Problems of Implementing Offender Programs in the Community

• NCJ Number: 223132
• Journal: Journal of Offender Rehabilitation Volume: 46 Issue: 3/4 Dated: 2008 Pages: 31-47
• Author(s): Brad Astbury
• Date Published: 2008
• Length: 17 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research); Literature Review
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Drawing on the experience of a community correctional agency in Australia, this paper identifies and examines a number of barriers to the successful delivery of community-based offender rehabilitation programs and services.

Abstract

At the client level, barriers to the implementation of even proven treatment programs are related to offender characteristics and their willingness to participate in treatment and supervision. Program attendance and completion do not guarantee that changes in offender knowledge, attitudes, and behavior will necessarily occur. At the program level, barriers to effective program delivery are related to effective staff recruitment, training, and supervision, as well as the reduction of staff turnover. At the organizational level, barriers to program delivery are related to the degree to which there is an organizational culture that supports the program and its goals, engages in effective change management, and adapts the program to local conditions. At the societal level, barriers to the delivery of successful community-based correctional programs pertain to community attitudes toward punishment and support for rehabilitative approaches to the management of offenders. Some barriers in these various domains are foreseeable and easily controlled through a top-down management style; however, many barriers emerge during the implementation process itself. Successful implementation, therefore, requires correctional agencies to maintain flexibility for local adaptation while being careful not to compromise the integrity of the services essential to the program's effectiveness. This means that program implementation requires a balance between a top-down management approach that retains control over the implementation process while maintaining a flexibility that is responsive to frontline staff's experiences and recommendations regarding delivery problems and issues. These lessons emerged from data that were part of a larger evaluation of the implementation and impact of recent reforms in community correctional services in Victoria, Australia. 36 references