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41 Crim. Just. & Behavior 1103 (2014)
Who Benefits from Cognitive Skills Programs: Differential Impact by Risk and Offense Type

handle is hein.journals/crmjusbhv41 and id is 1069 raw text is: WHO BENEFITS FROM COGNITIVE SKILLS PROGRAMS? Differential Impact by Risk and Offense Type ROSIE TRAVERS RUTH E. MANN National Offender Management Service CLIVE R. HOLLIN University ofLeicester 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. Keywords: offender; offending behavior program; rehabilitation; cognitive-behavioral intervention; reducing reoffending C ognitive skills programs are cognitive-behavioral programs designed to help offenders solve problems and make personal decisions more effectively by helping offenders learn how, rather than what, to think. Originating in Canada, this approach to offender reha- bilitation is based on research demonstrating that offenders have distinctive thinking styles (Ross & Fabiano, 1985). These programs are now widespread (Hollin & Palmer, 2009). Two recent U.K. studies on the effectiveness of cognitive skills programs in reducing the reoffending of prisoners (Sadlier, 2010; Travers, Wakeling, Mann, & Hollin, 2013) con- firmed earlier findings, in both the U.K. and other jurisdictions, of a significant treatment effect (Friendship, Blud, Erikson, & Travers, 2002; Robinson, 1995; Tong & Farrington, AUTHORS' NOTE: We would like to thank Ralph Serin, James McGuire, Philip Howard, and Robin Moore for helpful comments on earlier versions of this article. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Rosie Travers, Commissioning Strategies Group, National Offender Management Service, Clive House, Petty France, London SW1H 9E)( UK; e-mail: rosie. travers@noms.gsi.gov. uk. CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND BEIAVIOR, 2014, Vol. 41, No. 9, September 2014,1103-1129. DOI: 10.1177/0093854814543826 © 2014 International Association for Correctional and Forensic Psychology 1103

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