NCJ Number
213342
Journal
Criminology & Criminal Justice Volume: 6 Issue: 1 Dated: February 2006 Pages: 19-38
Date Published
February 2006
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This article considers current developments in the "resettlement" of ex-inmates (programs to help them function successfully in the community after release) in relation to recent theory and research on factors that promote reductions in criminal behavior.
Abstract
This article argues that, although the United Kingdom's National Action Plan, being developed by the new National Offender Management Service, appropriately focuses on the delivery of practical services that will help ex-inmates find housing and jobs and deal with various problems of adjustment, it may give less attention to the mental attitudes, commitment, and motivation that are critical to stop committing crime. The article promotes an approach that combines both the practical and psychological dimensions that are the key to reducing or eliminating reoffending. The article begins with an overview of traditional approaches to "resettlement" in Great Britain, which notes the decline in such programs in the 1980s and 1990s and their recent revival in new forms as part of a broader crime-reduction agenda. This overview is followed by a summary of the main conclusions from recent literature on factors in the decline of desistance, an individual's criminal behavior, and a discussion of lessons these conclusions may hold for current resettlement strategies, particularly in the National Action Plan. This program, called "FOR--A Change," is a cognitive motivational program included in a number of experimental strategies funded under the British National Probation Service's "Resettlement Pathfinders" and evaluated by a research team led by the authors of this article. The authors believe this program offers a promising way of incorporating the findings of desistance research into mainstream resettlement practice. 8 notes and 48 references