Striving for a good life : the good lives model applied to released child molesters

The good lives model (GLM) is a strengths-based approach to offender rehabilitation in which treatment aims to equip offenders with the skills and resources necessary to satisfy primary goods, or basic human values, in personally meaningful and socially acceptable ways. The aim of the present research was to explore the practical utility of the GLM with a sample of released child molesters, and investigate the relationship between primary goods attainment and overall re-entry conditions (in terms of accommodation, social support and employment). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 child molesters at one, three and six months following their release from prison. As expected, participants endorsed the majority of GLM primary goods with high importance, and positive re-entry experiences were associated with increased goods attainment. Implications for clinicians, policy makers and society as a whole are discussed.

Assessing the therapeutic climate of prisons

This study examined perceptions of the prison social climate in two Australian prisons from the perspective of both prison staff and prisoners. Ratings of social climate were compared between a specialist treatment prison that provides intensive rehabilitation programs to violent, sexual, and substance-using offenders and a mainstream prison that does not specialize in offender rehabilitation. The results suggested that staff and prisoners at the specialist treatment prison rated the social climate as more conducive to rehabilitation, although the differences were less pronounced for prisoners. These findings are discussed in relation to the development of specialist therapeutic prisons and how assessments of social climate might inform assessments of their success.

Case management in community corrections : current status and future directions

Case management is commonly regarded as the foundation of effective service provision across a wide range of human service settings. This article considers the case management that is offered to clients of community corrections, identifying the distinctive features of case management in this particular setting, and reviewing the empirical evidence relating to the effectiveness of different approaches. It is concluded that models of correctional case management that are clearly informed by the principles of risk, need, and responsivity, and which encourage case managers to form strong and meaningful relationships with their clients, are likely to be the most effective.

Toward a clinically meaningful taxonomy of violent offenders: the role of anger and thinking styles

Violent offender rehabilitation programs aim to reduce the risk of re-offending in known offenders by addressing a range of different treatments needs, often with core intervention targets of improving anger regulation and altering antisocial beliefs and thinking styles. Such programs have proven efficacy in reducing recidivism for some, but not all, violent offenders, and little is known about the effects of these programs on different offender types. This study investigates whether subtypes of violent offenders can be meaningfully identified and considers how this influences short-term treatment outcomes. Cluster analysis identified three distinctive violent offender groups within a sample of 305 male offenders who had been assessed for participation in a violent offender rehabilitation program. An "unregulated" group had high levels of anger experience and expression and low levels of anger control, and held beliefs that were strongly supportive of a criminal lifestyle. A "regulated" group demonstrated levels of anger and beliefs supporting criminal activity that were not in a range that warranted treatment. Finally, an "overregulated" group was assessed as the group at highest risk of violent re-offending and had low levels of anger experience and expression and an absence of beliefs supporting criminal activity. The unregulated group appeared to gain the most benefit from treatment, although it had the highest levels of criminal thinking and problematic anger. These findings nonetheless offer support for the hypothesis that violent offender treatment programs may be optimally effective when targeted at particular types of offenders.

Taking the good life to the institution: forensic service users' perceptions of the good lives model

Previous literature has highlighted a number of concerns about forensic care and rehabilitation by those who use the services. The Good Lives Model (GLM) is a strength-based, humanistic approach to offender rehabilitation that has been largely overlooked by forensic mental health practitioners. This study explored the impact of a brief GLM program on forensic service users' perceptions of rehabilitation, both within and beyond therapeutic programs, using a thematically linked, multiple-case study research design. Pre-post comparisons of participants' perceptions of rehabilitation suggested three different outcomes: definite change, subtle change, and no change. Possible factors associated with participants' divergent experiences included level of exposure to the GLM, readiness to change, and practitioners' adherence to the GLM and experience with the model. The importance of attending to the wider system for successful implementation of this innovative approach is highlighted.

Collaborating or Colluding: A Practice Research Project with Ex-Offenders and their Families in Singapore

Working with the family members of ex-offenders is a daunting and newly developing aspect of offender rehabilitation in Singapore. A small scale practice research project was carried out by three social work practitioners and two academics over a period of 22 months, with the aim to explore the pertinent issues and challenges in working with family members of ex-offenders. Systematic documentation of the process of working with three cases was carried out. Specific skills and strategies were suggested, and recommendations for changes to service delivery and policy for working with ex-offenders and family members were made to the authorities. This article highlights the enriching journey of collaboration between the academics and practitioners.

An evaluation of the training provided in correctional institutions under the Manpower development and training act, section 251; final report.

Report MEL 71-09a-c.

Correctional psychology and the desistance paradigm: commentary for the special issue of Criminal justice and behavior

Let me begin this commentary by suggesting that many of the ideas contained in this special issue will be important to the future of correctional psychology. Although each of the authors offer different perspectives on the role that the criminal justice system has to play in the process of desistance from crime, they all identify the importance of a valueoriented analysis to effective offender rehabilitation. Their focus is on promoting desistance at all points of the justice process; from how the legal system can promote therapeutic outcomes through to the provision of post-release support services and the need for community engagement. By approaching the tasks of both rehabilitation and reintegration from a values perspective, they have been able to identify a range of novel and innovative approaches that have the potential to make a real difference. Even more encouragingly, these draw on resources that may already be available to correctional psychologists and yet are often underutilized. In addition, the confidence, and indeed the optimism, expressed in these articles provides a refreshing counter to suggestions that contemporary correctional practice has become pre-occupied with the need to “manage” offenders and for professionals to focus on fulfilling their administrative obligations (see Hardy, 2014).

Maximizing desistance: adding therapeutic jurisprudence and human rights to the mix

The law can be a systemically induced decision point for offenders and can act to help or hinder desistance. Desistance can be described as a change process that may be initiated by decisive momentum, supported by intervention, and maintained through re-entry, culminating in a citizen with full rights and responsibilities. Desistance within courts, corrections, and beyond is maximized by applying the law in a therapeutic manner. In common, desistance, therapeutic jurisprudence, and human rights support offender autonomy and well-being. The intersections between the three models have been explored to propose a normative framework that provides principles and offers strategies to address therapeutic legal rules, legal procedures, and the role of psycholegal actors and offenders in initiating, supporting, and maintaining desistance.

Transitions to better lives : offender readiness and rehabilitation

The aim of this book is to describe, collate, and summarise a body of recent research, both theoretical and empirical, that explores the issue of treatment readiness in offender programming. The book is divided into three different sections.

The first section unpacks a model of treatment readiness and how it has been operationalised; the second section discusses how the construct has been applied to the treatment of different offender groups; and in the final section, some of the practice approaches that have been identified as holding promise in addressing low levels of offender readiness are discussed.

Rehabilitation of the alcoholic; a report from the Study Group on Rehabilitation of the Alcoholic and Public Offender.

Report presented at the Sixth Institute on Rehabilitation Services, held May 20-22, 1968, at University Park, Pa.

Consciousness, solidarity and hope as prevention and rehabilitation

This paper grapples with the question of how progressive criminologists might approach working with people who have committed violent or predatory crimes, or are ‘at risk’ of doing so. Progressives have often been uneasy about ‘intervention’ with people who offend: but in the face of the destructiveness of violence, especially in some parts of the world, a posture of simple non-intervention won’t suffice. I suggest three central principles – which I call consciousness, solidarity and hope – that may guide us in developing ways of working with offenders that are both progressive and effective.