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The purpose of this paper is to explore the efficacy of a targeted youth programme that promotes social-emotion learning through an experiential learning, on negative problem orientation (NPO), and to identify to what extent risk (of disengagement) would have an impact on the outcomes.

Participants were selected by their school teacher, using a risk selection tool and divided into two groups: “lower risk” and “higher risk” on the basis of three criteria (socioeconomic disadvantage, engagement and parental support). Participants were asked to complete the Negative Problem Orientation Questionnaire (NPOQ) before and after the programme.

Baseline NPO scores were significantly higher (indicating high levels of NPO) in participants who had a higher risk profile compared to those who had a lower risk profile, (t=17.79 (663), p<0.01). Overall, NPO decreased significantly from baseline to the end of programme assessment, (F(1,163)=41.0, p<0.01). Further analysis reveals that while there was a significant impact of the programme on NPO (greater than overall statistic) in higher risk young people (F(1,163)=63.8, p<0.01), there was no significant impact for those who were lower risk. This group scored slightly (but not significantly) higher than baseline (t=1.14 (664)=, p=0.253). There were no significant effects of gender (p=0.165) or ethnicity (p=0.72).

The results of this study may add value to this field of clinical and academic research that recognise the importance of interventions that use socio-emotional learning and experiential learning to minimise NPO. More specifically, the present research suggests that young people at risk of disengagement, who come from disadvantaged groups may benefit from an intervention. This has long-term implications as interventions such as these, have been shown to have the largest impact on student’s academic, behavioural, social-emotional and motivational outcomes and produce benefits to pupils’ health and well-being.

The present research may contribute to a better understanding of the mechanisms responsible for contributing to a programme that enhances psychological well-being through NPO.

The paper provides a good framework in terms of adding value for understanding the world of at risk young people and their psychological well-being and academic attainment, not to mention how this may affect young people in the long term. Mental health is a serious concern among young people and great cost to the NHS. Young people are not being seen by professions and the threshold is ever increasing. Prevention of the exacerbation of mental illness while waiting for treatment may be sought in interventions that concentrate on problem orientation.

The data analysis is applied to a specific group of at risk young people, on a novel intervention. Furthermore, there does not seem to be a large amount of research using NPOQ.

The COVID-19 pandemic, which appeared in China in late 2019, has affected the world psychologically, socially and economically in 2020. Tourism is one of the areas where the effects of COVID-19 have been felt most clearly. The study aims to determine the effect of negative problem orientation (NPO) and perceived risk related to the COVID-19 pandemic on travel and destination visit intention.

This study employed a convenience and probabilistic sampling method for collecting data from 531 respondents using an online questionnaire. Partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used for testing research model.

According to the findings, NPO and perceived risk related to the pandemic were found to have direct and indirect effects on the travel behavior of tourists. The results of this research provide theoretical and practical implications for hospitality and travel businesses on topics such as the psychological effects of the pandemic and the travel behaviors of tourists.

It is estimated that the pandemic will also affect tourist behavior due to its effects on human psychology. For this reason, a study conducted in the context of tourist behavior theories is expected to contribute to the literature, managers and future of the tourism.

The National Institute for Mental Health in England's (2003) paper, Personality Disorder: No Longer a Diagnosis of Exclusion, led to a need for effective treatments for people with personality disorders. Problem‐solving therapy (PST) is an appropriate treatment because, rather than trying to change basic personality structure, the aim is to help people with personality disorder to learn new skills to manage their emotional dysregulation and to work within their abilities to cope more effectively with life's problems. This overview describes the underpinning model of social problem‐solving and explains how PST aims to assist with problem‐solving difficulties.

Social deficits are central within conceptualisations of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and separately linked to offending behaviour. Social problem-solving interventions are often used with offenders, but little research has examined the social information processing (SIP) skills of individuals with ASD and a history of criminal offending behaviours. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

This conceptual paper will introduce the SIP model, review SIP research as applied to those with ASD and in forensic populations, and further consider the relevance to the assessment and treatment of offenders with ASD.

Difficulties in all areas of the SIP model are noted in ASD and research suggests these difficulties may be directly linked to behaviour.

It is possible that identifying SIP abilities and deficits could improve the effectiveness of rehabilitation programmes for this group.

This paper reviews the utility of social information models in the offending behaviour of people with ASD.

Although intellectual disability (ID) and criminal offending have long been associated, the nature of this link is obfuscated by reliance on historically unrigorous means of assessing ID and fractionating social cognitive skills. The purpose of this paper is to review and report current findings and set an agenda for future research in social perception, social inference and social problem solving in ID violent offenders.

The literature is reviewed on comorbidity of criminal offending and ID, and on social cognitive impairment and ID offending. In an exploratory case-control series comprising six violent offenders with ID and five similarly able controls, emotion recognition and social inference are assessed by the Awareness of Social Inference Test and social problem-solving ability and style by an adapted Social Problem-Solving Inventory.

Violent offenders recognised all emotions except “anxious”. Further, while offenders could interpret and integrate wider contextual cues, absent such cues offenders were less able to use paralinguistic cues (e.g. emotional tone) to infer speakers’ feelings. Offenders in this sample exceeded controls’ social problem-solving scores.

