ABSTRACT
In this chapter we return to the Cognitive Approach to Risk Management (CARM) model and use it as a guide to conducting a functional analytic assessment of problematic behaviours in psychosis and provide a number of useful tools and methodologies for conducting such an assessment. It is not uncommon for staff to make assumptions about the function of a behaviour (e.g. deliberate self-harm being seen as a form of ‘manipulation’) without gathering sufficient information. These assumptions regarding function are often implicit in the way in which behaviours are described and recorded by staff. They may, for instance, record that an individual was being ‘manipulative’ or was just ‘attention seeking’, without a clear operational definition of the behaviour itself. Emerson (2001) has noted that behaviours that appear similar may actually serve markedly different functions. Conversely, those behaviours that look dissimilar may serve quite similar functions. Hence, at the assessment stage it is particularly important to (a) be clear about the behaviours being described and (b) treat them as separate until the setting events, triggers and maintaining factors have been assessed. Function should be derived from an analysis of such factors.
