VI. Working with offenders
Approaches to working with offenders have inevitably changed as our understanding of antisocial and criminal behaviour has developed, moving from psychodynamic psychotherapy, through group therapy, to behaviour modification. Yet there are those who see little merit in using treatment to reduce offending. But since the mid 1990s there has been a renewed interest in the treatment approach, stimulated by a clutch of studies using meta-analysis.
Offending behaviour programmes
Aggression Replacement Training (ART) is an excellent example of a programme approach to working with offenders. ART was developed in the USA during the 1980s as a means of working with violent offenders.
This training programme hasproved to be an effective way of reducing aggressive behaviour. ART has continued to be developed as the evidence base grows and practice techniques become more refined.
ART consists of three components, delivered sequentially, and so would qualify as a multimodal programme:
1. Skillstreaming involves the teaching of skills to replace out-of-control, destructive behaviours with constructive, prosocial behaviours. Social skills are taught in terms of step-by-step instructions for managing critical social situations. For example, offenders might be taught conflict negotiation skills for use in situations where previously they would have used aggression.
2. Anger control training first establishes the individual specific triggers for anger, then uses the anger management techniques of (1) enhancing awareness of internal anger cues, (2) teaching coping strategies, (3) skills training, (4) self-instruction and (5) social problem solving.
Thus, offenders are taught to recognize their own feelings of anger and then helped to develop strategies, using new skills and enhanced self-control, to control anger and hence reduce aggression.
3. Moral reasoning training is concerned with enhancing moral reasoning skills and widening social perspective taking. This is achieved through self-instruction training, social problem solving and skills training. The focus here is on increasing the offenders’ understanding of the effects of their actions on others people, thereby enhancing the values that young people have for the rights and feelings
of others.
Offender treatment programs conducted in the community have a stronger effect than residential programs.
The characteristics of treatments that impact on offending:
1. Indiscriminate targeting of treatment programmes is counter-productive in reducing recidivism. Medium- to high-risk offenders should be selected and programmes should focus on criminogenic targets: that is, treatments should be concerned with those aspects of the offender’s thinking and behaviour that can be shown to be directly related to their offending.
2. The type of treatment programme is important, with stronger evidence for structured behavioural and multimodal approaches than for less focused approaches. (The term ‘multimodal’ means using a variety of treatment techniques to address a range of targets for change, as discussed below with reference to Aggression Replacement Training.)
3. The most successful studies, while behavioural in nature include a cognitive component, i.e. they encourage the offender to focus on their attitudes and beliefs.
4. Treatment programmes should be designed to engage high levels of offender responsivity: that is, the style of treatment should engage the offender to make him or her responsive to treatment and, at the same time, be responsive to the needs of different offenders such as juvenile or adult offenders or male and female offenders.
5. Treatment programmes conducted in the community have a stronger effect than residential programmes. While residential programmes can be effective, they should be linked structurally with community-based interventions.
6. The most effective programmes have high treatment integrity, in that they are carried out by trained staff, and treatment initiators are involved in all the operational phases of the treatment programmes.
The translation into practice of these principles has become known as the «What Works» form of treatment programmes. The possibilities raised by the What Works principles have been recognized in the UK at a government policy level and have significantly influenced work with offenders in prison and on probation. The development of national programmes for working with offenders has become a major initiative, seeking to capitalize on the possibilities raised by What Works.
Rehabilitation in the USA
Prison inmates, are some of the most "maladjusted" people in society. Most of the inmates have had too little discipline or too much, come from broken homes, and have no self-esteem. They are very insecure and are "at war with themselves as well as with society". Most inmates did not learn moral values or learn to follow everyday norms. Also, when most lawbreakers are labeled criminals they enter the phase of secondary deviance. They will admit they are criminals or believe it when they enter the phase of secondary deviance. Next, some believe that if we want to rehabilitate criminals we must do more than just send them to prison. For instance, we could give them a chance to acquire job skills; which will improve the chances that inmates will become productive citizens upon release. The programs must aim to change those who want to change. Those who are taught to produce useful goods and to be productive are "likely to develop the self-esteem essential to a normal, integrated personality". This kind of program would provide skills and habits and "replace the sense of hopelessness" that many inmates have.
