Recidivism Outcomes Research Articles

Moderators of Correctional Treatment Success

An important area in correctional rehabilitation research is to better understand how offenders differentially respond to correctional treatments. Potential treatment moderators forwarded in the literature are gender, race/ethnicity, and personality types. This exploratory study asked whether a group of parolees had demographic and personality moderators of treatment and, if so, were the moderating influences different by race? An experimental design was used to randomly assign a sample of 937 male parolees (n = 658 African American, n = 279 White) to the experimental group that received the cognitive-behavioral treatment program and the control group that did not. Discrete-time event history analysis independently tested the program-moderating effects of demographic and personality characteristics (age, prior employment status, educational attainment, marital status, social class, risk of recidivism, prior violence, IQ, reading level, cognitive maturity, personality type, residential urbanization) on recidivism for African American and White parolees. This study found that the age group and personality type of the parolees interacted with the cognitive-behavioral program in ways that created racially disparate recidivism outcomes.

Treatment programs for high risk sexual offenders: Program and offender characteristics, attrition, treatment change and recidivism

Abstract The present manuscript is a review of program and offender characteristics, attrition, treatment change, and recidivism outcomes in programs targeting high risk sexual offenders. We begin by providing an overview of the characteristics of such programs within the lens of the risk, need, responsivity (RNR) model. We then review treatment outcome research from four international high intensity sex offender programs and discuss the methodological, clinical, and practical limitations of this body of work. We proceed to discuss the issue of treatment change in high risk sexual offenders, the broad methods through which change may be evaluated, and review the literature examining within-program change and its relationship to sexual and violent recidivism. A brief review of the sexual offender treatment attrition literature follows, particularly in regards to the RNR issues embedded within this clinical conundrum given that high risk sex offenders pose the greatest risk for non-completion yet also stand to yield the most benefit from services. Finally, we review the research on the therapeutic responses of psychopathic sexual offenders and discuss the clinical implications for treating and managing individuals with substantial psychopathic traits applying the RNR framework. Future clinical and research directions with high risk sexual offenders in terms of treatment, risk reduction, reducing attrition, and attempting to effect positive changes are discussed.

Treating high-risk rapists in a New Zealand intensive prison programme

The focus of this article is on the pilot development and implementation of a prison-based intensive treatment programme for high-risk adult-victim rape offenders in New Zealand. Advances in actuarial risk assessment enabled the identification of a group of high-risk adult sex offenders for whom no dedicated treatment programme existed. Based on a review of the treatment literature for rapists, a pilot programme was developed called the Adult Sex Offender Treatment Programme (ASOTP). The programme, based on the risk–need–responsivity and cognitive behavioural therapy principles, also used an adaptation of Young's schema therapy to address personality responsivity issues and specific idiosyncratic schema associated with participant offence pathways identified by the Massachusetts Treatment Centre classification (Version 3 for rapists). Measures of responsivity and dynamic risk administered in the ASOTP indicated some success in addressing treatment needs for the pilot participants (n=10). The programme has subsequently been expanded across prison specialist treatment unit sites and delivered to a further 52 participants. Although intermediate measures continue to indicate change in dynamic risk, recidivism outcome evaluations have not yet been possible, due to low numbers of paroled participants.

Does the LSI-R Have Utility for Sex Offenders?

Despite societal perception that sex offenders will repeat their crimes, research indicates these offenders are more likely to be generalists than sex offense–specific offenders. Sex offender–specific legislation has reinforced this erroneous perception while contributing to the excessive labeling of sex offenders as sexual recidivists. Additionally troubling is the lack of research on the efficacy of generalized risk/needs assessments for sex offenders. The present study fills this void by evaluating the adequacy of the Level of Service Inventory–Revised (LSI-R) for use with a sexual offending population. The predictive accuracy of the LSI-R for sexual and nonsexual recidivism outcomes was explored using a sample of 21,298 individuals released from New Jersey correctional facilities from 2004 to 2006. Results indicate that while the LSI-R does not have predictive utility for sexual offenses, it has utility for sex offenders overall. Policy implications of the usefulness of the LSI-R for this offending population are discussed.

A Randomized Trial of a Multimodal Community-Based Prisoner Reentry Program Emphasizing Substance Abuse Treatment

Prisoner reentry programs continue to be developed and implemented to ease the process of transition into the community and to curtail fiscal pressures. This study describes and provides relapse and recidivism outcome findings related to a randomized trial evaluating a multimodal, community-based reentry program that prioritized substance abuse treatment. Results from analyses suggest negligible effects for participants of the program across multiple outcome indicators. Avenues for further exploration are provided, with a cautionary emphasis on the continued expansion of multimodal community-based reentry programs.

