The Center for Justice Research and Policy (CJRP)'s ongoing reentry project at the Pasco County Jail aims to positively influence post-release outcomes for incarcerated individuals once they are released to the community through various treatment services.
One of these efforts is focused on delivering group-centered Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT). DBT is an evidence-based psychotherapy model that targets risk and protective factors to recidivism, or the tendency for a previously incarcerated individual to re-offend.
Funded by the National Institute of Justice, the reentry project (which includes the DBT program) is meant to teach participants coping skills they can use to navigate the challenges of reentry and community integration. The project also includes post-release case management and a service referral component.
Dr. Edelyn Verona, a professor in the USF College of Arts and Sciences Department of Psychology and co-director of CJRP, and a team of students have adapted the DBT manual to fit the jail context and increase the accessibility of treatment among an underserved and understudied population. Currently, DBT groups are being provided to participants in jail by 哔咔漫画 students under the supervision of Verona.
鈥淪ometimes, the public assumes that all adults have been able to develop sound problem-solving, emotion regulation and impulse control skills, but that鈥檚 not the case, and DBT gives people a psychological toolbox as events come up in their life that will help them make more effective decisions,鈥� Verona explained.
The intervention serves as an excellent training opportunity for students in gaining clinical psychology experience and is currently being offered as an externship for clinical psychology PhD students.
鈥淔acilitating DBT groups in the jail provides opportunities for students to learn how to deescalate conflicts between group members, adapt an evidence-based treatment to a unique setting and population, practice collaborating and communicating across fields (criminology, psychology, nursing, casework, attorneys) and with community partners, and teaching therapeutic skills to a vulnerable and underserved client population,鈥� Verona said.
Soon-to-be clinical psychology PhD student Kendall Smith currently serves as a DBT group facilitator and is looking forward to the opportunity to help facilitate treatment through the program.
鈥淚 was very excited about the goals of the study,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淕etting involved in the treatment phase of the project seemed like a great opportunity to understand more about the population we are trying to help.鈥�
鈥淥ne thing I've noticed that's really great about DBT is how much it can work to reduce the consequences of impulsive behaviors, which I'd love to explore more in my own research in other settings.鈥�
鈥淎fter I receive my PhD, I am hoping to do a mixture of research and therapy that focuses on addressing inequities in the criminal legal system,鈥� Smith continued. 鈥淭he program has without a doubt given me some great insight to system-involved individuals. It's one thing to read about pathways to system involvement but it's truly another thing to hear about it firsthand.鈥�
Advanced undergraduate and post-baccalaureate students have also had the opportunity to lead the groups which many have found to be a valuable training experience in preparing for graduate programs. Students are additionally highly involved in the research aspects of the project with many gathering data to analyze in doctoral dissertations and theses.
鈥淢y main hope is that [students] catch the 鈥榖ug鈥� for conducting research that actually helps solve many of our social problems and to eventually use their expertise in settings that are underserved, working with individuals who are often forgotten or wholly dismissed,鈥� Verona said.