Application
Offender participation may be part of a mandatory sentence requirement or voluntary, and may be inside a secure centre or in the community. | |
Prerequisites
Not applicable | |
Elements and Performance Criteria
ELEMENT | PERFORMANCE CRITERIA | ||||
1Facilitate group processes. | 1.1 Research the history, background and culture of members of the group for assessment of suitability for the group according to agreed criteria. 1.2 Encourage group members to explore their expectations of programs honestly and realistically. 1.3 Promote group cohesion using a range of leadership techniques. | ||||
1.4 Openly acknowledge hostile responses to participating in programs and deal with resistance using group processes. 1.5 Use group dynamics to influence positive attitudes and expectations. 1.6 Explore behaviours and attitudes in the group and negotiate agreement on acceptable behaviours and group rules. 1.7 Encourage and model positive and open communication and deal with conflict fairly and constructively. 1.8 Clearly define confidentiality and promote strategies that develop trust, confidence and supportive relationships. | |||||
2Create a safe emotional environment. | 2.1 Manage the environment of the group to encourage trust and self-reflection. 2.2 Use information to establish empathy and safety of expression. 2.3 Use questioning methods to encourage deeper exploration of emotions and experiences and encourage reflection, honesty and responsibility. 2.4 Manage group processes and group interaction to create and maintain safe exploration of thoughts and feelings. 2.5 Acknowledge attitudes, beliefs and experiences and challenge expressions of issues to promote honesty and self-awareness. 2.6 Explore values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviour to promote self-analysis. 2.7 Use questions to give participants the opportunity to explore underlying emotions and their origins. 2.8 Use communication strategies such as silence to encourage participants to experience the effects of their feelings. 2.9 Use questioning to encourage participants to explore and acknowledge their fears and concerns. | ||||
2.10 Model and promote group interaction that supports the safe exploration of thoughts and feelings. 2.11 Respond to participants in a culturally sensitive as well as honest and challenging manner. | |||||
3Support the expression of individual goals. | 3.1 Engage participants in exploring their reasons for participating in programs and their expectations for outcomes and change. 3.2 Facilitate participants' self-awareness through reflection and analysis of thoughts and feelings. 3.3 Use motivational interviewing strategies to enable participants to compare and contrast their life goals with current reality. 3.4 Encourage participants to explore, define and expand their goals. 3.5 Encourage participants to identify personal goals that are consistent with non-offending behaviour. 3.6 Encourage participants to analyse their own and others' attitudes, beliefs, values and behaviour. 3.7 Encourage participants to review their goals at strategic stages in the program. 3.8 Use review of goals to strengthen commitment to change. 3.9 Use review of goals to confirm commitment or modify expectations. 3.10 Encourage participants to evaluate progress in order to develop further strategies for action. | ||||
4Support progress to achieve individual goals. | 4.1 Identify, bring into focus and analyse contradictions in beliefs, attitudes, values and goals. 4.2 Encourage participants to move beyond superficial responses and levels of self-reflection. 4.3 Encourage participants to analyse their values, beliefs and behaviours that reinforce or challenge their experience in offending. 4.4 Encourage participants to recognise the contradictions in their beliefs, attitudes and values. 4.5 Encourage participants to use reasoning to recognise the decisions and changes needed to assist them to achieve their goals. 4.6 Use group dynamics to focus on and acknowledge each participant's barriers to change. | ||||
4.7 Use group dynamics to promote individual choice and control over the barriers blocking change. 4.8 Use group dynamics to generate participant changes in thoughts and behaviour and acceptance of non-offending lifestyle. 4.9 Check objectives, outcomes and processes of the group for consistency with the organisation's policies, objectives and program outcomes. 4.10 Maintain records of participation and progress according to organisation's requirements and report issues where required or necessary. |
Required Skills
This section describes the essential skills and knowledge and their level, required for this unit. | |
Required skills: establishing agreement on rules of behaviour and attitude establishing agreement on purpose and rules of participation using group management techniques to influence group dynamics for positive outcomes challenging hostile, negative and unacceptable behaviours and attitudes tackling barriers, including those arising from involuntary participation modelling honesty, respect, frankness and clear communication applying information from checking individuals' details proving information about the boundaries of confidentiality acknowledging the expressed feelings of participants reading accurately and responding suitably to the body language of participants clarifying boundaries of self-disclosure acknowledging effects of disclosure and responding in a supportive and constructive way using self-disclosure in a timely and controlled way to encourage further trust and increase awareness in participants using questions that facilitate the emergence of underlying thoughts, emotions and experiences using culturally sensitive responses providing experiences and opportunities for participants to explore underlying feelings and emotions making use of silence to encourage participants to experience the effects of their feelings exploring and acknowledging fears and concerns expressed by participants promoting group interactions that support the safe exploration of thoughts, feelings and past experiences focusing on participants' choices and responsibility using motivational techniques and strategies assessing commitment and reality and challenging inconsistencies giving frank and honest expression of thoughts and feelings identifying contradictions and gaps in congruency getting agreement on clear and concrete goals to change offending behaviour getting agreement on the contradictions moving participants towards rational analysis of experiences and behaviour maintaining focus on change maintaining individual responsibility, choice and control identifying and challenging barriers to change encouraging honest and realistic self-reflection and analysis. | |