Comparative Analysis of Recidivism Outcomes Following Drug Treatment Court in Vancouver, Canada

Drug Treatment Courts (DTCs) integrate therapeutic interventions for substance using offenders with the administration of justice. Available evidence indicates that DTCs are effective at reducing recidivism, but it is not yet established whether they are equally effective for all subgroups of offenders. The current study investigates the comparative effectiveness of a Canadian DTC among subgroups defined by ethnicity, gender, prior offending, and the presence of a co-occurring mental disorder. Results indicate greater reductions in recidivism among female and Aboriginal participants, and no differences in recidivism associated with the presence or absence of co-occurring mental disorders or the number of prior convictions. Longer duration of involvement with the DTC program was positively associated with reduced recidivism. The effectiveness of DTCs with distinct subpopulations may be related to their composition and inclusion of expertise relevant to the needs of diverse participants.

Two Hormones May Predict Recividism of Sex Offenders

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Clinical and Research NewsFull AccessTwo Hormones May Predict Recividism of Sex OffendersJoan Arehart-TreichelJoan Arehart-TreichelSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:1 Mar 2013https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.pn.2013.3a4AbstractWhile testosterone plays a role in sexual function and in sexual and nonsexual aggression, the sex hormones LH and FSH appear to better predict recidivism.One of Canada’s leading sexual-offender experts, psychiatrist John Bradford, M.D., and his team conducted a 20-year study of almost 800 male sexual offenders and discovered that the gonadotrophic sex hormones luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) were better predictors of recidivism than the sex hormone testosterone was.“This study is an important one, with a surprising finding that gonadotrophic hormones were better predictors of recidivism for sexual crimes than testosterone,” Richard Krueger, M.D., told Psychiatric News. Krueger, an associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, has conducted extensive research on sexual offenders. “Given the prominent role of testosterone in sexual function and in sexual and nonsexual aggression, studies that prospectively examine biological in addition to behavioral variables in humans are extremely important.”Bradford, who is clinical director of the Forensic Treatment Unit of the Royal Ottawa Health Group in Ottawa, Canada, and colleagues included 771 adult male sex offenders in their study. About two-thirds were pedophiles, over 20 percent were exhibitionists, 10 percent were rapists of adult women, and the remainder had engaged in other forms of sexual offenses. The men had been evaluated between 1982 and 1996 at a university-affiliated forensic sexual behaviors clinic for levels of LH and FSH, total testosterone (testosterone bound to proteins in the blood), and free testosterone (testosterone not bound to proteins in the blood). Although only 2 percent of testosterone is free, it is believed that it is more active than total testosterone is.Recidivism data for the subjects were obtained in 2002 from a national database maintained by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. This means that some subjects had been observed for up to 20 years in the community; the average observation time was 11 years. The percentage of subjects who reoffended sexually during the follow-up period was 18 percent, the researchers found. Finally they assessed whether there were any links between subjects’ initial LH, FSH, or testosterone levels and their later recidivism.LH and FSH levels were significantly associated with recidivism outcomes, whereas levels of total testosterone and free testosterone were not, Bradford and his team reported in the December 2012 Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law.As for their study’s implications, “Our results do not support the idea that abnormal hormone levels explain sexual offending,” the researchers said. “Instead, relatively high levels of LH and FSH must interact with other actors to increase the likelihood of sexual aggression.”But what other factors might be involved? Perhaps hostility, the researchers suspect, because when they looked to see whether self-reported hostility and sex drive, which had been evaluated in the subjects during their initial assessment, mediated the effects of LH and FSH on recidivism, they found that only hostility—not sex drive—did.Hostility had been evaluated with the Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory, which measures seven aspects of hostility—irritability, suspicion, negativism, resentment, indirect hostility, verbal hostility, and physical assault. Rapists have scored high on this inventory in the past.If these findings can be confirmed, they “suggest a new area of investigation in the neurobiology of sexual offending,” Bradford and his group suggested.The study had no outside funding. ■“The Role of Central and Peripheral Hormones in Sexual and Violent Recidivism in Sex Offenders” is posted at http://www.jaapl.org/content/40/4/476.full.pdf+html. ISSUES NewArchived

The structural and predictive properties of the Psychopathy Checklist–Revised in Canadian Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal offenders.

