An overview of offender rehabilitation: Something old, something borrowed, something new

The topic of offender rehabilitation, particularly offender treatment, has been greatly revived over the past decade. This paper opens with a brief consideration of the moral basis of rehabilitation, perhaps favouring a utilitarian stance in which rehabilitation should be a proven means by which to reduce crime. In this empirical light, a summary of the meta-analyses of offender treatment is presented. The meta-analyses have provided a major impetus for offender treatment over the past decade, helping define the principles of effective practice. One consequence of the meta-analyses has been the rise in popularity of offending behaviour programs. The desirability of behaviour change programs has been widely debated in the clinical psychology literature. Wilson's (1996) paper offers a thorough review of the issues associated with a programmatic delivery of services. Wilson's insights from the perspective of clinical psychology are borrowed and applied to work with offenders. This analysis is used to highlight the practical strengths and weakness of offender programs, raising concerns for the future. It is suggested that these concerns can be used to develop the next generation of programs and an illustration is given from work in progress in County Durham, in the north of England. The paper concludes with the view that future program development is critical if offender rehabilitation is to remain in favour.