Criminal Justice

Denzel Washington plays veteran L.A.P.D. Det. Sgt. Alonzo Harris. For thirteen years this highly decorated cop has been on the front lines in the war against narcotics. He's pledged to protect and serve the citizens of Los Angeles, but his optimism about police work has long since been chipped away by the reality of life on the streets. He and the tight-knit group of officers that report to him have crossed the line between legality and corruption. They find themselves breaking the laws they're supposed to enforce. Alonzo's ethics and his logic are in complete opposition to the "book" which most cops must follow. "It takes a thief to catch a thief,"

Hoyt is a young naive cop that is given twenty-four hours to train with Harris. Before the day is done, the young cop is asked to take drugs, accept drug money as a payoff, invent evidence, and even commit murder. Before he knows it, he's in so deep that there seems to be no way out. As Alonzo tells him "There is no justice, no law. It all boils down to what you can and cannot prove."

Alonzo's abusiveness and carelessness become a problem and the Police Chief orders him to see a Psychologist concerning his behavior.

During the first visit, the police department provided a copy of his personal information file, which reveals the typical schemata of a person with an antisocial personality disorder.

He lacked a superego; he has little remorse for his abusive, impulse-driven and dangerous behavior. He also saw himself as almost being superior and smarter than everyone else; by planning the training day with Hoyt, he believed this made him superior. He hid behind his Los Angeles Police Department badge and broke the laws that he was supposed to enforce. Individuals with Anti-Social disorder think that when they are caught committing the crime--their problem is getting caught not committing the crime. The goal for the future is to become a better criminal, rather than obeying the law.

Throughout the movie his thought processes would include some of the following:

1. Rules are meant for others

2. Only fools follow all the rules

3. Rules are meant to be broken

4. Look out for #1

5. My pleasure comes first

6. If others are hurt, offended, or inconvenienced by my behavior, that is their problem

7. Do it NOW! I will not allow myself to be frustrated

8. I will do whatever I must to get whatever I want

9. I'm really smarter than most everybody else

TREATMENT:

My focus is to build on his pro-social skills in essence, creating or strengthen his superego. Because of his "no one tells me what to do" attitude I must remember to be gentle but firm and not accept his aggressive personality. Alonzo will need to accept his responsibility for his action and outcomes. By helping his accept responsibility will challenge his cognitive distortions. Our goal is to also help him realize the dysfunctional nature of his actions. He will then hopefully begin to realize or see how his behavior, according to him are viewed as clever and complex, but in reality are transparent and childlike.

RESISTANCES:

The initial goal of therapy is the assessment of the problems and to select the appropriate treatment plan, with Alonzo there is a very high level of resistance. He became extremely anxious when his persona was threatened. The difficulty he had in changing was that he did not see his behavior as a mask but as the only way to behave. I also have to take into account his involuntary status, he will have the feeling of being coerced into the helping process by a third party, his employer. I will continue to work on the patient and helper relationship by incorporating or focusing more so on the invitational and reflecting skills.

THEORETIC ORIENTATION:

The Psychoanalytic theory will best fit this scenario (of course with the permission of the client) because of the two therapeutic goals:

1. To make the