NCJ Number
131733
Date Published
1990
Length
58 pages
Annotation
Living Skills Programming (LSP) within the Correctional Service of Canada consists of a series of different programs that are based on a cognitive model of delinquency prevention and offender rehabilitation and is designed to train offenders in those skills and the values required for prosocial adaptation.
Abstract
Each need area in LSP has been targeted by research as contributing to or maintaining criminal behavior. The Cognitive Skills Training Program (CSTP) is the core component of LSP. Other LSP components focus on living without violence, family life and parenting skills, anger and emotion management, leisure education, and community integration skills. The major premise of CSTP is that what and how offenders think, how they view their world, how well they understand people, what they value, how they reason, and how they attempt to solve problems play an important role in criminal conduct. Thus, the basic assumption of CSTP is that offenders' thinking, not their behavior, should be the primary target of rehabilitation. A pilot project initiated to assess the efficacy of CSTP at two sites provided positive evidence that appropriate offenders were selected for participation and that change occurred in a number of targeted areas. Offenders made gains in key attitudinal and cognitive skill areas. Offenders became more positive in their attitudes toward the law, courts, and police; increased their social perspective-taking abilities; improved in critical reasoning skills; and showed more capacity for optional thinking. Appendixes provide additional information on the pilot project and LSP staff awareness training. 12 references, 10 tables, and 3 figures