Offender Program Research Articles

Problems of Implementing Offender Programs in the Community

ABSTRACT Rehabilitation of offenders is, at present, an important focus among many correctional departments. A substantial body of international research literature now exists to guide the design and development of new programs that aim to reduce re-offending. However, successful implementation of these programs has been challenging for many correctional authorities. Drawing on the experience of a community correctional agency in Australia, this paper identifies and examines a number of barriers to successful delivery of community-based offender rehabilitation programs and services. The findings suggest that basing interventions on scientific knowledge about “what works” in offender rehabilitation is necessary but not sufficient for effective programs and services. More careful attention needs to be paid to how correctional authorities can take this research and implement it in practice.

A Preliminary Evaluation of Behavioral Outcomes in a Corrections-Based Victim Awareness Program for Offenders

This article follows up on an earlier study that found significant improvements in three of four knowledge and sensitivity factors measured in offenders who participated in an impact of crime on victims “victim awareness” program. The current study investigated behavioral outcomes in a similar study population, namely disciplinary infractions that occurred while participants continued their incarceration. Findings indicated that African American adult males in the treatment group exhibited significantly fewer A-level (most serious) disciplinary problems than did their comparison group counterparts, while all other subgroup comparisons did not yield such significant differences. This result, although limited to one subgroup, remains both interesting and useful given that African American males are typically overrepresented in correctional populations and given the seriousness of the offenses at issue here. Reducing the frequency of serious infractions, and therefore these additional victimizations, is critical to the safety of both inmates and correctional officers.

Why are programmes for offenders with personality disorder not informed by the relevant scientific findings?

This paper examines the evidence to justify intervening in those with personality disorder, specifically antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV, American Psychiatric Association 1994). The evidence from randomized controlled trials in the mental health literature is reviewed and found to be deficient with only five trials satisfying Cochrane criteria, all of which had a reduction in substance misuse as their primary outcome, rather than a change in the personality disorder per se.Next, I consider the contribution of Thomas Kuhn to explain why it is difficult to develop a scientific basis in forensic mental health. I argue that, because forensic mental health is inclusive in its purpose (interacting with the law, social services and the penal system, all of which have different rules and agendas), it is difficult to develop a consensus on fundamentals, this consensus being a hallmark of a science.Finally, I argue that despite the absence of evidence from mental health, providers for ASPD are in a fortunate position in being able to draw upon the correctional literature. This is relevant, provided that we agree that a reduction in offending is the primary outcome. While mental health can learn much from correctional practice, it can also enhance the efficacy of the latter by, for instance, drawing attention to the specific vulnerabilities of the personality structure that might impede programme delivery in correctional settings. Means of achieving a conjunction of mental health and correctional practice are urgently required as this would be beneficial to both.

Juvenile sex offenders in the United States and Australia: A comparison

This article provides a comparative analysis of juvenile sex offenders in the USA and Australia. Juvenile sex offenders are shown to have common characteristics that include prior childhood abuse, experiences with sibling incest, possession of specific psychological dysfunctions, and dysfunctional familial backgrounds. These characteristics are common to juvenile sex offenders in both countries, pointing to the likelihood of universal typological determinations. Further, treatment programs for juvenile sex offenders in both countries are shown to be similar in structure, orientation and overall effectiveness. From the compiled research in both countries, it is shown that early childhood factors as well as post-offense interventions have similarities that support the notion that juvenile sex offenders have a universal basis in etiology and recidivism.

Men’s Use of Controlling Behaviors: A Comparison of Reports by Women in a Domestic Violence Shelter and Women in a Domestic Violence Offender Program

The current descriptive study seeks to broaden empirical understanding about family violence by comparing women’s reports of their male partner’s controlling behaviors in samples of women in a domestic violence offender’s program (N = 77) and women in a domestic violence shelter (N = 77). Three interesting findings were noted. First, the majority of women in the IPV offender’s program reported their male partner committed some frequency of physical abuse (84.4%), emotional abuse (85.6%) and/or overall controlling behaviors (96.4%). However, the majority of the women in the IPV offender’s program reported the frequency of these behaviors occurred “rarely” (53.2%, 36.4%, and 55.8% respectively). Second, the partners of women charged with intimate partner violence are significantly less violent and controlling than the partners of women seeking refuge in the shelter. Finally, it appears that women IPV offenders report experiencing three distinct categories of partner initiated violent and controlling experiences. Practical, theoretical, and research implications are addressed.

