Part I. Strategies for Reducing Crime: 1. Strategies for reducing recidivism 2. Assessing the evidence 3. Incapacitation 4. Perspectives on rehabilitation Part II. The Effectiveness of Rehabilitation Programs: 5. Academic education and life skills training 6. Vocational education, correctional industries and employment programs 7. Cognitive behavioral therapy programs Part III. Targeting Specific Types of Offenders: 8. Sex offender treatment 9. Juveniles 10. Domestic violence Part IV. Management and Treatment of Substance Abusers: 11. Drug courts 12. Outpatient and incarceration-based drug treatment Part V. Control, Discipline and Punishment: 13. Correctional boot camps 14. Intensive supervision and electronic monitoring Part VI. Conclusions: 15. What works?

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What Works in Corrections: Reducing the Criminal Activities of Offenders and Deliquents

Police require voluntary cooperation from the general public to be effective in controlling crime and maintaining order. Research shows that citizens are more likely to comply and cooperate with police and obey the law when they view the police as legitimate. The most common pathway that the police use to increase citizen perceptions of legitimacy is through the use of procedural justice. Procedural justice, as described in the literature, comprises four essential components. These components are citizen participation in the proceedings prior to an authority reaching a decision (or voice), perceived neutrality of the authority in making the decision, whether or not the authority showed dignity and respect toward citizens throughout the interaction, and whether or not the authority conveyed trustworthy motives. Police departments throughout the world are implicitly and explicitly weaving the dialogue of these four principles of procedural justice (treating people with dignity and respect, giving citizens “voice” during encounters, being neutral in decision making, and conveying trustworthy motives) into their operational policing programs and interventions

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Legitimacy in Policing : A Systematic Review

This article contends that it is time to take a critical look at a series of binary categories which have dominated the scholarly and reform epistemologies of the sentencing decision process. These binaries are: rules versus discretion; reason versus emotion; offence versus offender; normative principles versus incoherence, aggravating versus mitigating factors; aggregate/tariff consistency versus individualised sentencing. These binaries underpin both the 'legal-rational' tradition (by which I mean a view of discretion as inherently suspect; a preference for the use of philosophy of punishment justifications; and an explanation of the decision process through factors or variables); and also the more recent rise of the 'new penology'. Both approaches tend to rely on 'top-down' assumptions of change, which pay limited attention to the agency of penal workers. The article seeks to develop a conception of sentencing craftwork as a social and interpretive process. In so doing, it applies and develops a number of Kritzer's observations about craftwork (in this edition of this journal) to sentencing. These are: problem solving (applied to the rules-discretion and reason-emotion dichotomies); skills and techniques (normative penal principles and the use of cognitive analytical assumptions); consistency (tariff versus individualised sentencing); clientele (applied to account-giving and the reality of decision-making versus expression). By conceiving of sentencing as craftwork, the binary epistemologies of the sentencing decision process, which have dominated (and limited) the scholarly and policy sentencing imaginations, are revealed as dynamic, contingent, and synergistic. However, this is not to say that such binaries are no more than empty rhetoric concealing the reality of the decision process. Rather, these binaries serve as crucial legitimating reference points in the vocabulary of sentencing account-giving.

Sentencing as Craftwork and the Binary Epistemologies of the Discretionary Decision Process

Objective To describe and assess outcome measures in forensic mental health research, through a structured review and a consensus panel. Data sources A search of eight electronic databases, including CINAHL, EMBASE and MEDLINE, was conducted for the period 1990–2006. Review methods In the structured review, search and medical subject heading terms focused upon two factors: the use of a forensic participant sample and the experimental designs likely to be used for outcome measurement. Data extraction included general information about the identity of the reference, specific information regarding the study and information pertaining to the outcome measures used. The consensus exercise was implemented in two stages. At the first stage, participants were asked to complete ratings about the importance of various potential areas of outcome measurement in a written consultation. At the second stage, they were asked to attend a consensus meeting to review and agree results relating to the domains, to consider and rate specific outcome instruments identified as commonly used from the structured review and to discuss strengths, weaknesses and future priorities for outcome measurement in forensic mental health research. Results The final sample of eligible studies for inclusion in the review consisted of 308 separate studies obtained from 302 references. The consensus group agreed on 11 domains of forensic mental health outcome measurement, all of which were considered important. Nine different outcome measure instruments were used in more than four different studies. The most frequently used outcome measure was used in 15 studies. According to the consensus group, many domains beyond recidivism and mental health were important but under-represented in the review of outcomes. Current instruments that may show future promise in outcome measurement included risk assessment tools. The outcome measure of repeat offending behaviour was by far the most frequently used, occurring in 72% of the studies included in the review. Its measurement varied with position in the criminal justice system, offence specification and method of measurement. The consensus group believed that recidivism is only an indication of the amount of antisocial acts that are committed. Conclusions A wide range of domains are relevant to assessing outcomes of interventions in forensic mental health services. Evaluations need to take account of public safety, but also clinical, rehabilitation and humanitarian outcomes. Recidivism is a very high priority; the public expects interventions that will reduce future criminal behaviour. Greater attention needs to be given to validity of measurement, given the enormous variety of approaches to measurement. More research is needed on methods to take account of the heterogeneity of seriousness of forms of recidivism in outcome measurement. Validity of self-report instruments regarding recidivism also needs examination by further research. Mental health is clearly also an important dimension of outcome. The review provides clear support for the view that domains such as quality of life, social function and psychosocial adjustment have not been extensively employed in forensic mental health research, but are relevant and important issues. The role of such instruments needs more consideration.

