NCJ Number
158780
Date Published
1993
Length
12 pages
Annotation
A 4-day group program called Handling Conflict was provided by the Nottinghamshire Probation Service in England to assist violent offenders in addressing this issue.
Abstract
Applicants for the program were interviewed by a course leader in the company of the referring probation officer. Their rights to decline to attend and to set their own specific objectives were emphasized. To enhance their sense of control and responsibility, they also received the assurance that the course did not aim to tell people how to behave, although it did hope to challenge the common feeling that violent incidents are unavoidable. The three group leaders reported an average daily attendance of 11. Most participants had significant records of violent offending. The course's objectives were to help people understand the origins and context of conflict and its deterioration into violence, identify circumstances in which they were most likely to meet or initiate violence, and learn to assert themselves effectively and appropriately. Most exercises were taken from other sources. The group was short-term, intensive, task-focused, and closed. The group's experience confirmed that the large majority of violent offenders can and should be handled noncustodially.