Using a Cognitive Behavioral
Intervention in Residential and
Community Settings
Presented by
Sarah Boettner PCC LSW
There are no limits to
caring.®
About Volunteers of America of
Greater Ohio
Serves individuals,
families and communities
of:
Cleveland
Columbus
Cincinnati
Dayton
Mansfield
Toledo
Services include:
 Affordable Housing
 Permanent Supportive
Housing
 Homeless Services
 Veterans Services
 Employment & Job
Training
 Correctional Services
 Thrift Stores
Interventions for corrections population:
Past and Present
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Ineffective
Talking cures
Non-directive, client centered
Target non-criminogenic
needs
Exploring childhood and
unconscious
Medical model
Vague and unstructured
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Effective
Action oriented
Directive
Target criminogenic needs
Target current risk factors
Enhance self-efficacy and
responsibility
Structure..structure…structure
The Four Principles of Cognitive Intervention
1.
Thinking affects behavior
2.
Antisocial, distorted, unproductive irrational thinking
can lead to antisocial and unproductive behavior
3.
Thinking can be influenced
4.
We can change how we feel and behave by changing
what we think
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Three Principles of Effective Intervention
 Risk
 Tells us WHO to target.
 Target higher risk offenders
 Need
 Tells us WHAT to target.
 Address criminogenic needs identified by assessment
 Responsivity
 Tells us HOW to target the interventions to each individual.
 Identify specific barriers to overcome so the offender gets the
most benefit from the interventions.
Targeting Criminogenic Need:
Results from Meta-Analyses
0.35
Reduction
in
Recidivism
0.3
0.25
0.2
0.15
0.1
0.05
Increase in
Recidivism
0
-0.05
Target 1-3 more noncriminogenic needs
Target at least 4-6 more
criminogenic needs
Source: Gendreau, P., French, S.A., and A.Taylor (2002). What Works (What Doesn’t Work) Revised 2002. Invited Submission to the International
Community Corrections Association Monograph Series Project
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Effective Intervention = CBT
 The cognitive-behavioral model of interventions
have been proven to be the most effective in
reducing recidivism
 Thinking controls behavior
 Restructure thoughts to change behavior
 Identify risky thinking
 Challenge the risky thinking
 Replace with alternative prosocial thoughts
Lessons Learned from the Research
 Who you put in a program is important – pay attention to
risk
 What you target is important – pay attention to
criminogenic needs
 How you target offender for change is important – use
behavioral approaches
Lessons Learned from the Research
 Offender assessment is the engine that drives effective
programs
 helps you know who & what to target
 Design programs around empirical research
 helps you know how to target offenders
 Program Integrity make a difference
 Service delivery, disruption of criminal
networks,
training/supervision of staff,
support for program, QA,
evaluation
There are no limits to caring.®
Cognitive Behavioral Interventions
BEHAVIOR CHAIN
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Cognitive Behavioral intervention tools:
Behavior Chain
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Cognitive Behavioral intervention tools:
Behavior Chain
 Situation
 The activating event, or invitation to respond.
 What happened before the target behavior?
 Helps identify a pattern of risky situations.
 Thoughts
 Immediate and un-censored thoughts that stem from the
situation.
 Identifies core beliefs and values that drive the behavior
 Feelings
 One word description of the physical reaction/ sensation
associated with the thought.
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Cognitive Behavioral intervention tools:
Behavior Chain
 Action
 What they did in response to that situation
 Consequences
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Positive and negative consequences
Internal and external
There are positive outcomes to a negative behavior
Helps predict what outcome will be to similar
situations
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Behavior Chain: Example & Practice
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Application & Barriers
 Who are our clients? (Describe them)
 What barriers might they experience to hinder
success?
 What needs do they have that we could use the
behavior chain to address?
 What barriers to you face when working with
your clients?
 What tips do you have that have helped you help
your client?
What is our role?
 WHO- all of us
 WHERE- incarceration,
residential, community
 WHAT- programming,
teaching new skills
 WHY-reduce recidivism
 HOW-teamwork and
consistency
There are no limits to
caring.®
For more information
www.voago.org