Cognitive skills programmes for offenders

Abstract

Following the impact of the meta-analyses and ‘What Works’ in offender treatment, cognitive skills programmes for offenders have become widely used in both the community and in custody. This overview is primarily concerned with the issue of effectiveness: do cognitive skills programmes have an effect on reoffending? The extant evidence suggests that there are lower rates of reoffending among offenders who complete cognitive skills programmes. However, there is a debate in the literature as to whether this ‘completion effect’ is a real treatment effect or an artificial side-effect of the use of non-randomised research designs. The ‘research design’ view is considered in detail, leading to the conclusion that it is based on a less than convincing argument and that a pragmatic explanation (which does not exclude a treatment effect) for the completion effect is required.