We examined the structural and predictive properties of the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) in large samples of Canadian male Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal offenders. The PCL-R ratings were part of a risk assessment for criminal recidivism, with a mean follow-up of 26 months postrelease. Using multigroup confirmatory factor analysis, we were able to show that the PCL-R items were invariant across these 2 groups and that a 4-factor model fit the data well. Predictive accuracy analyses (receiver operator characteristic curves and Cohen's d) generated effect sizes that were medium in magnitude overall for the PCL-R total score in the prediction of violent, nonviolent, and general criminal recidivism (area under the curve=.63-.70, Cohen's d=.28-.42) for both ancestral groups. When disaggregated into its constituent factors, for both ancestral groups, the Lifestyle and Antisocial factors consistently and significantly predicted all recidivism outcomes, whereas the Interpersonal and Affective factors did not significantly predict any of the recidivism outcomes. Finally, structural equation modeling results with the total sample indicated that the PCL-R factors were able to account for 32% of the variance in a latent recidivism factor. Implications regarding the latent structure of psychopathy and the clinical use of the instrument with Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal male offenders are discussed.

Restorative Justice Conferencing (RJC) Using Face‐to‐Face Meetings of Offenders and Victims: Effects on Offender Recidivism and Victim Satisfaction. A Systematic Review

Restorative Justice Conferencing (RJC) Using Face‐to‐Face Meetings of Offenders and Victims: Effects on Offender Recidivism and Victim Satisfaction. A Systematic Review

Recidivism Among Participants of an Employment Assistance Program for Prisoners and Offenders

Recidivism outcomes were examined over a 2-year postrelease period for participants of an Australian employment assistance program. The voluntary 12-month program operated from 17 Victorian correctional locations, 7 prisons, and 10 community corrections locations, targeting participants at moderate to high risk of reoffending. Recidivism outcomes included simple rates of reoffending for the whole program (N = 3,034 registered participants) and analyses of rate and seriousness of reoffending and extent of poly-offending for a random sample of 600 program participants and 600 nonparticipants. Offending among program participants' pre- and post-registration was also investigated. Results showed a very low rate of reoffending (7.46%) for the entire program participant group while engaged in the program. As well, program participants had significantly lower levels of recidivism than nonparticipants, and postregistration offending was significantly lower than preregistration offending. Findings indicate that long-term postrelease employment support programs provide positive benefits in terms of reduced reoffending.

Alternative models of instant drug testing: evidence from an experimental trial

ObjectiveThis study describes and provides relapse and recidivism outcome findings related to an experimental trial evaluating the viability of frequent, random drug testing with consequences for use.MethodsThe sample consisted of 529 offenders released on parole. An experimental design with random assignment to one of three groups was employed. The Experimental Group received frequent, random drug testing with instant results, immediate sanctions, and referral for substance abuse treatment. Control Group I received frequent, random drug testing and treatment referral, but did not receive immediate test results or immediate sanctions. Control Group II followed standard parole practice. Members of this group were not tested on a random basis and did not receive immediate sanctions. Repeated measures ANOVA and survival analysis techniques were used to explore group differences.ResultsFrequent monitoring of drug use with randomized testing protocols, immediate feedback, and certain consequences is effective in lowering rates of relapse and recidivism. The effectiveness is particularly salient in the short term during the period of exposure to testing conditions.ConclusionsThe findings lend support to the use of randomized testing with swift and certain sanctions with parolees. Additional quality evidence is necessary to generalize and refine findings from this study and others that focus on sanction certainty. Future replications must consider the immediacy of test result and sanction execution as well as the length of exposure to randomized testing periods.

Does intra-individual change predict offender recidivism? Searching for the Holy Grail in assessing offender change

Offender rehabilitation effectively reduces recidivism for treatment groups compared to control groups, but there is less evidence demonstrating that intra-individual changes are related to reductions in risk. We review and critique academic and government literature linking individual change scores to recidivism, focusing on three key treatment domains: cognition, violence, and substance misuse. Database searches identified 378 studies measuring change, but only 53 studies yielding 49 explicit tests of the relationship between intra-individual change scores and recidivism outcome. Of the 49 available tests, 26 effect sizes (53.1%) were significant, ranging from small (d = 0.06) to large (d = 1.48). Across all domains, change variables significantly related to recidivism included known dynamic risk factors: antisocial attitudes, antisocial beliefs, antisocial associates, antisocial personality, social support, and substance misuse. Two additional findings centered on changes in negative emotion and successful treatment process. This review further suggests there is a need to utilize better measurement strategies and more sophisticated constructs. Additional practical, theoretical, and methodological implications are discussed.

