cognitive assessment that is often used in secure forensic settings, however it has not been normed on this population. The purpose of this paper is to develop forensic normative data.

Patient files in a high secure forensic hospital were reviewed in order to obtain completed WAIS-IV (Wechsler, 2008) assessments and scores from the five indexes (verbal comprehension, perceptual reasoning, working memory, processing speed and full scale intelligence quotient (FSIQ)). This included reviewing patient files from all directorates, including male mental health, male learning disability, male personality disorder and the women’s service, yielding a sample size of n=86.

The qualitative descriptors obtained across the hospital ranged between extremely low and superior. The learning disability service scored significantly lower than the mental health and personality disorder services in verbal comprehension index, perceptual reasoning index, working memory index and FSIQ, and significantly lower than the mental health, personality disorder and women’s services in processing speed index. Mean scores from this study were significantly lower in comparison to those from the UK validation study (Wechsler, 2008).

The significant difference between scores from the current study and those from the UK validation study (Wechsler, 2008) highlights the need to have appropriate normative data for forensic populations. Clinicians should consider interventions that may serve to increase cognitive function, such as cognitive remediation therapy.

Whilst several special group studies have previously been conducted, this study is the first to develop forensic normative data for the WAIS-IV (Wechsler, 2008). Whilst the sample size was relatively small with limited female participants, the data collated will enable clinicians working in forensic establishments to interpret their assessments in light of this information.

The Forward Motion Motivational Group (FMMG) is a psychological group intervention facilitated in the Mental Health Directorate of a high-secure Hospital. Research has highlighted a limited amount of service user involvement within secure settings. The aims of the study were to explore participant's experiences of FMMG, to establish whether these reflected the aims of the programme, to provide participants with the opportunity to recommend changes to the current service provision and to explore whether the programme supported engagement in further psychological interventions.

Ten programme completers were interviewed using a semi-structured interview. The interview transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke, 2006) alongside Beutow (2010) Saliency Analysis Guidelines.

Thematic analysis of the data resulted in five key themes: expectations, group experience, programme facilitators, learning and programme aims and programme development.

Qualitative measures provide an insight into whether participant's experiences reflect the programme aims which is a valuable indicator of treatment effectiveness. Participants advocated the value of completing an introductory group to broaden their insight into the structure and delivery of psychological group interventions.

Given the limited amount of research involving service users within secure settings, it is specifically the service user's experiences and suggestions for programme development that are considered within this paper. This highlights the value of service user involvement for those interested in conducting research within secure settings.