Risk-Need-Responsivity (RNR) Model: Does Adding the Good Lives Model Contribute to Effective Crime Prevention?

• NCJ Number: 235485
• Journal: Criminal Justice and Behavior Volume: 38 Issue: 7 Dated: July 2011 Pages: 735-755
• Author(s): D. A. Andrews; James Bonta; J. Stephen Wormith
• Date Published: July 2011
• Length: 21 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examines the risk-need-responsivity (RNR) model and the good lives model (GLM) for guiding offender assessment and treatment.

Abstract

The risk-need-responsivity (RNR) model has been widely regarded as the premier model for guiding offender assessment and treatment. The RNR model underlies some of the most widely used risk-needs offender assessment instruments, and it is the only theoretical model that has been used to interpret the offender treatment literature. Recently, the good lives model (GLM) has been promoted as an alternative and enhancement to RNR. GLM sets itself apart from RNR by its positive, strengths-based, and restorative model of rehabilitation. In addition, GLM hypothesizes that enhancing personal fulfillment will lead naturally to reductions in criminogenic needs, whereas RNR posits the reverse direction. In this article the authors respond to GLM's criticisms of RNR and conclude that little substance is added by GLM that is not already included in RNR, although proponents of RNR may learn from the popular appeal that GLM, with its positive, strength-based focus, has garnered from clinicians over the past decade. (Published Abstract)