Key Point

Rehabilitation programs are the central way the correctional system attempts to change offender behavior to reduce future criminal recidivism.  Our research relies on the foundation of empirical knowledge built in the tradition of the Risk-Need-Responsivity (RNR) model of of rehabilitation.  At the same time, many assumptions within the RNR model have never been adequately tested, and there are important complexities in the change process that make it unsatisfactory to implement programs in a simplistic, one-size-fits-all manner.  It may be that strength-based approaches (if still grounded in evidence-based principles and an understanding of human psychology) can address limitations to current rehabilitation approaches.  We’ve been involved in research that attempts to test this hypothesis, and believe there is still much to learn about effective rehabilitation services in corrections!

Key Findings

When attempting to change criminal behavior through rehabilitation, clinicians should pay attention to clients’ age and level of motivation because greater maturity and motivation are strengths related to program effectiveness for those individuals.  Before a rehabilitation program begins, it is a good investment for clinicians to spend time increasing client motivation to change, for example, by discussing how the program will help clients reach their personal goals.

At its core, rehabilitation is a social activity, and we suspect that it matters in group rehabilitation whether the group members are generally supportive of the goal to stay crime-free, or generally express pro-criminal attitudes.  See below for some findings from our research that suggest group co-participants are related to outcome (change during the program, and recidivism).

From an RNR perspective, it seems safe to assume that when rehabilitation is effective, it is because offenders learned to think differently about crime.  Is there substantial evidence to support this assumption?  A review of the literature (see below) suggests that if you were to find the mechanism underlying successful rehabilitation, you could probably claim to have found the Holy Grail!

Read More

Higley, C.A., Lloyd, C.D., & Serin, R.C. (in press). Age and motivation can be specific responsivity features that moderate the relationship between risk and rehabilitation outcome. Law and Human Behavior. doi:10.1037/lhb0000348

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