Research and Publications

This chapter describes the framework for trauma focused work within the LPP / HMPPS led prison-based Offender personality Disorder services. It includes discussion of the challenges of delivering trauma-responsive prison services, emphasising the traumatising nature of incarceration itself, as well as the potential for re-traumatising dynamics to emerge between prisoners and staff.

This chapter explores the experiences of people on probation as regards the concept of trauma informed interventions. It seeks to humanise and wide the notion of “intervention” and spread its delivery across varying layers of the systems our service users find themselves in.

There are challenges when it comes to understanding how best to support emerging adults who become criminal justice involved.

Background People from ethnically minoritised backgrounds are significantly over‐represented within the criminal justice system, as are those with personality difficulties.

The purpose of this study is to qualitatively explore individual informal activities, relationships and support, alongside barriers and responsivity factors that contribute to offender change in specialist services, as a first step to informing a comprehensive study of OPDP services.

This was an evaluation of the quality of formulations for women within a community offender personality disorder pathway (OPDP) service.

Introduction We evaluated a modified procedure for making more detailed ratings of the presence of risk factors for violence using the HCR‐20 V3 in a field study.

This was a mixed methods cross-sectional study evaluating OPD EERSS services in London.

This review and resulting set of best practice guidelines has been completed by staff from the London Pathways Partnership (LPP) and His Majesty’ Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS), who work within the Aylesbury Pathways Service.

We explore the evidence and present a scoping review of the available literature on the mechanisms of change in psychological treatments for offenders with personality disorder.

Offenders with severe personality pathology are at significantly increased risk of serious and violent offending. In England and Wales, offenders who are likely to meet criteria for a diagnosis of personality disorder are managed within a network of ‘Offender Personality Disorder Pathway’ services. We conducted a retrospective cohort study over 6 years, using linked routine datasets, to examine the effectiveness of these services on male offenders (n = 28,321).

The purpose of this study is to investigate the experiences of adult male prisoners presenting with personality difficulties in an open (Category D) prison in the UK and their experience of a pilot offender personality disorder (OPD) pathway Psychologically Enhanced Resettlement Service (PERS) in the prison.

This study aims to identify and describe offenders on the OPD pathway who fail to progress and to understand the causal drivers by which individuals fail to progress in the pathway.

This was the first controlled study to investigate the risk, personality, readiness to change and reflective functioning abilities of offenders accessing a range of OPD prison services and make comparisons with offenders from the wider non-OPD-accessing prison population.

This study investigated barriers to accessing psychological treatment for male young offenders detained in a UK prison. There were 128 participants, aged 18–21. A cross-sectional design compared self-reported barriers and psychological distress for Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) and White young offenders not accessing treatment, as well as those who were.

Case formulation plays a key role in effective management of offenders' needs, particularly on the Offender Personality Disorder Pathway (OPDP).

This guide was funded by NHS England and Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS).

The purpose of this paper is to explore the views of NHS England (NHSE) and Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) commissioners about the Offender Personality Disorder (OPD) pathway.

In the context of the UK Government’s Offender Personality Disorder (OPD) Strategy, large numbers of high-risk young adult sexual offenders with emerging personality disorders are being screened for inclusion onto specialist intervention pathways (the OPD Pathway).

Within the current offender personality disorder (OPD) pathway in the UK, black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) populations are underrepresented. 

Self-injury (SI) is a significant and growing problem with the prison estate and a particularly acute issue with young offenders.

This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of The Enhanced Support Service (ESS) pilot in reducing custodial violence and disruption, and the associated costs, by observing the behavioural change of the 35 service users who participated in ESS intervention within its first 22 months of operation.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the views of young adult prisoners with emerging personality disorders (PDs), who were assessed as posing a high risk of causing serious harm to others, on the process of therapeutic change in a non-residential treatment service in a UK young offender institute. 

In the last 15 years, there have been major policy changes affecting the ways offenders with personality disorder are managed in prison and hospital in England and Wales. 

The London Pathways Partnership (LPP) Community Service is an approach to mainstreaming the identification of offenders with severe personality disorder to address their needs and reduce their risk.