Presentation to the
8th Annual Georgia School of
Addiction Studies
Evidence Based
Principles of Offender
Rehabilitation
Christopher A. Petrozzi,
Senior Vice President of Correctional
Services
Prevalence of Individual Adverse
Childhood Experiences
ACE Category*
Women Men Total
(N =
(N =
(N =
9,367) 7,970) 17,337)
Abuse
Emotional Abuse
13.1
7.6
10.6
Physical Abuse
27.0
29.9
28.3
Sexual Abuse
24.7
16.0
20.7
Emotional Neglect1
16.7
12.4
14.8
Physical Neglect1
9.2
10.7
9.9
Mother Treated Violently
13.7
11.5
12.7
Household Substance Abuse
29.5
23.8
26.9
Household Mental Illness
23.3
14.8
19.4
Parental Separation or Divorce
24.5
21.8
23.3
5.2
4.1
4.7
Neglect
Household Dysfunction
Incarcerated Household
Member
Prevalence of Individual Adverse
Childhood Experiences
Number of Adverse Childhood
Experiences (ACE Score)
Women
Men
Total
0
34.5
38.0
36.1
1
24.5
27.9
26.0
2
15.5
16.4
15.9
3
10.3
8.6
9.5
4 or more
15.2
9.2
12.5
Enduring Effects of Abuse and Related
Adverse Experiences in Childhood
Childhood maltreatment has been linked to a
variety of changes in brain structure and function
and stress-responsive neurobiological systems
An expanding body of research suggests that
early stressors cause long term changes in
multiple brain circuits and systems (Sanchez
2001; Bremner 2003a)
Enduring Effects of Abuse and Related
Adverse Experiences in Childhood
The ACE score had a strong, graded relationship to the prevalence
and risk of affective disturbances (mental health disturbances). For
persons with ≥ 4 ACEs, the risk of panic reactions, depressed affect,
anxiety, and hallucinations were increased 2.5-, 3.6-, 2.4 and 2.7fold, respectively.
Substance use and abuse also increased as the ACE score
increased. The risk of smoking, alcoholism, illicit drug use, and
injected drug use were increased 1.8-, 7.2-, 4.5-, and 11.1-fold,
respectively, for persons with ≥ 4 ACEs.
All three measures of sexuality were associated with the ACE score.
The risk of early intercourse, promiscuity, and sexual dissatisfaction
were increased 6.6-, 3.6-, and 2-fold, respectively, for persons with ≥
4 ACEs.
Enduring Effects of Abuse and Related
Adverse Experiences in Childhood
The risk of impaired memory of childhood was increased
4.4-fold for persons with ≥ 4 ACEs. The number of age
periods affected for memory disturbances increased in a
graded fashion as the ACE score increased.
High perceived stress, difficulty controlling anger, and
the risk of perpetrating intimate partner violence (IPV)
were increased 2.2-, 4.0-, and 5.5-fold, respectively, for
persons with ≥ 4 ACEs
Delinquency
Pattern of behavior that is seen across the
lifetime
Pattern of rule breaking & criminality
Disengagement from cultural norms for
achievement and behavior
Easily bored and often irritable
Risky behavior despite high likelihood of
punishment
Delinquency often resulting in incarceration
Beauchalne, T. & Tapert ,S. Brain Science as a Means to Understanding Delinquency & Substance Abuse in Youth . U WTV
Progression of Delinquency
Hyperactivity
School Conduct Problems
Suspension
Oppositional
Academic Problems
Disengagement
Aggression
Pre School
Drug Use
Criminality
Delinquent Peer
Group
Middle School
Incarceration
Adolescence
Beauchalne, T. & Tapert ,S. Brain Science as a Means to Understanding Delinquency & Substance Abuse in Youth . U WTV
Current Delinquency Interventions
Few impulsive or aggressive children receive any form of
intervention
Those who are treated usually receive some form of
group intervention:
Special Education Placements
Summer School / Summer Camps
Institutionalization
Beauchalne, T. & Tapert ,S. Brain Science as a Means to Understanding Delinquency & Substance Abuse in Youth . U WTV
Mesolimbic Dopamine Activity
Phasic Response
Tonic Activity
Neural
Firing
Reward Cue
Satiation
Beauchalne, T. & Tapert ,S. Brain Science as a Means to Understanding Delinquency & Substance Abuse in Youth . U WTV
ADHD Mesolimbic Dopamine Activity
Phasic Response
Tonic Activity
Neural
Firing
ADHD
Reward Cue
Satiation
Beauchalne, T. & Tapert ,S. Brain Science as a Means to Understanding Delinquency & Substance Abuse in Youth . U WTV
Dopamine & Impulsivity
Dopamine - neurotransmitter that controls the brain's reward and
pleasure centers. DA helps regulate movement and emotional
responses, it enables us to see rewards and take action to move
toward them. The major behaviors dopamine affects are
movement, cognition, pleasure, and motivation.
