Correctional Rehabilitation and Psychological Interventions in Singapore

The following sections are included:

• FOREWORD
• ABOUT THE EDITORS
• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
• CONTENTS

Since the turn of the 21st century, Singapore Prison Service (SPS) has implemented effective correctional rehabilitation strategies and introduced efforts to support the reintegration of ex-offenders in the community. By reviewing the correctional literature, key theories of rehabilitation such as the Risk-Needs-Responsivity (RNR) model, Good Lives Model and Desistance were incorporated into the work of the SPS to support the department’s endeavours. Guided by research and data, the department subsequently expanded the scope of rehabilitation work beyond prison and developed a throughcare system where offenders are provided intervention programmes and supervision of both incare and aftercare. To continue with the practice of evidence-informed decision-making, the department has emphasised on applied research and programme evaluation as key components of psychological practice within SPS. Research is currently applied to the following six main areas of prison climate, penology, community corrections, intervention design and implementation, technology-based intervention and drug rehabilitation research.

Supporting successful rehabilitation of offenders is a key priority for the Singapore Prison Service (SPS) and the use of evidence-based practices is imperative for achieving positive outcomes. To ensure that evidence-based practices are applied consistently and with integrity, correctional programmes in SPS go through an iterative process of learning, designing, monitoring and evaluation, also known as the Intervention Design and Evaluation Cycle (IDEC). In addition, the implementation of programmes is guided by Effective Practices and Sustainable Adoption (EPSA) framework. This chapter outlines the IDEC and describes how SPS approaches each stage of intervention design to deliver quality correctional programmes and ensures successful implementation following the EPSA framework.

Rehabilitation in the Singapore Prison Service (SPS) has grown over the years, particularly aided by a period of organisational transformation in the late 1990s and early 2000s. During this time, rehabilitation was explicitly included in the vision and mission of the service, and the seeds of evidence-informed practice were sown. SPS began to focus on interventions that directly targeted attitudes and behaviour that were related to offending while simultaneously, with its network partners, promoted reintegration opportunities for ex-inmates through the Yellow Ribbon Project. This chapter also discusses some more recent developments including gender-responsive rehabilitation, and efforts to equip prison officers to carry out aspects of rehabilitation.

High-risk offenders are housed in the Pre-release Centre (PRC) in Singapore Prison Service (SPS) prior to their release. In this regime, offenders attend a nine-month programme in a Transformational Environment (TE) and are encouraged to transform their lives and to desist from an offending lifestyle. The programme consists of four phases — orientation, rehab, renew and restart — where offenders are equipped with life and vocational skills to support them with their rehabilitation and reintegration. The TE in PRC is also supported by other processes such as Restorative Practice (RP) and an Interdisciplinary Team (IDT) to manage offenders with behavioural or emotional issues. The main programme in PRC is the Integrated Criminogenic Programme (ICP), which is a psychological-based programme conducted by Correctional Rehabilitation Specialists (CRSes) that targets multiple criminogenic needs to reduce risk of offending and promote a prosocial lifestyle within themselves. CRSes would also work with these offenders after their release to support them in the community using the skills they have learnt. An evaluation of the programme found that offenders who did not receive ICP and aftercare interventions were 1.5 times more likely to reoffend as compared to those who received interventions. Several case vignettes and key takeaways of working with high-risk offenders are discussed.

The increasingly heterogeneous demographic profile of drug abusers in Singapore requires a multifaceted approach to intervention. Singapore invests heavily in evidence-informed, differentiated rehabilitation pathways to ensure that interventions are targeted to the appropriate level of risk, needs and responsivity of drug abusers. The Transformational Environment was introduced in the Drug Rehabilitation Centre (DRC) to create a safe and supportive setting designed to facilitate rehabilitation, reintegration and long-term desistance. This chapter illustrates how the DRC implemented the Transformational Environment by enhancing people, processes and programmes, and provides suggestions to common challenges faced when working with drug abusers.

In Singapore, youth offenders aged 16–21 years old who are sentenced to reformative training are sent to a specialised facility (Reformative Training Centre [RTC]) focused on the rehabilitation and upskilling of young offenders to prepare them for reintegration into society. This chapter introduces the transformational environment elements of the RTC regime: people, structure and routines. It is important for the people to work together towards the common goal of RTs’ successful reintegration and to build effective relationships with the RTs to motivate them towards positive change. The structures put in place allow for a safe environment conducive to rehabilitation and learning, with restorative practice as the guiding principle for conflict management. RTs’ routines are filled with activities and programmes to allow them to spend their time constructively, such as engaging in volunteer work and psychology-based correctional programmes.

It is only in recent years that gender-responsive research revealed the fundamental differences in the needs and offending pathways of male and female offenders. As such, correctional practices that were designed primarily for male offenders may not be as effective when it is applied to female offenders. This paved the way for the Singapore Prison Service (SPS) to embark on a journey to broaden our understanding about the characteristics of our female offenders and the challenges they face. This shaped the way we tailor our interventions and transform the physical environment to include gender-responsive elements. We hope to share what we have learnt so far, highlighting the difference in approach when working with female offenders, as well as pertinent information that would be helpful in working with female offenders.

