WHO BENEFITS FROM COGNITIVE SKILLS PROGRAMS

Course overview

This course is based upon material published in the journal Criminal Justice and Behavior by Sage Publications on behalf of the International Association for Correctional and Forensic Psychology (IACFP). This course, including the continuing education credits are offered free of charge as a benefit to all IACFP members. Abstract: Cognitive skills programs, which teach problem-solving skills and perspective taking, have a strong evidence base for their ability to reduce recidivism with convicted populations. This study explored whether the Enhanced Thinking Skills program, delivered over several years to 21,000 male prisoners in England and Wales, reduced reoffending for some categories of offenders more than others by comparing predicted with actual reconviction rates. Consistent with earlier research, attending the program was associated with significantly reduced reoffending for sexual offenders (a 13 percentage point reduction), violent offenders (17 point reduction), and other non-acquisitive offenders (10-12 points), but not for offenders convicted of burglary or robbery. After controlling for risk, age, previous offenses committed, sentence length, and program completion, current offense type persisted as an independent and significant predictor of reoffending. Implications for the targeting of cognitive skills programs from this evaluation of a real world, large-scale implementation, and directions for future research, are discussed. Forensic and clinical psychologists can benefit from this course. In addition, this course is appropriate for social workers and professional counselors, especially those interested in forensic psychology or those who work within the criminal justice system. This course is appropriate for intermediate and advanced level practitioners who wish to enhance their knowledge of cognitive skills programs and recidivism risk impact in juveniles. Authors: Travers, Mann, and Hollin Learning Objectives: This course will provide the practitioner with detailed information regarding of cognitive skills programs and recidivism risk impact in juveniles. Specifically, a professional will: Identify risk reduction resulting from cognitive skills training programs for juveniles. Distinguish types of risk that do not benefit from cognitive skills training programs. Describe which risk behaviors are most likely to benefit from cognitive skills training programs. Citation: Travers, Mann, and Hollin (2014). Who Benefits From Cognitive Skills Programs? Differential Impact by Risk and Offense Type. Criminal Justice and Behavior Vol 41 No 9 Come and visit us on the web at www.ce-classes.com