Children with ADHD exhibit low tonic and low phasic activity
Low mesolimbic DA activity is predisposing to impulsivity &
aggression
Environmental stress during development exacerbates this
effect (i.e., further down regulation)
This effect can be pre-natal or post-natal
Beauchalne, T. & Tapert ,S. Brain Science as a Means to Understanding Delinquency & Substance Abuse in Youth . U WTV
Reward Seeking Model
People low in tonic DA activity experience high levels of
negative affect and irritability
This leads to reward seeking behavior to up-regulate a
chronically aversive mood
Low phasic DA activity means less pleasure from reward
seeking behaviors
This elicits more reward seeking and predisposes to
delinquency – high risk environments have lots of
opportunities for maladaptive reward seeking
Beauchalne, T. & Tapert ,S. Brain Science as a Means to Understanding Delinquency & Substance Abuse in Youth . U WTV
Cost of Incarceration
Incarceration rates flat for nearly 50 years up until the
“War on Drugs,” and “Get Tough on Crime”
US incarcerates 730/100,000, England 140/100,000
2.2 Million Americans Incarcerated
Disproportionate Number of Minorities
Costs of Incarceration
20% of African Americans and 10% of Latinos
serve time in prison
Once incarcerated there are limited
opportunities for upward mobility
Nationally, recidivism rates are over 60% within
five years
Early intervention is far more effective than incarceration
when delivered before delinquency emerges
Paradigm
Set of assumptions, concepts, values, and
practices that constitutes a way of viewing reality.
16
Criminal World View Paradigm
Offenders base their criminal lives on escaping
accountability
Offenders experience a set of attitudes
perceptions and thinking patterns that add up to
a special subjective logic, a criminal world view
Offenders’ perception of their relationship with
legitimate authority is at the crux of this world
view
17
Criminal World View Paradigm
• Offenders frequently view authority, social limits
and accountability as a challenge to their power
and autonomy
• When forced to be accountable offenders feel
themselves to be confronted by an unjust force
and see themselves as victims
18
Cognitive Behavioral Model
Behaviors – “Burglary, Theft”
Cognitions – “ Lot’s of people get away with it”
Attitudes – “it’s a dog eat dog world”
Beliefs – “people like me never get breaks”
Values – “money/status”
Culture Clash / Cognitive Dissonance
Prison Culture
Pro-Social Culture
Don’t trust, talk, or feel
Trust, disclose
Don’t be weak
Do your own time
Live for today
Get respect
Suffer in private
Retaliation
Risk vulnerability
Responsible concern
Plan for the future
Offer respect
Seek help
Acceptance / Surrender
20
Security & Treatment Paradigms
Security
Treatment
Behavior Management
Behavior Shaping
Reward Compliance
Reward Engagement & Initiative
Oriented to Immediate Goals of
Institutional Functioning
Oriented to Long Term Goals of
Social & Interpersonal Functioning
in Free Society
Risk Aversive
Risk & Stakes
Retributive
Restorative
Primary Socialization
Re-Socialization
Staff as Authoritarian
Staff as Rational Authorities
Presumption of Moral
Contamination - Social Exclusion
Develop Pro-social Status in
Community
Tactical
Strategic
21
Criminal Desistance
Best defined as a process, not an event, in
which the frequency of crimes decelerates and
exhibits less variety (Bushway et al., 2001; Laub
and Sampson, 2003; Maruna, 2001;Uggen and
Massoglia, 2003; Weitekamp and Kerner, 1994;
Loeber and LeBlanc, 1990; LeBlanc and
Fréchette, 1989).
