ABSTRACT
This chapter begins by outlining some key ideas with an account in the 'Gulliver's Travels' tradition before moving on to considering implications for understanding psychological problems, offending and change. It presents a detailed case study illustrating an application of repertory grid technique with a violent sex offender. There are several excellent accounts of personal construct theory (PCT) and its clinical applications, including in work with offenders. A noteworthy way in which case formulation regarding offences can be enhanced is by employing a version of the PCT technique of 'laddering'. Practitioners of PCT psychotherapy will have initial professional qualifications as psychologists, psychotherapists, psychiatrists or similar. Research into outcomes of PCT-based psychotherapy comes largely from single case studies or small groups. The chapter concludes with a brief overview of research on PCT's effectiveness in other contexts and some words on its potential for providing an integrative perspective on processes within more familiar approaches.