Moreover, another technique used to rehabilitate criminals is counseling. There are two types of counseling in general, individual and group counseling. Individual counseling is much more costly than group counseling. The aim of group counseling is to develop positive peer pressure that will influence its members. One idea in many sociology text is that group problem-solving has definite advantages over individual problem-solving. The idea is that a wider variety of solutions can be derived by drawing from the experience of several people with different backgrounds. Also one individuals problem might have already been solved by another group member and can be suggested. Often if a peer proposes a solution it carries more weight than if the counselor were to suggest it.
Further, in sociology, one of the major theories of delinquency is differential association. This means some people learned their ways from "undesirable" people who they were forced to be in association with and that this association "warps" their thinking and social attitudes. "Group counseling, group interaction, and other kinds of group activities can provide a corrective, positive experience that might help to offset the earlier delinquent association". However, it is said that group counseling can do little to destroy the power of labeling. The differential-association theory emphasizes that a person is more likely to become a criminal if the people who have the greatest influence upon them are criminals.
Most of today's correctional institutions lack the ability and programs to rehabilitate the criminals of America. One can predict that a prisoner held for two, four, eight or ten years, then released, still with no educationing, there are disadvantages. For instance, members of the group might not be as open or show emotion because they want to appear "tough." Also the members might not express their opinions openly because the others might see it as "snitching." For the group to work it takes a dedicated counselor.
Another type of correctional center used for rehabilitation is halfway houses. Halfway houses are usually located in residential communities and are aimed to keep offenders in the community. The name comes from the fact that they are "halfway between the community and the prison". The "rationale" behind halfway houses is that criminal activity originates in the community, so the community has a responsibility to try to correct it. Also, sending a person who has deviant behavior and who has been associated with criminal influences, to prison would just make the problem worse. "The best place for treatment is in the community; this prevents the breaking of all constructive social ties". Programs in halfway houses usually involve work release or study release and group sessions for therapy and counseling. Most programs vary greatly depending on the administrator. Generally, the purpose is to "reintegrate" members back into the community.
There are three systems generally used in programs and in the process: "change by compliance, client-centered change, and change by credibility in that it 'makes sense.". The compliance model is designed to make good work habits. The client-centered model focuses on a high understanding of the person. The credibility model emphasizes making decisions and getting back into the community. These programs are made to avoid institutions as much as possible. On the other hand, many inmates think the government does not want to rehabilitate criminals. The reason behind this thinking is that prisons supply thousands of jobs to the economy. Also the construction of new prisons brings millions of dollars into the economy each year and if there were no new prisons needed it would mean the loss of thousands of jobs. Henry Abernathy and inmate in Texas said "just think what a catastrophe it would cause if all cons across the country decided never to commit another crime." Richard Cepulonis, an inmate in Massachusetts said just the title "Department of Corrections" is a "misnomer" he said "they don't correct anything." In conclusion, things need to be done to improve rehabilitation in America. Improvements in job training, counseling, and halfway houses for rehabilitation must be brought to the forefront by citizens. If we do not get involved and try to make changes, our crime problem could worsen beyond control.
Notes:
Inmate - заключенный «tough» - «крутой»
Deviance – девиантное поведение, аномалия to «snitch» - «стучать»
Prison - тюрьма halfway – наполовину, частично
Counseling – психологическое консультирование rationale – основная причина,
Costly - ценно разумное объяснение redibility - убедительность
Delinquency - преступность compliance – согласие, соответствие
Undesirable - нежелательный misnomer – искажение наименования
To warp – отклонение от нормы, деформация con - уголовник
To offset – возместить, компенсировать worsen - ухудшать
Task 1. Answer the questions:
What types of inmates` rehabilitation can you name?
What type really “corrects” lawbrakers?
Task 2. Find in column B the translation for the words and word-combinations in column A:
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A |
B |
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Task 3. Take a vote in the group. What types of rehabilitation would be more productive?
Task 4. Write out the advantages and disadvantages of each type of rehabilitation upon release.