A combined drama‐based and CBT approach to working with self‐reported anger aggression

A drama-based programme, called 'Insult to Injury', was designed to explore the processes of anger, aggression and violence. The aim of the programme was to enable offenders to identify and generate strategies and skills for dealing with potentially volatile situations, and to provide a safe and supportive environment in which to practice and evaluate these strategies. AIMS An active drama-based approach combined with cognitive-behavioural techniques was used to explore issues such as masculinity, power and control, pride and shame and victim awareness. Reductions in anger were hypothesized. METHOD A single group pre/post design assessed the levels of anger before and after the course. RESULTS Sixty-two adult male offenders from six prison establishments in the UK took part in the nine-day course. As hypothesised, significant reductions in anger were found in pre- to post-course assessment. These results suggest that a drama-based approach may be a promising adjunct to traditional anger management programmes for violent offenders.

The Rockwood Preparatory Program for Sexual Offenders

This article describes the Rockwood Preparatory Program for sexual offenders. This program operates in the Millhaven induction center of the Correctional Service of Canada. Clients remain in the program for 6 to 8 weeks, depending on when they are placed in their home prison, where they will receive a full treatment program. The preparatory program takes a motivational approach, integrating several theoretical views and employing the therapeutic approaches that have been shown to maximize effectiveness with sexual offenders. The content and approach of the program are described and the observed benefits are outlined.

Cognitive Skills Behavior Programs for Offenders in the Community

This study presents the findings of an evaluation of the effect on reconviction of three general offending behavior programs involving adult male offenders in the English and Welsh Probation Service. Using a quasi-experimental design controlling for population factors, there was no difference in the reconviction rates of offenders allocated to programs and a comparison group. Offenders who completed a program had a lower rate of reconviction compared to the nonstarter, noncompleter, and comparison groups. A range of explanations for this “completion effect” is discussed, particularly with regard to the emerging literature on readiness to change.

Linking Violent Thinking

Violent offenders often articulate offense-supportive cognitions during rehabilitation, yet these statements have received little theoretical attention, and intervention approaches have targeted each type of statement individually, as if they were unrelated. An implicit theory approach to cognitions has proved fruitful for research and intervention. The authors apply it to violent offenders. The first study presents a grounded theory investigation of offense-supportive cognition in prisoners attending an intensive rehabilitation program for violent offenders. Analysis of offense transcripts enabled the identification of several implicit theories. These results were refined with a second sample and trialed in the rehabilitation program. Findings suggest that several implicit theories held by violent offenders are linked to each other through the widespread normalization of violence. Few offenders experienced their violent behavior as abnormal, or completely outside of their control, once initiated. The authors make suggestions for enhancing the empirical status of this research domain, particularly through experimental investigations.

“Getting Gut-Level”

Using ethnographic data gathered at a mandated, community-based drug treatment program for women offenders, this article analyzes how gendered notions of the self and of autonomy shape penal governance. This study examines how psychological models of women's deviance, racialized visions of motherhood, and therapeutic techniques of the self come into tension with expectations of responsible, autonomous citizenship. The program prioritized therapeutic ways of governing its clients over those that emphasized economic self-reliance, rational decision making, and normalizing gender. This is because staff attributed criminal and addictive behaviors to women's inadequate self-understanding and lack of emotional autonomy in personal relations. Staff discouraged women's motherhood and paid labor because they saw these external obligations as a threat to women's autonomous selfhood. This research complicates claims that contemporary forms of penal treatment manage offenders through rational incentives and personal responsibility by pointing to the ways that subject formation is a gendered process.

Handbook of Forensic Mental Health With Victims and Offenders: Assessment, Treatment, and Research