Singapore Prison Service (SPS) plays a central role in providing effective rehabilitation to violent offenders to protect public from violent crimes that result in physical or psychological harm. Rehabilitation of violent offenders starts with psychological risk assessments to inform on intervention needs through various specialised psychology-based correctional programmes developed, enhanced and delivered for violent offenders. SPS psychologists have adopted a systematic and evidence-informed approach towards assessing the risk and needs of offenders through an automated triaging system developed to screen for offenders who have a pattern of committing serious or persistent violent offences at the start of their incarceration. Offenders’ risk and needs are then assessed by psychologists using well-established structured professional judgement tools that consider various static and dynamic factors empirically related to violence. Psychologists then develop a coherent case formulation explaining the offender’s violence risk and needs. Psychologists in the SPS General Violence Unit sharpen their assessment and intervention effectiveness through conducting research and evaluations on a regular basis to determine whether local offenders may present with unique needs. For example, the findings of their needs analysis indicated high-risk offenders, relative to low-risk offenders, tend to present with difficulty in social problem solving, which in turn was attributed to the presence of early maladaptive schemas (EMSs) and emotion dysregulation. The findings informed on the development of an open group violence intervention programme, HERO (Honour, Empathy, Resilience, Ownership), where participants are required to undergo four designated core modules targeting antisocial peer relationships, emotion dysregulation, maladaptive thoughts and beliefs, and poor conflict resolution. There are additional elective modules depending on their needs, which include schema therapy to address early maladaptive schemas, and conflictual family relationships which have contributed to domestic violence. With Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) being the main treatment modality, HERO includes Good Lives Model and elements of narrative therapy to guide participants towards developing a new prosocial identity, through visualising their “True Self”. The distinction between the “True Self” and “Fighter Role” is constantly referenced to in the modules to highlight the discrepancies between their current behaviours and desired prosocial identity. The HERO programme is conducted within a Transformative Environment (TE) within a prison Institution in SPS. Beyond attending HERO, participants engage in other structured activities in the TE that provide them with opportunities for the practice, rehearsal and/ or reinforcement of newly acquired skills in HERO.

Since the early 2000s, the Singapore Prison Service (SPS) psychologists have been overseeing the field of sexual offender risk assessment, intervention and management. The rise in number of sexual offenders in Singapore highlighted the need to invest resources into reducing the rate of reoffending in this population. A key strategy adopted by SPS to address this is to provide evidence-informed and effective sexual offender intervention programmes. This chapter aims to briefly outline the progressive indicators of the following areas: (a) the professional development of psychologists working with sexual offenders, (b) key milestones in the development of specialised psychology-based correction programmes (PCPs) for adult sexual offenders and (c) recent development of the Transformational Environment (TE) for adult sexual offenders, conceptualised into three main pillars: process, people and programme. The chapter concludes with a case vignette and a reflection piece by an SPS Correctional Rehabilitation Specialist (CRS) working in the community with sex offenders.

Offenders with mental health disorders have been on the rise and research shows that they present with complex challenges to the prison system across the world (Jüriloo, Pesonen, & Lauerma, 2017). Specifically, inmates with severe mental disorders who are convicted of sexual and violent offences have been found to present with complex challenges to mental health providers and prison staff during intervention programmes and community supervision as such it is vital that these programmes continue to evolve and improvise (Baillargeon et al., 2010; Cloyes et al., 2010; Cuddeback et al., 2019). This chapter seeks to document the programmes and processes within the Singapore Prison Service pertaining to the treatment and intervention of inmates with mental disorders. Specifically, the valuable work of the Clinical Psychology Unit and its collaborations with various specialised housing units seek to rehabilitate these offenders with mental health disorders based on multi-disciplinary and evidence-based approaches.

This chapter outlines the professional development of a correctional rehabilitation practitioner in the Singapore Prison Service. It begins by explaining how the need for practitioners to possess specialised knowledge and skills is critical in the correctional rehabilitation of offenders. Attention is drawn to the changes in the notion of the correctional rehabilitation context in the Service across time, and its implications on the level and form of professionalism of practitioners. This chapter then outlines the key elements in the professional development framework established to steer practitioners towards attaining their competencies. Specific developmental strategies targeting several principal areas, such as ethics and coaching, are described to provide examples of the training and developmental activities that practitioners undertake and experience. This chapter closes by sharing some possible adaptations in directions that may arise as the Service progresses into the future.

The prison environment plays a crucial role in ensuring that offender rehabilitation programmes can be implemented effectively, and in facilitating the achievement and maintenance of desired offender rehabilitation outcomes. Correctional staff have a capacity for accumulative positive impact on rehabilitation through daily meaningful and supportive interactions with inmates. The Singapore Prison Service (SPS) acknowledges this importance and has been enhancing its correctional environments over the years, which has in turn led to changes in the roles of correctional staff and how institutions operate. This has required significant changes in previous operating mindsets, systems and processes. SPS crafted its Captains of Lives (COLs) branding, developed a revised mission, vision and values, as well as conceptualised a new set of correctional practices titled 7 Habits of Effective COLs, which was officially introduced to all staff in 2017. To ensure that COLs can embody these 7 Habits effectively, SPS enhanced the existing training curriculum of milestone courses and developed new courses to equip staff with relevant knowledge and skills. To further reinforce this across all levels of SPS, leaders were equipped with further supervision and coaching skills to support their staff in applying the 7 Habits of Effective COLs in their daily work. Research shows that correctional staff are exposed to complex stressors, which may place them at higher risk of mental health concerns, such as depression and posttraumatic stress disorder. Correctional agencies must therefore be responsible for creating and maintaining mentally healthy workplaces for correctional staff to flourish through initiatives promoting mental health awareness, providing early outreach and intervention to atrisk staff, and supporting recovery of staff living with mental health conditions.

The following sections are included:

• AFTERWORD
• INDEX