Good Lives Model
Good Lives Model
In conjunction with the full assessment and I.C.O.N. document, Apple Orchard uses the Good Lives Model (GLM) in order to help structure the young person’s therapeutic aims. For further information on GLM please visit www.goodlivesmodel.com from which the following was taken.
The GLM is grounded in the ethical concept of human dignity (see Ward and Syversen, 2009) and universal human rights, and as such it has a strong emphasis on human agency. That is, the GLM is concerned with individuals’ ability to formulate and select goals, construct plans, and to act freely in the implementation of these plans. A closely related assumption is the basic premise that offenders, like all humans, value certain states of mind, personal characteristics, and experiences, which are defined in the GLM as primary goods. Following an extensive review of psychological, social, biological, and anthropological research, Ward and colleagues (e.g., Ward and Brown 2004; Ward and Marshall 2004) first proposed nine classes of primary goods. Empirical research performed by Purvis in 2006 (published in 2010) tested these aetiological assumptions and actually found that relatedness and community required separation, as did excellence in play and excellence in work, thus producing eleven classes of primary goods.
These are now defined as:
- Life (including healthy living and functioning)
- Knowledge (how well informed one feels about things that are important to them)
- Excellence in play (hobbies and recreational pursuits)
- Excellence in work (including mastery experiences)
- Excellence in agency (autonomy and self-directedness)
- Inner peace (freedom from emotional turmoil and stress)
- Relatedness (including intimate, romantic, and familial relationships)
- Community (connection to wider social groups)
- Spirituality (in the broad sense of finding meaning and purpose in life)
- Pleasure (the state of happiness or feeling good in the here and now)
- Creativity (expressing oneself through alternative forms)
Recent empirical research which tested the original aetiological assumptions of the GLM provided comprehensive support for the model’s aetiological underpinnings (see Purvis, 2006; 2010). In testing these assumptions, this research also found that there are actually two primary routes that lead to the onset of offending: direct and indirect. The direct pathway is implicated when an offender actively attempts (often implicitly) to satisfy primary goods through his or her offending behaviour. For example, an individual lacking the competencies to satisfy the good of intimacy with an adult might instead attempt to meet this good through sexual offending against a child. The indirect pathway is implicated when, through the pursuit of one or more goods, something goes awry which creates a ripple or cascading effect leading to the commission of a criminal offence. For example, conflict between the goods of intimacy and autonomy might lead to the break-up of a relationship, and subsequent feelings of loneliness and distress. Maladaptive coping strategies such as the use of alcohol to alleviate distress might, in specific circumstances, lead to a loss of control and culminate in sexual offending (Ward, Mann et al., 2007).
The home is child focussed and focussing on the positives, targets are individual. The staff provide a clear understanding of the service and build young people’s confidence.
Independent Reviewing Officer