In conversation with Glenda Liell: Bias in Forensic Assessment - what is the impact of culture and context?
- Legal, criminological and forensic
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Glenda Liell is a Chartered Forensic Psychologist with a wide range of experience in roles across HMPPS and the criminal justice field. This has included working in high-security prisons, regional psychology, headquarters, and probation.
She is currently a Principal Psychologist for Safety in HMPPS and also holds a role as the current Chair of the BPS Committee on Test Standards. She has represented the Division of Forensic Psychology on additional BPS Committees and guest lectures at various Universities.
Glenda has agreed to join the DFP Reflective Space on 26 July at 10am - 12pm, to introduce a conversation on 'Bias in Forensic Assessment - what is the impact of culture and context?'
The first part of the session will cover an introduction to the area based on Glenda's recent co-edited book: Challenging Bias in Forensic Psychological Assessment and Testing: Theoretical and Practical Approaches to Working with Diverse Populations. The second part will be open for reflective discussion between members.
Glenda C. Liell is a Forensic Psychologist with over 25 years' experience in roles across criminal justice including high-security prisons, regional psychology, headquarters, and probation. She is the current Chair of the BPS Committee on Test Standards.
Her recent publication was as lead editor of Challenging Bias in Forensic Psychological Assessment & Testing, is the first book of its kind aimed at improving forensic practice by being aware of and challenging the biases that exist in assessment and testing.
She considers herself to be on the same journey as every other forensic practitioner looking to do more and do better in this space - no matter what the working environment.
Self-reflection is key, and attendees will invited to reflect on how they have been contributing to developments in this space and their own particular learning journey. Attendees will also be asked about what the barriers have been, and what barriers still remain.
The challenges to undertaking 'culturally informed' assessments are being experienced across the globe, and there is an opportunity to learn from some of those efforts such as the use of the Gladeu report process in Canada. Some of the key issues around cultural competence and whether this can be obtained is the subject of ongoing debate and will be discussed also.
With the efforts being made to ensure that clinical interviews and formulations cover a very broad range of issues and concerns - including culture, the extent to which clinical practice could be crossing into the anthropological space is an interesting consideration.
There are likely to be things we can take from approaches used in anthropological work, and a brief introduction to psychological anthropology will be included in this workshop.
Reflective questions you may wish to consider prior to attendance are included below. There will be space to reflect and discuss as part of the event.
- Were you always as attuned to cultural considerations in forensic practice as we all recognise we need to be?
- How have you been reflecting on your past practice, and what do you wish you had done or thought about differently?
- What positive steps have you taken and/or encouraged others to take in more recent times?
- Do you have a clear sense of what you think you need to do to develop your practice further – be it to challenge your biases or develop more cultural understanding?
- Are there any changes needed in your workplace which would make this easier?