Prisoners in Northern Ireland more paranoid

Prisoner populations in Northern Ireland (NI) show a higher percentage of paranoid characteristics than those in England and Wales. 

This is the suggestion of research conducted by Professor Jackie Bates-Gaston, Chief Forensic Psychologist, NI Prison Service, who is presenting her research as part of a symposium today at the Division of Forensic Psychology annual conference being held at Queen’s University Belfast.

The symposium addresses the treatment and management of service users with personality disordered difficulties in NI.

Professor Bates-Gaston’s study investigated the rates of personality disorder in a previously unsampled NI prisoner population. 

Jackie explained: “We know from previous studies that there are much higher rates of personality disorders in prisoner populations compared to the general population but the current study focussed on prisoners in NI.”

Ten per cent of convicted male prisoners and 50 per cent of female prisoners undertook a personality disorder screening. The results showed that 78 per cent of NI prisoners in the study displayed three or more forms of personality disorders, with paranoid characteristics being higher than samples in the rest of the UK. These features include beliefs that other people are deliberately putting them down or are out to get them. They react badly to set backs in their lives and often bear grudges, or believe in conspiracies against them. 

Jackie said: “We have to consider the possibility that NI’s conflicted history and the impact that the ‘Troubles’ may have had on the NI population as a whole and on offenders in particular. These findings indicate that offenders with some form of personality related challenging behaviour require particular management and care, which has implications for the training and support of NI prison officers.”

Other papers in the symposium include:

Bill Lockart, Lockhart Psychological Consulting Ltd, provides an overall background/explanation for personality disorders in his paper:

‘A Review of the concept of Emerging Personality Disorder and the potential for early intervention with Children and young people’

Maria O'Kane, Belfast Health Trust and and Geraldine O'Hare, Head of Forensic Psychology Services with the Probation Board for Northen Ireland, explain the strategy for the development of interventions in the community for personality disorder in NI in their paper:

 ‘Partnership working with personality disordered individuals....does it work?

Siobhan Keating, Belfast Health SC Trust and Rebecca Jamison, Belfast Health SC Trust Community Forensic Learning Disability Service, will speak about learning difficulties and personality disorder in their paper:

 ‘Adapting Dialectical Behaviour Therapy for Forensic In-patients with a learning disability and personality disorder – the learning so far’

Daryl Harris, PACE Ltd, will address working with high risk prisoners with personality disorders in the NI Prison Service in his paper:

‘The Challenge of Change in High Risk Antisocial Offenders’

The DFP conference will run from the 26 to 28 June. Click here to access more information about the conference including the full programme.

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