What Works in Corrections: Reducing the Criminal Activities of Offenders and Delinquents

• NCJ Number: 243636
• Author(s): Doris Layton MacKenzie
• Date Published: 2006
• Length: 401 pages
• Sale Source: Cambridge University Press
• Publication Format: Book (Softbound)
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical); Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This book examines the effects of correctional interventions, management policies, and treatment and rehabilitation programs on the recidivism of offenders and delinquents.

Abstract

In the concluding chapter of the book, the following programs were listed as being effective in reducing recidivism: academic education, vocational education, moral reconation therapy (MRT), reasoning and rehabilitation (R&R), cognitive restructuring, cognitive behavior treatment for sex offenders, behavioral treatment for sex offenders, hormonal/surgical treatment of sex offenders, MST for juveniles, drug courts, drug treatment in the community, and incarceration-based drug treatment. Correctional strategies that are not effective in reducing recidivism are also listed in the concluding chapter. The four chapters of part 1 pertain to "Strategies for Reducing Crime." "Strategies" refer to various programs, policies, and interventions intended to reduce crime. Topics addressed in these chapters are evidence-based corrections, incapacitation, and perspectives on rehabilitation. Part 2, "The Effectiveness of Rehabilitation Programs," contains three chapters on the effectiveness of academic education and life-skills programs, vocational education and work programs, and cognitive behavioral therapy programs. Part 3, "Targeting Specific Types of Offenders," presents three chapters on sex offender treatment, juvenile delinquents, and domestic violence offenders. Part 4, "Management and Treatment of Substance Abusers," reviews drug treatment programs in general and specifically the use of drug courts as a strategy for managing drug-involved offenders. Part 5, "Control, Discipline, and Punishment," focuses on the effectiveness of correctional "boot camps" and intermediate sanctions (intensive supervision programs and electronic monitoring). For this book, a total of 284 evaluations of correctional programs were scored for the quality of the research methods. The significance and effectiveness were examined for each study. Approximately 540 references and a subject index