NCJ Number
232522
Journal
Victims & Offenders Volume: 2 Issue: 4 Dated: April 2009 Pages: 148-169
Date Published
April 2009
Length
22 pages
Annotation
This article presents a comprehensive review of research on the effectiveness of offender rehabilitation programs.
Abstract
Responding to the "nothing works" movement in corrections, researchers in the field of corrections have employed meta-analytic techniques since the mid-1980s to cumulate knowledge on the effectiveness of offender rehabilitation programs. The purpose of this article is to summarize the contributions of these quantitative reviews in the field of corrections with special emphasis on the validation of the principles of effective intervention in particular. Meta-analysis has facilitated the identification of "what works" within correctional treatment, including the specific criteria for optimizing effectiveness along clinically and psychologically relevant dimensions. (Published Abstract)