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Book ReviewFull AccessHandbook of Forensic Mental Health With Victims and Offenders: Assessment, Treatment, and ResearchAimee Kaempf M.D.Debra A. Pinals M.D.Aimee Kaempf M.D.Search for more papers by this authorDebra A. Pinals M.D.Search for more papers by this authorPublished Online:1 Feb 2008https://doi.org/10.1176/ps.2008.59.2.213aAboutSectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail Forensic social work is a relatively new construct, though the presence of social workers in courtroom settings, defense- and prosecution-based attorney practices, and forensic mental health settings has become increasingly common over the past decade. Putting a treatise together that reflects the wide-ranging involvement of social workers in the field presents some challenges. Handbook of Forensic Mental Health With Victims and Offenders is a recent addition to the Springer Series on Social Work that attempts to cover the necessary groundwork. By collecting 25 thoughtful chapters, the editors strive to provide social workers with a comprehensive, research-based guide to delivering mental health services within the context of the legal system. In the first chapter, the editors introduce the reader to some of the challenges, controversies, and emerging trends in present-day forensic social work. They highlight the fact that most academic curricula do not offer forensic-specific social work training, despite social work's growing relevance within the justice system. The editors set out to narrow this discrepancy between formal education and real-world practice.The ensuing four chapters deal with risk assessment, expert testimony, mitigation, and the treatment of batterers. Although several of these chapters focus specifically on child welfare and domestic violence cases, the data provided can be applied to an array of forensic practices. For example, in chapter 4, "Forensic Social Work and Expert Witness Testimony in Child Welfare," the author reviews differences between expert and fact witnesses, qualifications required to be admitted as an expert, report writing techniques, guidelines for what to expect in the courtroom, and all information integral to effective testimony, regardless of the nature of the case. Because of its general utility and practical guidance, this chapter is one of the strengths of the book.The next nine chapters center around juvenile justice and include in-depth discussions of treatment of youths with dual diagnoses, juvenile psychopathy, racial disparities in the juvenile justice system, and substance abuse treatment. The subsequent five chapters bring attention to forensic programs for adult offenders and offer well-thought-out discourses on drug courts, mental health services in jails, treatment of HIV-infected incarcerated women, trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder among inmates, and recidivism prevention. The final four chapters provide stimulating dialogues on restorative justice and victim-offender mediation.Though the chapters are sometimes uneven in their coverage of particular topics, several elements of the book stand out as strong points. First, the text contains excellent, up-to-date, thorough literature reviews and is well referenced. Next, many of the chapters are followed by lists of relevant resources for practitioners that include useful Web sites and telephone numbers. Third, a number of the chapters thoughtfully consider cultural and gender issues as they pertain to forensic social work. Last, and perhaps most noteworthy, evidence-based practice is stressed throughout the text, encouraging the reader to seek out and evaluate empirical data and apply it to his or her own professional work.The use of the word "handbook" in the title is misleading. This is not a quick, "how-to" introductory reference manual for basic forensic mental health or forensic social work practice. Rather, this is an advanced, comprehensive, and analytical compilation designed to provide social workers with a body of knowledge for evidence-based, culturally competent, multidisciplinary practice in real-world settings.The editors note in the introduction that surprisingly few accredited social work programs offer specialized forensic education. This lack of formal training is bewildering given the current frequency in which social workers play vital and well-suited roles in delivering forensic mental health services. Thus far, few books have set out to tackle practical and ethical nuances for social workers who provide health and human services in the legal arena. One might initially hesitate at the cost of this book. However, Handbook of Forensic Mental Health With Victims and Offenders is a worthwhile investment. It serves as an essential, timely resource for trainees and seasoned professionals practicing in the rapidly developing field of forensic social work. Dr. Kaempf is a forensic psychiatry fellow and Dr. Pinals is the codirector of the Law and Psychiatry Program at the Department of Psychiatry, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester. FiguresReferencesCited byDetailsCited byNone Volume 59Issue 2 February, 2008Pages 213-214PSYCHIATRIC SERVICES February 2008 Volume 59 Number 2 Metrics PDF download History Published online 1 February 2008 Published in print 1 February 2008

Symptoms of Trauma, Perceptions of Discrimination, and Anger

Although the need for the development and provision of culturally appropriate rehabilitation programs for offenders is widely acknowledged, there is a lack of empirical data that can be used as a basis for the development of new programs. This article reports the findings of a comparison of indigenous and nonindigenous male prisoners on a range of measures relevant to the experience of anger by indigenous prisoners in Australia. The results suggest that indigenous participants are more likely to experience symptoms of early trauma, have greater difficulties identifying and describing feelings, and perceive higher levels of discrimination than nonindigenous prisoners. The implications of this work for the development of culturally appropriate and effective anger management programs for indigenous male prisoners are discussed.