22
Criminal Desistance
There is remarkable heterogeneity in criminal
offending
It is useful to view criminality as following a path
consisting of one or more crime and non-crime
cycles (Glaser, 1969)
Decision to stop appears to be preceded by a
variety of negative consequences both formal
and informal
23
Process of Individual Change
Prison releasees arrested for property or drug offenses
are more likely to be arrested early in the post release
period than those arrested for violent offenses
Although risk for arrest declines over time for all three
crime types, a much steeper decline occurs for property
and drug offenders, whose arrest risk drops by nearly 50
percent between the 1st and 15th month after release;
for violent offenders, the decline is only about 20 percent
from the 1st to the 15th month out of prison.
24
Process of Individual Change
Multiple processes appear to be involved in
sustaining and reinforcing the decision to change.
1. Motivation and commitment
2. Initial behavior change
3. Maintenance of change (Brownell et al., 1986).
25
Process of Individual Change
The goal of desistance programs is not
necessarily zero offending, but less offending
and less serious offending
It is important for policy makers and program
administrators to have realistic goals and to
have forms of punishments/sanctions and
rewards available that will support these goals
26
Process of Individual Change
A main objective of intensive supervision parole is a
reduction in recidivism for new crimes
A rigorous study by Petersilia and Turner (1993) of
intensive supervision parole and probation programs in
nine states, found that offenders in intensive supervision
programs had relatively the same number of subsequent
arrests, but more technical violations and returns to
incarceration, than their no intensive supervision
program counterparts
27
Process of Individual Change
However, if those programs combined drug
treatment, community service, and employment
programs with surveillance, recidivism rates
were 10 to 20 percent lower than for those who
did not participate in such activities
A meta-analysis of intensive supervision
probation and parole programs also found that
combining surveillance with treatment resulted in
reduced recidivism (Gendreau and Little, 1993)
28
Termination of Criminal Career
The successful establishment of bonds with conventional
others and participation in conventional activities are major
contingencies on the path that leads to termination of a
criminal career, (Shover, 1996)
A process characterized by particular behavioral states or
markers is marked by the assumption of:
• Adult occupational and family roles, Uggen & Massoglia
(2003)
• Social integration or reintegration through a developed
coherent, prosocial identity, Maruna (2001)
29
Social Learning Theory
Social Learning Theory: people learn and adopt
new behaviors through cognitions, positive and
negative reinforcement, observation, and skill
practice, (Bandura, 1977; 1969)
SLT and Psychology of Criminal Conduct have
become the nexus of evidence-based principles
of offender rehabilitation
Evidence Based Principles of Offender
Rehabilitation
1. Assess Actuarial Risk/Needs
2. Enhance Intrinsic Motivation
3. Target Interventions:
a. Risk Principle
b. Need Principle
c. Responsivity Principle
d. Dosage
4. Skill Train with Directed Practice (use cognitive
behavioral treatment methods)
5. Increase Positive Reinforcement
6. Engage Ongoing Support in Natural Communities
7. Measure Relevant Processes/Practices
8. Provide Measurement Feedback
National Institute of Corrections & Crime and Justice Institute, (2003)
1. Assess Actuarial Risk & Needs
Clinical judgment has consistently underpredicted re-arrest rates when compared to
empirically-based tools
Offenders’ characteristics predict future offenses
more than the current offense. Use risk tools to
determine supervision level. For purposes of risk
reduction, risk profile – rather than offense –
should drive the intervention.
