Corrections_Today_November_December_2021_Vol.83_No.6

nEWS&vIEWS

commonly associated with offend- ing (such as mental health status, substance use, education level or employment status). For example, a drug court program may provide for treatment only to address substance abuse issues. More commonly, however, rehabilitation programs combine multiple services: for example, a drug court program that provides not only substance abuse treatment, but also individual coun- seling and vocational training. The general types of treatment services provided by rehabilita- tion programs include group work (structured via protocol or psy- choeducational content); cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) or CBT- like components (thinking skills, relapse prevention or anger manage- ment); counseling (group, individual, mentoring); academic work (GED or college classes); employment- related (work-release, job placement, vocational training); supportive residential (therapeutic commu- nity, halfway house); drug court or other specialized court; multimodal, mixed treatments (individual case management); intensive supervision (reduced probation or parole); or restorative interventions (mediation, reparations, community service). Practice Theory — Effective rehabilitation programs typically use treatment methods that are based on behavioral and social learning theories of change. Behavioral theory suggests individuals are conditioned to behave in a certain way based on experiences with reinforcement and punishment (Skinner 1965). In contrast, social learning theory posits people learn behaviors from one an- other, through observation, imitation

Rehabilitation includes programs that are designed to reduce recidivism among adults convicted of a crime by improving their behaviors, skills, mental health, social functioning and access to education and employment.

Rehabilitation programs for adult offenders This practice includes programs that are designed to reduce recidi- vism among adults convicted of a crime by improving their behaviors, skills, mental health, social func- tioning and access to education and employment. Adults may become participants in rehabilitation pro- grams during multiple points in their involvement with the criminal justice system. Evidence Rating for Out- comes —A single outcome was rated “Promising” for this practice. Looking at 634 independent effect sizes, researchers found a statisti- cally significant mean effect size of 0.203 for recidivism. This finding indicated those who participated in rehabilitation programs demonstrated reductions in criminal offending, compared with a control group who did not participate. Practice Goals/Target Popula- tion — Rehabilitation programs are designed to reduce recidivism among adults convicted of a crime by improving their behaviors, skills, mental health, social functioning and

access to education and employment. Adults convicted of a crime may become participants in rehabilitation programs at multiple points in their involvement with the criminal justice system, and programs are typically provided in conjunction with some form of sanction (e.g., incarceration or probation). Therefore, most pro- grams are delivered to persons within correctional settings, or in commu- nity settings following their release (i.e., probation or parole-based pro- grams). Community-based settings may be delivered in inpatient facili- ties, such as psychiatric hospitals and outpatient treatment centers, or in supportive residential housing such as halfway houses. In addition, some rehabilitation programs (such as drug courts) serve as alternatives to incarceration, diverting individuals into services in the community rather than into correctional facilities. Practice Components — Reha- bilitation programs do not generally follow a common, well-defined treat - ment protocol. 2 Instead, interventions and services may vary significantly by program. All programs ad- dress at least one of the risk factors

16 — November/December 2021 Corrections Today