Does Volunteering for Sex Offender Treatment Matter? Using Propensity Score Analysis to Understand the Effects of Volunteerism and Treatment on Recidivism

A common critique of program evaluations of prison-based sex offender treatment holds that the samples inherently show selection bias because the participants typically volunteer for treatment. To address this critique, we used propensity score analysis to assess the influence of volunteerism on treatment effects. We examined recidivism outcomes for a sample of participants who volunteered for treatment, of whom some participated in treatment (n = 161) and some did not (n = 282) and compared these outcomes to the recidivism rate of a matched sample of nonvolunteers for treatment (n = 443). The primary finding is that offenders who volunteered for treatment did not demonstrate any differences in recidivism rates when matched with and compared to inmates who did not volunteer to participate in treatment. Furthermore, our results revealed that there were a number of significant differences between unmatched volunteers and unmatched nonvolunteers, perhaps most importantly in their risk for future recidivism as measured by the STATIC-99 risk assessment. We discuss study strengths and limitations and present the implications of the findings for policy, practice, and research.

Effectiveness of child protective services interventions as indicated by rates of recidivism

Child maltreatment is a pervasive problem with a number of negative consequences, both in terms of human suffering and economic costs. This issue is compounded by the alarming rates of recidivism (i.e., having a second case of maltreatment following the original event), which has been linked to even poorer outcomes for children involved. Child Protective Services (CPS) is the government agency charged with intervening in cases of maltreatment and preventing further maltreatment. While many studies have examined the relationship between background variables and recidivism, fewer studies have examined CPS interventions in this regard. A better understanding of these factors could help inform CPS on which interventions to employ, or which cases may require closer monitoring. Thus, the goal of the current study is to test the predictability of recidivism based on both background factors (e.g., disability status of the child, type of abuse) and CPS interventions (e.g., providing therapy for the caregiver, removing the child from the caregiver temporarily). Two predictors, minority status of the caregiver and providing therapy for the caregiver, were associated with reduced recidivism outcomes, while temporarily removing the child from the caregiver was associated with increased chances of recidivism. It may be concluded that cases involving child placement away from the caregiver may require further monitoring by CPS, and that ordering therapy for more caregivers may help to reduce recidivism rates.

Can Circles of Support and Accountability (COSA) Work in the United States? Preliminary Results From a Randomized Experiment in Minnesota

In 2008, the Minnesota Department of Corrections implemented Minnesota Circles of Support and Accountability (MnCOSA), a sex offender reentry program based on the Circles of Support and Accountability (COSA) model developed in Canada during the 1990s. Using a randomized experimental design, this study evaluates the effectiveness of MnCOSA by conducting a cost-benefit analysis and comparing recidivism outcomes in the MnCOSA (N = 31) and control groups (N = 31). Despite the small total sample size (N = 62), the results from Cox regression models suggest that MnCOSA significantly reduced three of the five recidivism measures examined. By the end of 2011, none of the MnCOSA offenders had been rearrested for a new sex offense compared with one offender in the control group. Because of less recidivism observed among MnCOSA participants, the results from the cost-benefit analysis show the program has produced an estimated US$363,211 in costs avoided to the state, resulting in a benefit of US$11,716 per participant. For every dollar spent on MnCOSA, the program has generated an estimated benefit of US$1.82 (an 82% return on investment).

Who Goes Back to Prison; Who Does Not: A Multiyear View of Reentry Program Participants

Existing studies of reentry programs in the United States focus on the successes and failures of reentering offenders when compared to matched reentering offenders who did not receive structured reentry services. Little attention has been focused solely on the reentry participants themselves, and on how the level of program exposure may be related to recidivism outcomes. This study reports the recidivism outcomes of 357 reentry participants released to the community during a multiyear study period. All of the 357 participants studied were released for at least one full year, making it possible to examine recidivism behaviors by levels of reentry program exposure, at similar points in time. Thus, a range of descriptive and program attributes and an analysis of these attributes vis-à-vis defined recidivism measures is presented to answer the question: “Who goes back to prison?”

Agency and outcome expectancies for crime desistance: measuring offenders' personal beliefs about change†

While the majority of offenders eventually desist from crime, the internal psychological mechanisms hypothesized to drive the process of desistance and offender change have not been systematically measured. This study developed scales for assessing intention to change, or offenders' beliefs regarding their perceived ability to stay crime-free (agency) and expected outcomes for crime and desistance (expectancies). Incarcerated offenders (N=142) endorsed these beliefs in a way that is consistent with theories of offender change. The structure of beliefs suggests offenders with positive expectancies for desistance and negative expectancies for crime also endorse a higher sense of personal agency to desist. Outcome expectancies for desistance were unrelated to static risk variables, suggesting these measures may be complementary to risk assessment. Overall, the scales developed for this research showed high internal consistency and evidence for concurrent and construct validity. Refining the measurement methods and assessing recidivism outcome post-release should further advance this avenue of research.