This paper confirms that ID offenders, like neurotypical offenders, display specific deficits in emotion recognition – particularly fear recognition – but suggests that in ID offenders impairments of affect perception are not necessarily accompanied by impaired social problem solving. The implication for therapeutic practice is that ID offenders might be most effectively rehabilitated by targeting simpler, low-level cognitive processes, such as fear perception, rather than adapting treatment strategies from mainstream offenders.

In the UK, the mental health treatment requirement (MHTR) order for offenders on probation has been underused. A MHTR service was established to assess the effectiveness of a partnership between a probation service, a link worker charity and an independent mental healthcare provider. Short-term structured cognitive behavioural interventions were delivered by psychology graduates with relevant work experience and training. Training for the judiciary on the MHTR and the new service led to a significant increase in the use of MHTR orders. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

A total of 56 (of 76 MHTR offenders) completed treatment in the first 12 months. A single cohort pre-post follow-up design was used to evaluate change in the following domains: mental health and wellbeing; coping skills; social adjustment; and criminal justice outcomes. Mental health treatment interventions were delivered under supervision by two psychology graduates who had relevant work experience and who were trained in short term, structured, cognitive behavioural (CBT) interventions.

Clinically significant changes were obtained on measures of anxiety and depression, and on measures of social problem solving, emotional regulation and self-efficacy. Ratings of work and social adjustment and pre-post ratings of dynamic criminogenic risk factors also improved. This new initiative has addressed the moral argument for equality of access to mental health services for offenders given a community order.

While the current initiative represents one of a number of models designed to increase the collaboration between the criminal justice and the mental health systems, this is the first within the UK to deliver a therapeutic response at the point of sentencing for offenders with mental health problems. The significant increase in the provision of MHTR community orders in the first year of the project has been associated with a decrease in the number of psychiatric reports requested that are time consuming and do not lead to a rapid treatment.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the effectiveness of a gender-specific group treatment programme for personality disordered (PD) women in a medium secure psychiatric setting.

In all, 56 consecutive admissions with a primary diagnosis of personality disorder (mostly borderline type) and co-morbidity were assessed according to their participation in, and benefit from, a core set of five manualised group treatments that focused on social and interpersonal deficits, instability of mood and problematic substance use. A single cohort pre-test post-test comparison design was used with evaluation based on global change over an amalgam of self-report group specific outcome measures.

In all, 70 per cent of patients attended three or more core groups, with attendance for each group ranging from 85 to 53 per cent. Between 65 and 77 per cent of patients showed a significant improvement on pre-group psychometrics. Patients who achieved a significant positive change in one group tended to do so in others. In all, 85 per cent of patients who completed two or more groups had overall positive direction of change scores. Those who benefited from treatment engaged more quickly, were more likely to have been admitted from hospital, to have previously engaged in therapy and to score lower on measures of impulsivity and personality pathology.

In a clinically representative study the absence of a control group limits the extent to which observed changes can be attributed to described interventions.

Findings reflect the importance of providing a broad clinical approach to changing cognitive behavioural functioning with PD patients in secure settings. They also highlight the need to improve ways of engaging patients at an earlier stage of hospital stay and of increasing the acceptability and uptake of relevant group treatments. Further evidence-informed service developments are needed to meet these challenges.

The study adds to a small literature on the clinical impact of a gender-specific group treatment programme for PD women in secure settings.

Training designs are critical to the success of intercultural training programmes. A common typology for classifying intercultural training designs distinguishes among the following dimensions: experiential discovery versus didactic expository and culture‐specific versus culture‐general training. The purpose of this paper is to assess different intercultural training designs referring to this typology. First, a concept of intercultural competence is developed. Based on this concept experiential training designs are favoured as they allow to train the cognitive, affective and behavioural component of intercultural competencies. In the second part of the paper an empirical study in the USA and Germany is conducted in order to assess whether the degree of intercultural competencies differs between the two nations. As no considerable differences can be identified the benefit of culture‐general training is discussed. Significant skills to be focused on in intercultural training are described and specific measures for pre‐assessment devices in intercultural training are presented.

The purpose of this paper is to report on the Brooklands Thinking Skills Offender Programme (BTSOP), a social problem-solving skills group programme developed and provided to people with intellectual disabilities (IDs) detained in conditions of medium and low security. The programme has been running and evolving since 2001 and has undergone consistent development over this time. Within the past five years, there have been significant developments of the Secure Service Treatment Pathway and the current paper describes the integration of the BTSOP within this new pathway model.

The programme was evaluated over five years using self-report psychometric measures related to treatment targets. Evaluation data in relation to attrition rates, discharges, transfers, treatment engagement and recidivism are also provided from a 16-year period. The updated treatment pathway and a description of the programme are provided.

Results showed statistically significant improvements in Rational Problem Solving, increased internal locus of control and decreased external locus of control. Reflection on the limitations and challenges to outcome assessment in this area is offered.

This paper builds on the existing evidence base of interventions focused on developing social problem-solving skills in offenders and presents evidence of the effectiveness of such programmes with offenders with IDs.

Social cognition is a prominent feature of explanations of crime, particularly violent crime. This paper aims to report a study that compared several aspects of the social cognition of convicted violent and non‐violent offenders.

Measures of social cognition were administered to 156 offenders, classified as violent and non‐violent according to index offence.

Analysis showed few significant differences between the violent and non‐violent offenders, although differences in thinking styles and social problem solving strategies were evident between high‐risk and low‐risk violent offenders.

The differences between high‐risk and lower risk violent offenders suggests that not all violent offenders function at the same level and so more precision is required in classifying offenders.