The article by Andrews, Bonta, & Wormith (2006) examines the progress of risk assessment in the criminal justice field. The three examine progress of risk assessment based on fourth generation of offender assessment. The article describes the fourth generation of offender assessment as those who “guides and follows service and supervision from intake through case closure.” The investigation aims at not only to improve management information systems in the corrections but also to improve the human service treatment systems and assessment systems. The article also examines clinical judgement and the need for change, with an emphasis on structured clinical judgment. The article also examines those challenges that forensic mental health approaches encounter from the general correctional instruments. The article examines additional principles of effective service that may be applicable in the case of offenders by analyzing the meta-analytic evidence. The last segment of the article evaluates the consequences of RNR and the challenges facing the need assessment field, and derived from the humanistic perspectives, feminism, and critical criminological perspectives. The article conducts an empirical analysis using diverse offender groups to identify the risk and/or risk factors.
Risk of recidivism and relapse among women-inmates
Robbins, Martin, & Surratt (2009) investigate the risk of recidivism and relapse among women-inmates who were previously substance abusers as they go back to the community. The main aim of the article is to examine the effectiveness of work-release therapeutic community programs among substance-abusing women inmates who reenter the community. In order to do this, the three examines the impact of the therapeutic community programs from three perspectives. First, the article examines the impact of the program on women who enter and successfully complete the program. Second, the article examines the impact of the program on those who embarked but failed to complete the program, and finally on those who did not participate in any form of work-release therapeutic community program. Robbins, Martin, & Surrat (2009) also compare the impact of having children on the risk of recidivism and relapse into substance abuse. In order to do this, the study examines the risk of women who anticipated joining their children on leaving prison and those who did not have any children. The findings of the study indicate that women who participated in work-release therapeutic programs were less likely to recidivate or use drugs in the first one and half years following their release.
Impact of inmate participation in prison-based therapeutic community programs
Zhang, Robert, & McCollister (2011) examine the impact of inmate participation in prison-based therapeutic community programs on their behavior once they leave prison. The study involves a quasi-experimental analysis of the prison inmates for 5 years after they leave prison. The study also utilizes a comparison group of inmates who did not participate in the program. The study gives contradictory findings to previous studies on the role of prison-based therapeutic community programs. The findings indicate no significant difference in recidivism rates and involvement in drug and substance abuse for inmates that participated in the prison-based therapeutic program and those who did not participate. In both groups, there was a 60 percent recidivism rate in a span of two years after inmate reentry into the community. In 5 years’ time, the return rate to prison was 73 percent for both groups. The study involved 395 participants who underwent the prison-based therapeutic program and a comparison group totaling 403.
References
The Recent Past and Near Future of Risk and/or Needs Assessment by D. A. Andrews, James Bonta, J. Stephen Wormith
Substance Abuse Treatment, Anticipated Maternal Roles, and Reentry Success of Drug-Involved Women Prisoners by Cynthia Robbins, Steven Martin, Hilary Surratt
Therapeutic Community in A California Prison: Treatment Outcomes After 5 Years by Sheldon Zhang, Robert Roberts, Kathryn McCollister