Rape Myth Acceptance in Men Who Completed the Prostitution Offender Program of British Columbia

In an effort to characterize the attitudes and characteristics of men who solicit sex, this study investigated rape myth acceptance as assessed by a modification of Burt's Rape Myth Acceptance Scale. The participants were all men who took part in the Prostitution Offender Program of British Columbia after being arrested for attempting to solicit sex from an undercover police officer. Relationships between endorsement of rape myths, other attitudes, sexual behavior, and demographic variables were examined. Results reveal that age, education, use of pornography, ideal frequency of intercourse, and believing that purchasing sex is a problem are all negatively correlated with rape myth acceptance. Positive correlations were found between rape myth acceptance and sexual conservatism, sexual violence/coercion, and social desirability. Results are discussed in terms of the association between rape myth acceptance and the violence frequently perpetrated against those working in the sex trade.

Treatment Fidelity in Sex Offender Programming: Assessing Delivery across Community Providers*

In an effort to focus on treatment fidelity in the sex offender field, this study evaluated the treatment delivery of ten clinicians who provided treatment to sex offenders under community supervision. Data collection and analysis involved a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. Results revealed that treatment providers varied in their use of empirically-supported treatment techniques, their participation in the community containment approach, and their adherence to the treatment contract. These findings provide support for the continued study of treatment fidelity in the corrections literature. Implications and future directions are discussed.

Court‐Mandated Interventions for Individuals Convicted of Domestic Violence

This Campbell systematic review examined the effect of ordering violent partners to undergo treatment. The researchers summarized the best studies in this area and analyzed whether court‐mandated treatments prevent repeated assaults.The conclusion is that the current evidence raises doubts about effectiveness of court‐mandated treatment in reducing the probability of repeated domestic violence. Existing research can therefore not guarantee that court‐mandated treatments actually do more good than harm. The review emphasizes that even though there is an acute need for methods to stop and prevent repeated violence, forcing the violent offender to undergo treatment might not result in positive effects.All studies conducted between 1986 and 2003 that examine the effect of court mandated treatments were searched for in the review. The researchers' conclusions are based on ten studies that were assessed to be of sufficient high quality. The studies are all carried out in the USA and include a total of 3,614 participants.AbstractBackground:Survey research and analysis of police records, hospital emergency rooms and women's shelters have clearly established the severity of the domestic violence problem and the need to find programs to address this issue. Today, court‐mandated batterer intervention programs (BIPs) are being implemented throughout the United States as one of the leading methods to address this problem. These programs emerged from the women's shelter movement and therefore contained a strong feminist orientation. They developed as group‐based programs, typically using psychoeductional methods. Their aim was to get men to take responsibility for their sexist beliefs and stop abusing their partners by teaching them alternative responses for handling their anger.Objectives:The aim of this systematic review is to assess the effects of post‐arrest court‐mandated interventions (including pre‐trial diversion programs) for domestic violence offenders that target, in part or exclusively, batterers with the aim of reducing their future likelihood of re‐assaulting above and beyond what would have been expected by routine legal procedures.Search Strategies:We searched numerous computerized databases and websites, bibliographies of published reviews of related literature and scrutiny of annotated bibliographies of related literature. Our goal was to identify all published and unpublished literature that met our selection criteria.Selection Criteria:We included experimental or rigorous quasi‐experimental evaluations of court‐mandated batterer intervention programs that measured official or victim reports of future domestic violent behavior. Rigorous quasi‐experimental designs were defined as those that either used matching or statistical controls to improve the comparability of the groups. Given their importance in the literature, we also included rigorous quasi‐experimental designs that used a treatment drop‐out comparison.Data Collection and Analysis:We coded characteristics of the treatment, sample, outcomes, and research methods. Findings were extracted in the form of an effect size and effect sizes were analyzed using the inverse‐variance method. Official report and victim report outcomes were analyzed separately as were the different design types (i.e., random, quasi‐experimental with a no treatment comparison, and quasi‐experimental with a treatment dropout comparison).Main Results:The mean effect for official reports of domestic violence from experimental studies showed modest benefit whereas the mean effect for victim reported outcomes was zero. Quasi‐experimental studies using a no‐treatment comparison had inconsistent findings indicating an overall small harmful effect. In contrast, quasi‐experimental studies using a treatment dropout design showed a large, positive mean effect on domestic violence outcomes. The latter studies suffer, we believe, from selection bias.Reviewer's Conclusions:The findings, we believe, raise doubts about the effectiveness of court‐mandated batterer intervention programs in reducing re‐assault among men convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence.