1. Assess Actuarial Risk & Needs
Common Risk/Needs Assessment Instruments
Level of Service Inventory-Revised (LSI-R) 3G
Violence Risk Appraisal Guide (VRAG)
Wisconsin Risk and Needs, (CAIS) 4G
Historical, Clinical, and Risk Management Factors (HCR20) 1G
Correctional Offender Management Profiling for
Alternative Sanctions (COMPAS) 4G
2. Enhance Intrinsic Motivation
Behavioral change is quite often an inside job; for lasting
change to occur, there needs to be a level of intrinsic
motivation
Feelings of ambivalence that usually accompany change
can be explored through motivational interviewing-based
communication to enhance intrinsic motivation
Research strongly suggests that motivational
interviewing techniques, rather than persuasion tactics,
more effectively enhance motivation for initiating and
maintaining change behavior
Motivation & Outcomes
Research demonstrates that a ratio of four
positive affirmations for every, (4:1) expression
of disapproval/confrontation has a positive effect
on behavioral change. Andrews & Bonta, 2006; Gendreau, 1996;
Gendreau & Goggin, 1996; Gendreau, Little, & Goggin, 1996;Gendreau & Paparozzi, 1995.
Motivation is dynamic - affected by internal and
external factors, but internally motivated change
usually lasts longer
Self Determination Theory
Studies have shown that a person’s perception
of what is prompting the change is more
important than what is actually prompting the
change
According to SDT, staff can increase internal
motivation for change by addressing three basic
factors:
autonomy,
competence,
and relatedness.
Autonomy
Autonomy is an individual’s perception of himself
or herself as the agent of an action (“I chose to
do this”)
When people think that they are making
changes for their own reasons, they work harder
and are more likely to stick with the new
behaviors
Too much coercion can undermine internal
motivation because it makes people feel they
are being manipulated, which in turn makes
them less likely to change (Deci and Ryan,
1985)
Competence
Competence involves beliefs about confidence
(“I can do this”)
To change, a person needs to believe that
change is both important and possible
Helping offenders set realistic goals, talking
about personal strengths, and giving positive
feedback on small successes can increase one’s
sense of competence
Relatedness
Change is more likely when people are available
to support the offender
Relatedness: powerful explanation of why
people sometimes act against their own selfinterest (Deci and Ryan, 1985). For better or
worse, people tend to behave like those with
whom they associate
Individuals engage in prosocial behaviors
because they are meaningful to others to whom
they feel connected
3(a) Risk Principle
Prioritize primary supervision and treatment
resources for offenders who are at higher risk to
re-offend
Shifting program and personnel resources to
focus more on higher risk offenders promotes
harm-reduction and public safety
3(a) Risk Level: Patterns in Risk Level &
Treatment Intensity
Offender
RISK LEVEL
% Recidivism:
Tx BY RISK LEVEL
Impact on
RECIDIVISM
Authors of
Study
O’Donnell et al.,
1971
Minimum
Intensive
Low Risk
16%
22%
( 6%)
High Risk
78%
56%
( 22%)
Low Risk
3%
10%
( 7%)
High Risk
37%
18%
( 19%)
Low Risk
12%
17%
( 5%)
High Risk
58%
31%
( 27%)
Low Risk
12%
29%
( 17%)
High Risk
92%
25%
( 67%)
* Some studies combined intensive Tx with supervision or other services
41
Baird et al.,
1979
Andrews & Kiessling,
1980
Andrews & Friesen,
1987
3(a) Risk Level: Triage
Low Risk Offender – has
more favorable pro-social
thinking and behavior
than other risk levels.
Divert to
administrative
supervision.
42
3(a) Risk Principle
Factors Predictive of Prison Misconducts, (Austin, 1998):
Current Age
Gender
History of Violence
History of Mental Illness
Gang Membership
Program Participation: Inmates not involved in or not
completed programs more likely to commit misconducts
Recent Disciplinary Actions: Inmates with recent misconducts
are more likely to continue
Education Level: Predictor of poor institutional adjustment, Proctor
1994, Motiuk (1991) and Stephen (1990; cited in Proctor, 1994), Fernandez and Neiman (1998)
3(a) Risk Principle
Factors Not Predictive of Institutional
Misconduct:
Drug and alcohol use
History of escape
Sentence length
Severity of offense
Time left to serve
3(b) Criminogenic Need Principle
Criminogenic needs are dynamic risk factors
that, when addressed or changed, affect the
offender’s risk for recidivism
Criminogenic needs contribute to or co-vary with
criminal behavior
Central Eight Criminogenic Needs
Andrews, Bonta & Wormith, (2006) identified what are
referred to as the “central eight” criminogenic needs.
