You are right to think carefully about your clients and which tools are appropriate for whom. This is a place where your professional judgement and knowledge about your clients is so important, because the answer is, it depends.
Here's our guidance around using the Driver Workbook with some populations who have specific needs:
- People convicted of domestic violence or who have sexually harmed: Use the Driver Workbook with these populations as long as the harmful behavior has been addressed with treatment or programming and you have professional alliance, or rapport, with the person. Do not use the Driver Workbook with people who might use it to reinforce and justify their behavior. For example, for people convicted of domestic violence, some of the questions—especially around family/marital and attitude/orientation—can provoke a strong reaction about how they were actually the victim. The exercise can “amp them up” and create a situation where they vehemently reinforce their beliefs about how they were justified in their actions. If you think that might be the case, do not use the Driver Workbook with them.
- People with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities: Use the Driver Workbook with them if they are able to reason and link together events. Being able to see a pattern of behavior is key to understanding the driver. If, however, people’s reasoning processes are limited, they may not be able to recognize their pattern of behavior, so completing the workbook will have little benefit. Instead, consider what you can work on with the person that will help them change their behavior. When you do work on the Driver Workbook with people who have intellectual and/or developmental disabilities, take it slow, and process the workbook over several interactions.
- People with severe emotional disturbance: The priority with people with severe emotional disturbance is to ensure they are stabilized, with proper mental health treatment and medication. Help them build coping skills and deal with their presenting issue. Once they are stabilized, you can complete the Driver Workbook with them. There will be value in helping them to understand their pattern of behavior and to develop skills that will curb that behavior.
In terms of using the Driver Workbook with other populations who have specific needs, such as members of a gang who are considered high risk, again, use your judgment. Many staff tell us that their experience with the Driver Workbook is that it helps people see patterns that were previously unapparent. In other words, the experience evokes self-reflection. We believe that this in large part has to do with the professional alliance between the staff member and the person, and of course to some degree, the willingness of the person to engage. But not everyone is ready for self-reflection. For those who aren’t, we run the risk of closing doors rather than opening them. In the most extreme cases, as noted above, it would be possible to reinforce negative thoughts and beliefs. Be prepared to switch to a different kind of work if you receive indication that the Driver Workbook will not be helpful with a particular person.