Returning to Work after Prison - Final Results from the Transitional Jobs Reentry Demonstration

More than 1.6 million people are incarcerated in prisons in the United States, and around 700,000 are released from prison each year. Those released from prison often face daunting obstacles as they seek to reintegrate into their communities, and rates of recidivism are high. Many experts believe that stable employment is critical to a successful transition from prison to the community.The Joyce Foundation’s Transitional Jobs Reentry Demonstration (TJRD), also funded by the JEHT Foundation and the U.S. Department of Labor, tested employment programs for former prisoners in Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, and St. Paul, using a rigorous random assignment design. MDRC led the evaluation, along with the Urban Institute and the University of Michigan. The project focused on transitional jobs programs that provide temporary subsidized jobs, support services, and job placement help. Transitional jobs are seen as a promising model for former prisoners and for other disadvantaged groups.In 2007-2008, more than 1,800 men who had recently been released from prison were assigned, at random, to a transitional jobs program or to a program providing basic job search assistance but no subsidized jobs. The research team tracked both groups using state data on employment and recidivism. Because of the random assignment design, one can be confident that significant differences that emerged between the groups are attributable to the services each group received.This is the final report in the TJRD project. It assesses how the transitional jobs programs affected employment and recidivism during the two years after people entered the study.Key Findings: The transitional jobs programs substantially increased employment early in the study period by providing jobs to many who would not otherwise have worked. However, the gains faded as men left the transitional jobs, and the programs did not increase regular (unsubsidized) employment either during or after the program period. At the end of the second year, only about one-fifth of each group were employed in the formal labor market. Earnings impacts may have been somewhat larger when economic conditions were relatively poor and members of the job search group had more difficulty finding jobs. The transitional jobs programs did not significantly affect key measures of recidivism over the two-year follow-up period. About half each group were arrested, and a similar number returned to prison. Most of the prison admissions were for violations of parole rules, not new crimes.Overall, these results point to the need to develop and test enhancements to the transitional jobs model. For example, future tests could include enhancements such as extending the period of the transitional job, including vocational training as a core program component, or focusing more on the transition to regular employment by offering stronger financial incentives for participants. (Findings from the TJRD evaluation suggest that these financial incentives may improve earnings impacts.) Researchers and practitioners should also test other strategies to improve employment and recidivism outcomes for reentering prisoners.

Can Faith-BasedCorrectional Programs Work? An Outcome Evaluation of the InnerChange Freedom Initiative in Minnesota

This study evaluated the effectiveness of the InnerChange Freedom Initiative (InnerChange), a faith-based prisoner reentry program, by examining recidivism outcomes among 732 offenders released from Minnesota prisons between 2003 and 2009. Results from the Cox regression analyses revealed that participating in InnerChange significantly reduced reoffending (rearrest, reconviction, and new offense reincarceration), although it did not have a significant impact on reincarceration for a technical violation revocation. The findings further suggest that the beneficial recidivism outcomes for InnerChange participants may have been due, in part, to the continuum of mentoring support some offenders received in the institution and the community. The results imply that faith-based correctional programs can reduce recidivism, but only if they apply evidence-based practices that focus on providing a behavioral intervention within a therapeutic community, addressing the criminogenic needs of participants and delivering a continuum of care from the institution to the community. Given that InnerChange relies heavily on volunteers and program costs are privately funded, the program exacts no additional costs to the State of Minnesota. Yet, because InnerChange lowers recidivism, which includes reduced reincarceration and victimization costs, the program may be especially advantageous from a cost-benefit perspective.

The Impact of Federal Prison Industries Employment on the Recidivism Outcomes of Female Inmates

Female offenders face many barriers to employment, including a lack of education and work experience. Correctional work programs offer skills training and exposure to work routines and norms, yet there is scant research on whether these programs can increase a woman's employability, and thus reduce recidivism, upon release. This longitudinal study examines whether employment in the federal prison industries program, UNICOR, reduces recidivism among a large sample of female inmates. Propensity scores are utilized to control for selection bias. This study finds no significant differences in rearrest or recommitment to federal prison between inmates employed in UNICOR and those who were not. Length of UNICOR employment is also not shown to have an effect on recidivism. The gender-specific needs of female offenders must be taken into account when developing correctional programming as factors other than employment may be more salient to a woman's ability to desist from crime.