1) Antisocial attitudes/orientation
2) Antisocial peers
3) Antisocial personality
4) Antisocial behavior patterns
5) Absence of pro-social leisure/recreation activities
6) Dysfunctional family
7) Employment issues
8) Substance abuse problems
Service Tools
Impact of Matching Offender Needs with Appropriate
Services on Recidivism
Antisocial Attitudes/Orientation
Values, beliefs, attitudes, and cognitions relative
to criminal conduct and pro-social alternatives
are strongly correlated with criminal behavior,
(Andrews, Bonta & Wormith, 2005)
Antisocial Peers
Antisocial support network reinforces the
behavior, attitudes, orientation, definitions, and
technology favorable to committing criminal acts.
Antisocial peers and affiliating with security
threat groups/gangs is one of the single best
predictors of criminal behavior (Andrews, Bonta
& Wormith, 2005).
Antisocial Personality
Callousness, risk taking, weak self-control, and
high antagonism have been directly linked to
criminality, (Andrews, Bonta & Wormith, 2006).
Offenders displaying antisocial personality traits
often do not care how their actions affect others
and do not feel remorse.
Antisocial Behavior Patterns
Frequent failure to conform to social norms and
lawful behavior
Impulsivity, aggression, recklessness, conning
and manipulation, criminal variability, and
absence of remorse usually result in chronic
violations of trust and responsibility
Absence of Pro-Social
Leisure/Recreation Activities
In the absence of constructive and rewarding
participation in pro-social activities, offenders
with antisocial personality characteristics (e.g.,
high sensation seeking, substance use,
impulsivity) typically gravitate towards pursuits
that are incongruent with lawful behavior and
pro-social development.
Dysfunctional Family
The absence of healthy family socialization and role
models early on in life can have lasting detrimental
effects, including ineffectual parenting, child abuse,
family violence, and weak parent/child attachments
Many offenders have never experienced interpersonal
support for pro-social behavior
Family and significant others frequently serve vicariously
or deliberately to reinforce antisocial behavior and shun
pro-social convention
Employment
Employment is a primary socialization structure
in our culture that provides a crucial source of
social bonds
Poor education/employment performance, as
measured by the LSI-R, has been strongly
correlated with recidivism, (Andrews, Bonta &
Wormith, 2006)
Substance Abuse
The use of alcohol and other drugs impairs
insight and judgment, is an instigator for
antisocial personality characteristics/behavior
patterns, and inhibits pro-social development
3(c) Responsivity Principle
“Not A Matter of One Size Fits All”
General Responsivity: General power of
behavioral, social learning, and cognitivebehavioral strategies
Specific responsivity: matching services with
such things as personality, motivation, ability,
age, gender, and ethnicity
3(d) Dosage
Occupy 40%-70% of these offenders’ free time in the
community over a three to nine month period. Stimulant
use disorders 6-12 months.
During this initial phase, higher risk offenders’ free time
should be clearly occupied with delineated routine and
appropriate services, (e.g., outpatient treatment,
employment assistance, education, etc.)
Higher risk offenders require significantly more initial
structure and services than lower risk offenders
3(d) Dosage
A study by Bourgon & Armstrong (2005), noted:
The assessment of both risk and need is necessary to match an
offender to a treatment length that will affect recidivism.
