Psychological Treatment of Imprisoned Offenders (From Violence and the Violent Individual - Proceedings, P 325-342, 1981, J Ray Hays et al, ed. - See NCJ-87659)

• NCJ Number: 87670
• Author(s): H Toch
• Date Published: 1981
• Length: 18 pages
• Sale Source: Spectrum Publications, Inc
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This chapter focuses on the psychological treatment of offenders in prison; treatment goals, the social learning process, and support are emphasized.

Abstract

The essence of treatment is its goal, which is the achievement of personal growth or of constructive change in people. The psychological perspective that is by far most germane to reeducation is the social learning perspective, whose best known exponent is Bandura. Change programs based upon social learning principles differ from those relying on conversational methods in the content, the locus, and the agents of treatment. The change efforts of this type are generally not occurring in prison. One reason is that treatment must be respectable in the client's everyday world. Thus, significant impact or change may occur in custodial settings provided that the place where the change occurs has dominant or salient work to be done, such as carpentry, which frames a relationship that is a vehicle for change. In addition, a legitimizing peer ingroup must approve of the staff/inmate links. Bandura highlights the importance of modeling. The perspective also assumes that there must be incentives and rewards for learning, and a substantive cognitive component. The influence of prison chaplains is extremely important; as a treatment agent, the chaplain enjoys diplomatic immunity in that he offers confidentiality and his primary loyalties can remain with those he helps. The key to a psychologist's effectiveness in the prison setting is facilitation of staff involvement in the treatment process. As a trainer, the psychologist has the job of preparing a prison staff to solve human relations and mental health problems they encounter at work. Thus, the psychologist can provide major input regarding organizational development. Where the therapist cannot treat, he or she can often help exercise the function indirectly by helping other staff or the inmate's peers to diagnose and address inmate problems. Seven footnotes and 25 references are provided.