Formalizing Clinical Decisions in Individual Treatments: Some First Steps

• NCJ Number: 232046
• Journal: Journal of Forensic Psychology Practice Volume: 10 Issue: 4 Dated: July - September 2010 Pages: 285-299
• Author(s): Marinus Spreen, Ph.D.; Marieke E. Timmerman, Ph.D.; Paul Ter Horst; Erwin Schuringa
• Date Published: July 2010
• Length: 15 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article examines the role of observational data to evaluate the treatment of a single patient in a forensic intramural setting.

Abstract

A fundamental problem in forensic psychology practice is the lack of formal statistical methods to support team decisions about an individual patient's progress during intramural treatment. It is common practice to base decisions about the progress of a treatment on subjective clinical impressions of therapists. In this article, an approach is proposed that can be seen as a contribution to bridge the gap between formal statistical decisionmaking and subjective clinical decisionmaking. To formalize decisions in individual treatments, the authors have elaborated a statistical decision technique based on degrees of belief. In this article, this so-called N = 1 analysis is explained and illustrated by a hypothetical case. Tables, figure, and references (Published Abstract)