A minimum of one hundred (100) hours can be effective for
moderate risk offenders or those with few criminogenic needs
A minimum of two hundred (200) hours can be effective for
offenders who are either high-risk or have multiple criminogenic
needs, not both
A minimum of three hundred (300) hours may be required for highrisk offenders with multiple criminogenic needs
Translating Dosage Into Practical
Terms
Length of service must be proportionate to risk
and needs, and is significantly related to
reductions in recidivism
In the early stages of change (pre-contemplation
and contemplation) generally require more
external controls and front-loaded services until
they have begun to develop their own internal
controls and motivation
Cognitive-behavioral strategies, must drive the
rehabilitation process
Treatment Principle
Treatment, particularly cognitive-behavioral
types, should be applied as an integral part of
the sentence/sanction process
Delivering targeted and timely interventions will
provide the greatest long-term benefit to the
community, the victim, and offenders
With criminal justice clients treatment retention
for a minimum of 90 days is essential to obtain
positive behavioral change, (Hubbard et al.,
1989)
Treatment Principle
Three principal components of the Psychology of
Criminal Conduct:
program characteristics,
program targets,
staff characteristics (Gendreau & Andrews,
1994)
Treatment Principle: Treatment
Effectiveness
Percentage Reduction in Recidivism in 154 Controlled Studies
30
30%
20
13%
10
0
-7%
-7%
- 6%
-10
Traditional
Punishments
ISPs
Inappropriate
Treatment
Unspecified
Treatment
Appropriate
Treatment
(30 studies)
(47 studies)
(32 studies)
(54 studies)
(38 studies)
Sources: (1) An Overview of Treatment Effectiveness, D.A. Andrews, 1994.
(2) Effects of Community Sanctions and incarceration on recidivism, P. Gendreau, 2001.
Treatment Principle
Program Characteristics
Programs are designed and implemented around Social
Learning Theory and deliver effective treatment, (e.g.,
cognitive-behavioral) and appropriate service & dosage
(e.g., competency based phase progression/regression)
Programs providing gender-specific female services
create a therapeutic milieu that reflects a theoretical
orientation and structure born out of Relational Theory,
Pathways Theory, Trauma Theory, and Addiction Theory
(Covington & Bloom, 2004)
Treatment Principle
Program Characteristics
Ensure appropriateness based on standardized and
objective assessments (e.g., LSI-R, LS/CMI) that
incorporate risk, need, and responsivity factors
Target crime producing behaviors and use effective
behavioral interventions, (e.g., urinalysis testing,
sanctions, and geographic/curfew restrictions) based on
providing reinforcement for pro-social and anti-criminal
behaviors
Provide advocacy and service brokerage, (e.g., family
programming, GED, work release, participation in faithbased groups, 12-step support groups)
Treatment Principle: Program Targets
Change values, beliefs, attitudes, and feelings favorable to crime
and antisocial behavior through cognitive-behavioral strategies
Reinforce pro-social affiliations by reducing antisocial peer
associations through supervision, service brokerage, and
participation in faith-based organizations
Address the biopsychosocial problems associated with substance
abuse through urinalysis testing, substance abuse treatment,
relapse prevention, and wellness programs
Teach pro-social alternatives to lying, stealing, and aggression
through self-control, self-management, problem solving, and conflict
resolution skills
Treatment Principle: Program Targets
Promote positive attitudes regarding education, vocation
and employment through community transition
programming and work-release programs
Promote and improve family socialization and role
models through family programming, family monitoring,
and supervision
Provide opportunities for offenders to empathize with the
harm done to victims
Provide gender and culturally specific services
Treatment Principle: Staff Characteristics
Andrews and Bonta (1994) identified four essential
characteristics of an effective correctional treatment
relationship; they contend that effective employees:
Establish high quality relationships with the client by being fair,
firm, and consistent
Demonstrate anti-criminal expressions (i.e., prosocial modeling)
Approve of the client’s anti-criminal expressions (i.e., pro-social
reinforcement)
Disapprove of the client’s pro-criminal expressions (i.e., sacntions,
punishment), while at the same time demonstrating alternatives,
(i.e., modeling/skills training)
4) Skill Train with Directed Practice (using
cognitive-behavioral treatment methods)
Provide evidence-based programming that
emphasizes cognitive-behavioral strategies
Skills are not just taught to the offender, but are
practiced or role-played and the resulting prosocial attitudes and behaviors are positively
reinforced by staff
5) Increase Positive Reinforcement
People maintain learned behaviors for longer
periods of time, when approached with “carrots
rather than sticks”
Apply a higher ratio of positive reinforcements to
negative reinforcements (4:1) in order to better
achieve sustained behavioral change
5) Increase Positive Reinforcement
Positive reinforcement should not be done at the
expense of or undermine administering swift,