Assessing Risk for Violence in Adolescents Who Have Sexually Offended

As the youth justice system has evolved, clinicians have been increasingly asked to make judgments about the likelihood that a youth who has committed a sexual offense will reoffend. However, there is an absence of well-validated tools to assist with these judgments. This study examined the ability of the Juvenile Sexual Offense Recidivism Risk Assessment Tool—II (J-SORRAT-II), Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY), and Juvenile Sex Offender Assessment Protocol—II (J-SOAP-II) to predict violent behavior in 169 male youth who were admitted to a residential adolescent sex offender program. Total scores on the SAVRY and J-SOAP-II significantly predicted nonsexual violence but none of the instruments predicted sexual violence. The J-SOAP-II and SAVRY were less effective in predicting violent reoffending in youth aged 15 and younger than in older youth. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Recidivism and the Effectiveness of Criminal Justice Interventions: Juvenile Offenders and Post Release Support

The purpose of this journal article is twofold. First, it provides a discussion of the use of recidivism as a measure of effectiveness of criminal justice interventions, and, secondly, there is discussion of an evaluation of a juvenile post-release support program. The article argues that there has been a significant growth in recidivist studies, particularly as a measure of effectiveness. However there has been less and less attention placed on the limitations of measures of recidivism, or the nature of extraneous factors that influence re-offending. We use an evaluation study we conducted of the Post Release Support Program (PRSP) for juvenile offenders in New South Wales to explore these issues further. One of the interesting points to the study was that, while the statistical results on re-offending were not conclusive, the qualitative interviews among staff and offenders were overwhelmingly positive about the program. For us this raises the question: what value do we place on recidivism in evaluating a program when qualitative outcome information appears more conclusive?

On a clear day you can see forever: Integrating values and skills in sex offender treatment

The topic of sex offender rehabilitation frequently evokes fierce reactions, ranging from strident demands for harsher sentences contrasted with calls for more imaginative and compassionate sentencing options. There seems to be a polarization of positions centred on the question of offenders’ moral standing: are they moral strangers or fellow travellers? This fundamental disagreement about offenders’ moral status is at the core of a number of independent, although related current practice and research issues confronting the field, namely: (1) risk management versus strength-based treatment approaches; (2) the utility of utilizing individually tailored versus manual-based programmes for offenders; (3) focusing on the technical aspects or therapy as opposed to relationship and therapist factors (what has been called process issues); and (4) the conflict between protecting the community versus promoting the interests of offenders. In this paper I suggest that an approach to sex offender treatment based on a combination of human rights theory (an ethical resource) and strengths-based approaches can help us navigate our way through the above dilemmas in a way that addressees both the needs of offenders and those of the community.

The measurement and influence of child sexual abuse supportive beliefs

The identification of offence-related cognition is a major target of most cognitive–behavioural treatment programmes for sexual offenders, and a number of measures are available for this purpose. This study assessed the psychometric properties of a brief measure of beliefs that support and justify child sexual abuse: the Sex With Children (SWCH) scale. Factor analysis revealed two distinct types of belief: that sex with children is harmless, and that children actively provoke adults into having sex with them. The SWCH was also found to have good internal consistency, test–retest reliability and concurrent validity. Child molesters scored significantly more highly on the SWCH than did rapists or non-offenders, and high-risk child molesters reported more entrenched offence-supportive beliefs than lower risk child molesters. A relationship was also observed between general offence-supportive beliefs as measured by SWCH and offence-specific cognitions ascribing responsibility or enjoyment to the offender's victim. The SWCH subscales appeared to closely match two of the implicit theories hypothesized by Ward and Keenan (1999) to be related to child molestation. Sex offender treatment providers need to be aware of the relationship between underlying implicit theories and offence-specific distorted cognitions about the victim's experience.

Assessing Offender Needs and Performance for Planning and Monitoring Criminal Justice Drug Treatment

With the rise of coerced treatment in both correctional and community settings, increased awareness and focus is being placed on motivation for change and treatment readiness as dynamic factors relevant to individual treatment planning. In addition, within correctional-treatment populations, the need for targeting criminal thinking and attitudes as primary treatment issues also has been well-established. The importance of these two issues to the effectiveness of treatment programming highlights the need for instruments that can reliably assess offender risk and needs, guide the treatment planning process, and monitor progress over time. This article provides an overview of how selected scales from the Texas Christian University Criminal Justice Client Evaluation of Self and Treatment and Criminal Thinking Scales instruments are being used to inform treatment planning and service delivery in a large, intensive therapeutic community program for substance-abusing offenders in Virginia.