Required knowledge: justice-specific knowledge, such as: statutory requirements of court and sentencing orders and conditions, parole board conditions, pre-release conditions and alternative sentencing conditions criminogenic factors influencing attitude and behaviour change, rehabilitation and reduced risk of re-offending community and political context and its influence on attitudes about crime, criminal behaviour, punishment and rehabilitation program-specific knowledge, including: organisation's policies, objectives and program requirements for addressing offending behaviour using a therapeutic approach organisation's criteria and protocols for suitability of programs, and conditions for referral to programs within the organisation and in other agencies alcohol and other drugs harm minimisation - the range of approaches used to prevent and reduce the harm caused by drug and alcohol use and the likelihood of re-offending feminist theories of power and their analysis of domestic violence, including the abuse of power by men as a result of patriarchal social structures narrative intervention techniques that use personal stories and language to give understanding and meaning to events and experiences and the use of alternative stories to support change partnership accountability that makes practice open to those who have an investment in the outcomes of the intervention recognition of and by dominant groups of their power, and commitment to establishing how others view situations | |
restorative justice programs in which justice shifts from seeing crime as an offence against the state to treating it as an offence against people and relationships and tackling reconciliation and restitution at the human relationship level alternative justice programs that focus on the offending behaviour and how to change it or require that the offender makes reparation rather than automatic incarceration behaviour theories and therapeutic responses, including: cognitive behavioural theory that emphasises the way that people's thinking affects their behaviour and how thinking patterns can be changed to improve problem-solving skills and give people acceptable and constructive alternatives to harmful and illegal behaviour human development theory that uses knowledge of the ways in which common human behaviours change during a life span and the way priorities evolve through the stages of life systems theory that focuses on the interdependence of individuals, families, groups, organisations, environments and cultures as an explanation of how people operate and interrelate motivational interviewing that uses tactical and strategic persuasion to increase an individual's motivation by generating arguments for change from the individual therapeutic group work that relies on knowledge of how the energies of group members can be mobilised and channelled to help each other and to increase responsibility and control criminogenic factors in needs assessment that uses testing of specific factors to determine appropriate intervention strategies reflective practice that uses analysis of personal practice for increased self-awareness and professional development grief and loss theories that explain how grief reactions to loss can result in a range of behaviour requiring consideration in the design of intervention and response. |
Evidence Required
The Evidence Guide provides advice on assessment and must be read in conjunction with the performance criteria, required skills and knowledge, the range statement and the Assessment Guidelines for this Training Package. | ||
Overview of assessment | Evidence for assessment must be gathered over time in a range of contexts to ensure the person can achieve the unit outcome and apply the competency in different situations or environments. | |
Critical aspects for assessment and evidence required to demonstrate competency in this unit | In addition to integrated demonstration of the elements and their related performance criteria, look for evidence that confirms: the knowledge requirements of this unit the skill requirements of this unit application of employability skills as they relate to this unit ability to apply therapeutic processes to group work which addresses offending behaviour in a range of (two or more) contexts or occasions, over time. | |
Assessment will require demonstration of a range of the following group techniques: motivational interviewing use of silence techniques to build trust with the group and within the group use of and interpretation of body language and non-verbal messages, including eye contact use of language to create specific impact varying the use of language for specific purposes provoking interaction between group members managing interaction between facilitators and group members setting up small group interactions varying techniques according the stages of the group's existence using feedback techniques changing style and methods to have specific impact. | ||
Context of and specific resources for assessment | Valid assessment of this unit requires: a workplace environment or one that closely resembles normal work practice and replicates the range of conditions likely to be encountered by an individual responsible for conducting therapeutic group work with offenders to address offending behavioural issues as part of a coordinated team, including coping with difficulties, irregularities and changes to routine copies of legislation, policies, procedures and guidelines relating to using therapeutic processes to address offender behaviour in groups access to appropriate learning and assessment support when required. | |
Method of assessment | The following assessment methods are suggested: observation of performance in routine workplace activities within a range of agreed responsibilities and in various work locations written and/or oral questioning to assess knowledge and understanding completion of workplace documents and reports produced as part of routine work activities third-party reports from experienced practitioners completion of performance feedback from supervisors and colleagues. | |
Guidance information for assessment | Assessment methods should reflect workplace demands, and any identified special needs of the candidate, including language and literacy implications and cultural factors that may affect responses to the questions. In all cases where practical assessment is used it will be combined with targeted questioning to assess the underpinning knowledge. |
Range Statement
The range statement relates to the unit of competency as a whole. It allows for different work environments and situations that may affect performance. Bold italicised wording in the performance criteria is detailed below. Add any essential operating conditions that may be present with training and assessment depending on the work situation, needs of the candidate, accessibility of the item, and local industry and regional contexts. | ||
Goal setting will include: | objectives targets benchmarks measures reviews adjustments special considerations tackling obstacles resources. |
Sectors
Unit sector | Intervention |
Competency Field
Not applicable | |
Co-Requisites
Not applicable | |
Employability Skills
The required outcomes described in this unit of competency contain applicable facets of employability skills. The Employability Skills Summary of the qualification in which this unit of competency is packaged, will assist in identifying employability skills requirements. | |
Licensing Information
Not applicable.