A theme that has persisted throughout the history of American corrections is that efforts should be made to reform offenders. In particular, at the beginning of the 1900s, the rehabilitative ideal was enthusiastically trumpeted and helped to direct the renovation of the correctional system (e.g., implementation of indeterminate sentencing, parole, probation, a separate juvenile justice system). For the next seven decades, offender treatment reigned as the dominant correctional philosophy. Then, in the early 1970s, rehabilitation suffered a precipitous reversal of fortune. The larger disruptions in American society in this era prompted a general critique of the “state run” criminal justice system. Rehabilitation was blamed by liberals for allowing the state to act coercively against offenders, and was blamed by conservatives for allowing the state to act leniently toward offenders. In this context, the death knell of rehabilitation was seemingly sounded by Robert Martinson's (1974b) influential “nothing works” essay, which reported that few treatment programs reduced recidivism. This review of evaluation studies gave legitimacy to the antitreatment sentiments of the day; it ostensibly “proved” what everyone “already knew”: Rehabilitation did not work. In the subsequent quarter century, a growing revisionist movement has questioned Martinson's portrayal of the empirical status of the effectiveness of treatment interventions. Through painstaking literature reviews, these revisionist scholars have shown that many correctional treatment programs are effective in decreasing recidivism. More recently, they have undertaken more sophisticated quantitative syntheses of an increasing body of evaluation studies through a technique called “meta-analysis.” These meta-analyses reveal that across evaluation studies, the recidivism rate is, on average, 10 percentage points lower for the treatment group than for the control group. However, this research has also suggested that some correctional interventions have no effect on offender criminality (e.g., punishment-oriented programs), while others achieve substantial reductions in recidivism (i.e., approximately 25 percent). This variation in program success has led to a search for those “principles” that distinguish effective treatment interventions from ineffective ones. There is theoretical and empirical support for the conclusion that the rehabilitation programs that achieve the greatest reductions in recidivism use cognitive-behavioral treatments, target known predictors of crime for change, and intervene mainly with high-risk offenders. “Multisystemic treatment” is a concrete example of an effective program that largely conforms to these principles. In the time ahead, it would appear prudent that correctional policy and practice be “evidence based.” Knowledgeable about the extant research, policymakers would embrace the view that rehabilitation programs, informed by the principles of effective intervention, can “work” to reduce recidivism and thus can help foster public safety. By reaffirming rehabilitation, they would also be pursuing a policy that is consistent with public opinion research showing that Americans continue to believe that offender treatment should be an integral goal of the correctional system.

This comprehensive volume summarizes the contemporary evidence base for offender assessment and rehabilitation, evaluating commonly used assessment frameworks and intervention strategies in a complete guide to best practice when working with a variety of offenders. Presents an up-to-date review of ‘what works’ in offer assessment and rehabilitation, along with discussion of contemporary attitudes and translating theory into practice Includes assessment and treatment for different offender types across a range of settings Internationally renowned contributors include James McGuire, James Bonta, Clive Hollin, Anthony Beech, Tony Ward, William Lindsay, Karl Hanson, Ray Novaco and William Marshall

Correctional Counseling and Rehabilitation, 9th ed., presents foundations of correctional intervention, including overviews of the major systems of therapeutic intervention, diagnosis of mental illness, and correctional assessment and classification. Now fully updated to reflect DSM-5, its detailed descriptions and cross-approach comparisons help students prepare for a career in correctional counseling and allow working professionals to better determine which techniques might be most useful in their particular setting. The content is divided into five parts: (1) A Professional Framework for Correctional Counseling; (2) Understanding the Special Challenges Faced by the Correctional Counselor in the Prison Setting; (3) Offender Assessment, Diagnosis, and Classification; (4) Contemporary Approaches to Correctional Counseling and Treatment, (5) Interventions for Special Populations, and (6) Putting It All Together. The book is appropriate for upper-level undergraduates and graduate students in Criminal Justice and Criminology, Psychology, and Social Work programs as well as correctional counseling practitioners.

This book offers criminologists and students an evidence-based discussion of the latest trends in corrections. Over the last several decades, research has clearly shown that rehabilitation efforts can be effective at reducing recidivism among criminal offenders. However, researchers also recognize that treatment is not a "one size fits all" approach. Offenders vary by gender, age, crime type, and/or addictions, to name but a few, and these individual needs must be addressed by providers. Finally, issues such as leadership, quality of staff, and evaluation efforts affect the quality and delivery of treatment services. This book synthesizes the vast research for the student interested in correctional rehabilitation as well as for the practitioner working with offenders. While other texts have addressed issues regarding treatment in corrections, this text is unique in that it not only discusses the research on "what works" but also addresses implementation issues as practitioners move from theory to practice, as well as the importance of staff, leadership and evaluation efforts.

Since the early 1970s, there has been a sustained attack on the idea that the purpose of the correctional system should be to rehabilitate criminals. This volume begins by reviewing the attack on offender treatment and then focuses in detail on the revisionist movement to reaffirm rehabilitation.

Treatment and rehabilitation have been central to the development of criminal justice policy, and have played an important role in the development of criminology. In recent years punishment and retribution have attracted more attention than rehabilitation, but there has been a resurgence of interest in treatment and rehabilitation, with indications that some things do 'work', and an emphasis on 'evidence-based' policy making. It is also the belief of many that a penal policy without an adequate treatment strategy is unjust and a denial of human rights. In this book Iain Crow provides an accessible overview of the concepts of treatment and rehabilitation, adopting a deliberately broad definition, and considers the historic

Explores the challenges faced by convicted offenders over the course of rehabilitation and reintegration. Each chapter focuses on a specific phase of the process.