certain, and real consequences or sanctions
Offenders generally respond positively to
reasonable and reliable additional structure and
boundaries
Offenders and people in general, will tend to
comply in the direction of the most rewards and
least punishments
6) Engage On-going Support in Natural
Communities
Realign and actively engage pro-social supports
for offenders in their communities
Research has demonstrated the efficacy of
using family members, spouses, and supportive
others in the offender’s immediate environment
to positively reinforce desired new behaviors
Relatively recent research now indicates the
efficacy of twelve step programs, religious
activities, and restorative justice initiatives that
are geared towards improving bonds and ties to
pro-social community members
7) Measure Relevant Processes/Practices
Formal and valid mechanism for measuring outcomes, is
the foundation of evidence-based practice
Sites must routinely assess offender change in cognitive
and skill development, and evaluate offender recidivism,
if services are to remain effective
Measure and document offender change, staff
performance should also be regularly assessed
Staff periodically evaluated for performance achieve
greater fidelity to program design, service delivery
principles, and outcomes
7) Measure Relevant Processes/Practices:
Performance Management
Outputs
Activities
Impacts
Outcomes
8) Provide Measurement Feedback
The value in measurement is “not in the doing,
but in the knowing:” monitor delivery of
services, maintain and enhance fidelity and
integrity
Providing feedback builds accountability and is
associated with enhanced motivation for
change, lower treatment attrition, and better
outcomes
8) Provide Measurement Feedback
Share findings with: offender, staff,
program/agency, and jurisdiction-wide:
Feedback to offenders reinforces accountability.
Motivation to change increases when offenders
observe connections among positive actions,
positive rewards, and a reduction in
disapprovals/sanctions
Feedback to staff (at all levels, in all positions)
supports individual and programmatic improvement
8) Provide Measurement Feedback
Feedback to programs/DOC supports evaluation
of the degree to which goals are being met
Feedback to jurisdictions enables stakeholders
to assess the extent to which the system as a
whole is meeting its stated purposes, operating
efficiently and effectively
Principles of Effective Intervention
Programs should be intensive and behavioral in nature
Programs should target known predictors of crime
Behavioral programs will use standardized assessments to
identify the risk level, need level, and responsivity issues of
offenders
Programs should match the characteristics of the offender,
therapists, and program
Program contingencies and behavioral strategies should be
enforced in a firm but fair manner
Programs should have well-qualified and well-trained staff who
can relate to the offenders
Programs should provide relapse prevention strategies
Programs should adhere to a high degree of advocacy and
brokerage with other agencies in the community
Andrews & Gendreau, 1994, 1996
The Structure of the Scientific Revolutions
– Thomas Kuhn
78
“The Shack” Wm. Paul Young
“Paradigms power perception and perceptions power
emotions. Most emotions are responses to perception –
what you think is true about a given situation. If your
perception is false, then your emotional response to it will
be false too. So check your perceptions, and beyond that
check the truthfulness of your paradigms - what you
believe. Just because you believe something firmly
doesn’t make it true. Be willing to reexamine what you
believe. The more you live in the truth, the more your
emotions will help you see clearly.”
79
Bridging the Gap
Integrated correctional interventions should be
based on three principles and practices:
1. Our society’s determination to enforce
social limits and enforce the law
2. Extension of a genuine opportunity to
change
3. Respect for the offenders capacity to make
their own choices
80
Bridging the Gap
Opportunity to change (i.e., treatment) without
authority and accountability (i.e., security)
enables offenders to dodge responsibility
Accountability and punishment (i.e., security)
without realistic opportunity to change (i.e.,
treatment) and re-join society is oppression and
injustice
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Shift Happens
Correctional change must include a change in
the offenders fundamental values, beliefs and
perception of authority, rules and accountability
Public policy should be research informed and
support clearly defined goals to facilitate criminal
desistance using a combination of
sanctions/punishments and treatment
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Shift Happens
A mutual understanding and respect for
correctional and treatment paradigms is
necessary to effect a synergistic pro-social
behavioral change culture
“Check your perceptions, and beyond that check
the truthfulness of your paradigms - what you
believe. Just because you believe something
firmly doesn’t make it true.”
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Leading Change
“After all is said and done there is no
such thing as managing change. You
lead change or you follow it.”
Peter Drucker
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