Evaluating the Effectiveness of the National Curriculum and Training Institute’s “Cognitive Life Skills” Program among Parolees Supervised by Pennsylvania’s Board of Probation & Parole

Recently, cognitive-behavioral approaches for rehabilitation have shown measured success for reducing recidivism rates among offenders after release from prison. The present analysis utilized data provided by Pennsylvania’s Board of Probation & Parole about offenders who completed the Cognitive...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Antonio, Michael E. (Author)
Contributors: Crossett, Andrew
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2017
In: American journal of criminal justice
Year: 2017, Volume: 42, Issue: 3, Pages: 514-532
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Keywords:
Recidivism
Prison
Parolee
Offender
Evaluation
Cognitive-behavioral
Description
Summary:Recently, cognitive-behavioral approaches for rehabilitation have shown measured success for reducing recidivism rates among offenders after release from prison. The present analysis utilized data provided by Pennsylvania’s Board of Probation & Parole about offenders who completed the Cognitive Life Skills program developed by the National Curriculum and Training Institute. Propensity scoring techniques were employed to match a group of offenders who completed the program (treatment) with a statistically equivalent group who did not receive it (control). Matching variables included location and year of release, risk level, gender, age, race, offense category, and history of violent offending. General findings from a Cox proportional hazard model revealed gender, age, and criminal history impacted future incidents of recidivism, measured as re-incarceration. More importantly, the hazard model revealed, on average, a 24 % reduction in recidivism among the treatment group offenders and, on average, a 31 % reduction among high risk offenders exclusively. Policy implications will be discussed.
ISSN:1936-1351
DOI:10.1007/s12103-016-9366-2