The aetiological component of a rehabilitation theory flows logically from a theory’s basic assumptions, is general in nature, and functions to give correctional workers a cognitive map or general overview of the broad causes of anti-social behaviour.
According to the GLM, goals are usefully construed as primary human goods translated into more concrete forms, and as such are typically the objects of intentions and actions. Goals are the ultimate and intermediate ends of any actions and collectively give shape to people’s lives insofar as they create a structure of daily activities that represent what is of fundamental importance to them. In terms of practical identities, goals are typically thematically linked to concrete identities and the various roles and tasks they imply (Andrews, et al., 2010). For example, a person has responsibility for the assessment and treatment of psychological disorders. Each of these domains of professional practice is linked to actions, guided by particular goals, such as conducting an interview competently, interpreting psychological tests,
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or assisting an individual to overcome his or her fears of intimacy (Korsgaard, 2009). Alternatively, the practical identity of being someone’s romantic partner generates a variety of tasks such as providing emotional support, spending time together, and maintaining a household. In other words, goals are typically clustered together under specific descriptions; these descriptions are ultimately anchored in practical identities (Korsgaard, 2009).
According to the GLM, there may be a number of distinct problems within the various domains of human functioning that can result in offending behaviour: emotional regulation difficulties, social difficulties, offence supportive beliefs, empathy problems, and problem-solving deficits (Andrews et al., 2010). Yet, such individuals’ general underlying personal motivations/goals are rarely inherently bad. Instead, it is the means used to achieve these goods that are deviant. The value of this understanding is that it helps to focus clinical attention on primary goods, the ultimate underlying motivating factors, and away from an exclusive focus on the psychosocial difficulties with which individual clients are struggling. That is, there are likely to be distortions in the internal and external conditions required to achieve the primary goods in socially acceptable and personally satisfying ways.
The GLM guided analysis goes beyond deficit-based etiological theories (theories that focus on what individuals lack) by encouraging clinicians to think clearly about just what it is that the person is seeking when committing the offence (Andrews, et al., 2010). This information has direct treatment implications and can provide a powerful way of motivating individuals to engage in therapy; the aim is to help them to secure human goods that are important to them but to do so in ways that are socially acceptable and also more personally satisfying. The latter point is especially important, as most of the causal factors involve self-defeating attempts to seek personally valued goals and consequences. The GLM can explain why this is so and provide a clear understanding of where the problems reside in an individual’s life plan.
From the perspective of the GLM there are two routes to the onset of offending, each reflecting individuals’ agency: direct and indirect (Ward & Gannon, 2006; Ward & Maruna, 2007). The direct pathway is implicated when offending is a primary focus of the cluster of goals and strategies associated with an individual’s life plan. This means that the individual intentionally seeks certain types of goods directly through criminal activity. For example, an individual may lack the relevant competencies and understanding to obtain the good of intimacy with an adult, and furthermore may live in an environment where there are few realistic opportunities for
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establishing such relationships (Ward & Gannon, 2006; Ward & Maruna, 2007). Thus, the actions constituting offending are a means to the achievement of a fundamental good.
The indirect route to offending occurs when the pursuit of a good or set of goods creates a ripple effect on the person’s personal circumstances and these unanticipated effects increase the pressure to offend. For example, conflict between the goods of relatedness and autonomy might cause the break-up of a valued relationship and subsequent feelings of loneliness and distress (Andrews & Bonta, 2010). The use of alcohol to alleviate the emotional turmoil could lead to loss of control in specific circumstances and this might increase the risk of offending. These indirect or ripple effects are particularly evident when two practical identities a person is invested in conflict and cause him or her uncertainty about how best to act. An example of this conflict of identities is when an offender values both his roles as a worker and as a husband (Andrews, et al., 2010). The two identities can on occasions clash and in some circumstances, the pressure to work longer hours in order to get a job done might interfere with his responsibilities as a partner.
First, an individual who has problems with the means he or she uses to secure goods may be using inappropriate strategies to achieve the necessary primary goods needed for a good life. Second, an individual’s life plan might also suffer from a lack of scope with a number of important goods left out of his or her plan for living. Third, some people may also have conflict (and a lack of coherence) among the goods being sought and their associated practical identities and therefore experience acute psychological stress and unhappiness (Emmons, 1999). Fourth, a final problem is when a person lacks the capabilities (knowledge, or skills) to form or effectively implement a life plan in the environment in which he or she lives or to adjust his or her goals to changing circumstances (for example impulsive decision-making). The problem of capability deficits has both internal and external dimensions. The internal dimension refers to factors such as skill deficits while external dimension points to a lack of environmental opportunities, resources and supports.
The aetiological commitments of the GLM are general in form and stem from a view of human beings as creatures capable of reflective agency, usually acting under the conceptual constraints of a range of practical identities. That is, one proposes that human beings are goal-seeking, culturally embedded animals who utilise a range of strategies to secure important goods from their environments when occupying personally valued social or cultural roles (partners, workers, citizens, playmates, artists, helpers and so on). When the internal or external
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conditions necessary to achieve valued outcomes associated with practical identities are incomplete or absent, individuals tend to become frustrated and may engage in anti-social behaviour (Andrews, et al., 2010). The etiological commitments serve to orient correctional workers and require supplementation from specific theories to supply more fine-grained explanations of anti-social behaviour and particular types of offences.