NCJ Number
132384
Journal
American Jails Volume: 4 Issue: 3 Dated: (September/October 1990) Pages: 12-16
Date Published
1990
Length
5 pages
Annotation
The addition of moral reconation therapy (MRT) to the Drug Offender Rehabilitation (DOR) program, a prison-based therapeutic community at the Shelby County Corrections Center (SCC) in Memphis (Tenn.) is described.
Abstract
This new treatment strategy is not approached from a religious standpoint, but rather form a theoretical standpoint that represents how a person thinks and makes decisions. Most drug abusers and drunk drivers tend to function without a conscience and display behavior that is destructive to the self as well as to others. On this basis, the program attempts to reeducate the inmate behaviorally, socially, and morally. It implements appropriate motivation, goals, and values into a person's life through a 17-step series of structured tasks and exercises completed in groups as well as individually with a counselor. At a predetermined step, aftercare staff from Correctional Counseling, Inc. enter the treatment process. Preliminary evaluations of the programs showed decreased 2-year drunk driving recidivism rates and reincarceration rates particularly if MRT was used both during incarceration and during an aftercare period extending into a participant's parole or probation period. 7 references and 1 note