Job Specification

Purpose of Position :

To provide psychological services to a correctional facility, under the direction of the Coordinator of Psychological Services.

Duties / Responsibilities :

As part of the Psychology Department, in a very large maximum security correctional center with 1,250 remanded and sentenced male and female offenders, under the direction of the Coordinator of Psychological Services, the incumbent:

1. Performs clinical duties for the institution including: planning, conducting and/or supervising therapies and rehabilitative assessments, including personality, neuropsychological diagnosis, differential diagnosis; interviewing offenders, crisis intervention, conducting individual and group therapy/counselling sessions; administering, evaluating and interpreting a range of psychological tests; monitoring treatment programs and revising programs when appropriate; and preparing psychological reports of offenders for file, Ministry treatment programs, or as required by the Ontario Parole and Early Release Board and courts.

2. Facilitates offender psychological rehabilitation by providing consultation and education to those involved in rehabilitation programs and reintegration of offenders into the community, e.g., social/health agencies; liaises with community providers to facilitate offender post-sentence treatment referrals to other professionals/agencies.

3. Provides consultation and advice to members of institutional management team re dangerousness of offender, susceptibility for self-harm, potential danger to staff or other offenders, recommending approaches to other treatment professionals; contributes to evaluation of overall program effectiveness for planning purposes; assesses suicidal offenders regarding their needs and the duration of the suicide watch; downgrades or terminates suicide watch.

4. Organizes and conducts research and program evaluation projects, which contribute to treatment methods or enhancements in psychological knowledge and programs, provides research advice and guidance to management and professional staff regarding the investigation of clinical problems.

Staffing and Licensing :

Registration as a Psychologist in the Province of Ontario.

Knowledge :

Job requires knowledge of science and practices of psychology, including a full range of psychotherapeutic and assessment techniques, to plan, conduct and co-ordinate psychological services, apply complex treatment techniques, and provide consultation and advice on diagnosis and treatment of offenders. Job requires knowledge of forensic psychological theories, practices and procedures used in a correctional setting. Job requires knowledge of institutional policies and procedures, and provincial/federal statutes relating to the practice of psychology. Job requires knowledge of program evaluation techniques in order to evaluate program effectiveness, e.g., effectiveness of specific treatment programs, which impact the formulation of management treatment objectives of the facility, and to report observations to manager that may affect offender program activities. Job requires knowledge of community resources/services and related regulations to make appropriate referrals, and advocate offender assessment, treatment, rehabilitation and integration into the community. Job requires oral and written communication skills to communicate information regarding assessment approaches/findings and treatment/rehabilitative activities to supervising psychologist, health care professionals in other disciplines, community agencies, offenders, their families and advocates, and to express technical information in layman terms to offenders. Job requires use of specialized technical terminology and skills in expressing complex findings and ideas in clear terms when communicating with Ministry staff at institutional training sessions. Job requires discretion and sensitivity regarding the discussion of diagnosis, treatment and progress with the offenders, and in dealing with the families to obtain information. Job requires persuasion skills to have offenders accept treatment and encouraging offender acceptance of psychological services in the community. Job requires interpersonal skills to maintain strong working relationships with multi-disciplinary staff and staff of the community agencies.

Skills :

Job requires analytical skills to determine most appropriate diagnostic approaches from a range of alternatives depending on offender history and current indicators; to provide diagnostic assessments based on the interpretation of tests, interviews and other methods; to formulate treatment and rehabilitation programs usually in a multidisciplinary setting, which are best suited to enhancing the well-being of the offender and make optimum use of other available resources/services, and in recommending approaches to offender care; to evaluate the efficiency of treatment and rehabilitative activities or programs, e.g., service delivery problems or lack of offender progress, and to identify effective solutions.

Freedom of Action :

Job requires working in accordance with ministry/institution policies/guidelines/operational plans and the professional standards governing the practice of psychology. Job requires carrying out clinical responsibilities in collaboration with multi-disciplinary treatment staff. Job requires planning, conducting and overseeing the psychological diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitative approaches which best serve the needs of assigned offenders, within the multidisciplinary team in consultation with the Coordinator of Psychological Services, and within institutional policies and procedures. Job requires referring unusual problems to Coordinator of Psychological Services.