NCJ Number
213343
Journal
Criminology & Criminal Justice Volume: 6 Issue: 1 Dated: February 2006 Pages: 39-62
Date Published
February 2006
Length
24 pages
Annotation
This article examines how research findings on factors related to an individual's stopping various criminal behaviors ("desistance") relate to the "nontreatment paradigm" of Anthony Bottoms and Bill McWilliams (1979) and the revisions to this paradigm by Peter Raynor and Maurice Vanstone.
Abstract
The "nontreatment paradigm" of Bottoms and McWilliams rests on an analysis of research findings on the ineffectiveness of rehabilitative treatment as well as theoretical, moral, and philosophical issues involved in treatment interventions. By 1994, emerging evidence on the effectiveness of some intervention programs led Raynor and Vanstone to revise the "nontreatment paradigm." While retaining an aversion to coercive treatment imposed on offenders, Raynor and Vanstone advocated cooperative involvement with offenders in helping them to achieve positive goals they have set for themselves. This article argues that a different but equally relevant form of empirical evidence--that derived from desistance studies--should prompt a reassessment of these earlier paradigms for probation practice. In isolating the factors that can defuse the influences that cause criminal behavior as well as the factors that promote law-abiding behavior, the desistance literature provides guidelines for corrections practices. The earlier paradigms, however, continue to require correctional professionals to examine the methods and morality involved in attempting to change another person's behavior. 1 table, 8 notes, and 69 references