A systematic review of outcome measures used in forensic mental health research with consensus panel opinion.

Correctional practitioners and researchers increasingly advocate the use of programmes based on cognitive-behavioural methods One approach in widespread use is the "Reasoning and Rehabilitation" model developed in Canada This article describes and evaluates the first attempt to implement such a programme within a British probation service Evaluation of the programme has included staff views, consumer views, and a reconviction study Information arising from these is summarised and assessed, with suggestions about future practice

Reasoning and Rehabilitation in Britain: The Results of the Straight Thinking on Probation (STOP) Programme

This paper describes briefly the results of an evaluation of one intensive supervision project in the north of England which was targeted at 'high tariff' young offenders. It discusses the diversion effect of the project and offers some assessment of the changes introduced by the Criminal Justice Act 1991 on this particular sentencing option. The main body of the paper reports the findings of a follow-up reconviction study of those young offenders who attended the Edge during its first 12 months of operation and compares their recorded reoffending with two samples from this age group who received custodial sentences for broadly similar offences. Finally, the possible implications of this study for the continued utility of intensive probation schemes is discussed in the wider contexts of penal policy and social justice. (Abstract Adapted from Source: British Journal of Criminology, 1995. Copyright © 1995 by Oxford University Press) England Foreign Countries Adult Crime Adult Offender Diversion Program Offender Recidivism Program Effectiveness Intensive Supervision Criminal Justice System Justice System Intervention Justice System Effects Justice System Program Young Adult 06-05

Intensive Probation with Young Adult Offenders: A Short Reconviction Study

This article reviews, in brief, the use of intensive probation schemes as an alternative to custodial sentencing in England and Wales and outlines the establishment of one such project in Leeds. Having briefly detailed the project's philosophy and working practices, the article reports the findings of an evaluation of the project and concludes with some suggestions as to whether the project is operating as a genuine replacement for custody.

INTENSIVE PROBATION FOR YOUNG ADULT OFFENDERS Evaluating the Impact of a Non-Custodial Sentence

The Urban Crime Fund initiative (UCF) in the West Yorkshire Police Authority Area between April 1992 and March 1993 furnished substantial additional resources to selected police forces (West Yorkshire, Northumbria and Merseyside) to deal with urban policing problems. In this paper, we concentrate upon the several ‘total geographic policing’, or ‘problem‐oriented policing’ projects, which in fact consumed the bulk of the budget. Having defined those terms, we describe the practical implementation of the projects by way of Dedicated Policing Teams and the ways in which they sought to achieve public consultation and accountability. We then evaluate both the processes involved in the initiative and the outcomes (in terms of recorded crime levels and clear up rates, as well as public perceptions). We conclude by noting some of the limitations which arise when, as in this case, a ‘top‐down’ initiative is grafted onto existing communities.

The urban crime fund and total geographic policing initiatives in West Yorkshire

Among its many provisions, the Criminal Justice Act 1991 contained, in its original s 29(1), a prohibition on the use of previous convictions in the determination of sentences for current offences. This particular provision was the subject of much criticism before and after its coming into effect, so much so that within a year of its implementation it was replaced by a new section which, arguably, could have precisely the opposite effect. What follows is an attempt to chart the short life and sudden death of the original s 29( 1). The importance of such a prohibition to a 'deserts-based' sentencing framework will be discussed and some possible explanations for its removal will be suggested. Some of the implications of the change will also be examined, both in terms of its impact on the coherence of the sentencing framework that remains, and its possible impact on future sentencing trends.

Ian D. Brownlee

Papers

Intensive Probation with Young Adult Offenders: A Short Reconviction Study

INTENSIVE PROBATION FOR YOUNG ADULT OFFENDERS Evaluating the Impact of a Non-Custodial Sentence

The urban crime fund and total geographic policing initiatives in West Yorkshire

Taking the strait-jacket off: persistence and the distribution of punishment in England and Wales

Compellability and contempt in domestic violence cases