The Adapted Thinking Skills Programme was developed by Alison Giraud Sanders, Peter Oakes, Glynis Murphy and colleagues from HMPPS. It was designed to be used with people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities, who had engaged in any kind of criminal behaviour, as a first step to helping them not to re-offend. It was adapted from the HMPPS Thinking Skills Programme, by simplifying it and lengthening it.
The programme is a group CBT intervention and it consists of 3 modules, with some embedded 1:1 sessions between modules. The three modules are:
- Self-control (10 sessions)
- Problem-solving (5 sessions)
- Positive relationships (6 sessions)
The 1:1 sessions consider informed consent, an offence account, a personal plan, reviews of risks, goals, developments and protective factors, as well as future challenges.
A realist evaluation by Dr Peter Oakes showed that the A-TSP, when piloted in three different prisons, had very positive feedback from psychologists and prisoners. Prisoners (n=24) who completed the programme showed improvements in locus of control and problem-solving.
See: Oakes, P.M., Murphy, G.H., Giraud-Saunders, A. & Akinshegun, N. (2016) The realistic evaluation of an adapted thinking skills programme. Journal of Intellectual Disabilities and Offending Behaviour, 7, 14-24