If you have identified a case who you think may suffer with personality disorder, the issue of when to request further specialist support requires a degree of professional judgment. Although by far the majority of cases are undiagnosed, the prevalence of personality disorder among offender groups is very high. It is likely that 30-50% of your caseload may meet the criteria for one or more personality disorders. Many of these individuals will be primarily antisocial, may be largely unremarkable and may not require specialist intervention or support. DO NOT worry too much about a formal diagnosis.
When trying to decide when to seek further support, the following suggestions may be of assistance.
When to consider requesting specialist support
Ask yourself…
This is more likely to be the case when…
Read on to subsequent chapters to give you ideas about sentence planning and risk management.