Overview

This unit aims to provide students with an understanding of how forensic systems impact on clients with personality disorder and vice versa. The unit will enable students to examine the types of assumptions, beliefs and motivations commonly present in people with difficult personalities, and will expand the repertoire of strategic responses that students can use to deal effectively with people with personality disorder.

Requisites

Teaching periods
Location
Start and end dates
Last self-enrolment date
Census date
Last withdraw without fail date
Results released date
Semester 1
Location
Hawthorn
Start and end dates
03-March-2025
01-June-2025
Last self-enrolment date
16-March-2025
Census date
31-March-2025
Last withdraw without fail date
24-April-2025
Results released date
08-July-2025

Learning outcomes

Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:

  • Critically evaluate concepts central to personality and the types of features that make some personalities difficult
  • Apply advanced knowledge of how difficult personalities can contribute to offending
  • Analyse how difficult personalities impact on the forensic system, and reflect on their own interaction with personality disordered clients
  • Select appropriate interventions and management strategies for people with different personality disorders in the forensic context

Teaching methods

Hawthorn Online

Type Hours per week Number of weeks Total (number of hours)
Face to Face Contact (Phasing out)
Workshop		12.00 1 week 12
Online
Directed Online Learning and Independent Learning		11.50 12 weeks 138
TOTAL150

Assessment

Type Task Weighting ULO's
AssessmentIndividual 35% 3,4 
Case ReviewIndividual 25% 1,2,3,4 
Case ReviewIndividual 40% 1,2,3,4 

Content

  • What is personality
  • Grandiose, entitled and hostile personalities in the forensic context
  • Erratic, angry and self-harming personalities in the forensic context
  • Paranoid personalities in the forensic context
  • Antisocial and psychopathic personalities in the forensic context

Study resources

Reading materials

A list of reading materials and/or required textbooks will be available in the Unit Outline on Canvas.