Cann, Impact Of Cognitive Skills Programmes In Reducing Re-Conviction

Front 1

Aim

Back 1

To find out if cognitive skills programmes were effective in terms of lower re-offending rates for a sample of women prisoners.

Front 2

Sample

Back 2

180 offenders who started enhanced thinking skills (ETS- a similar programme to R&R) or R&R between 1996 and 2000, including 14 non-completers. The comparison group comprised 540 female offenders who did not participate in these programmes. All offenders were discharged in 1996-2000 and spent at least a year in the community following a custodial sentence of 6 months or more.

Front 3

Procedure

Back 3

Expected 2-year re-conviction rates were calculated for all the women who were matched by whether they were at high, medium or low risk of re-conviction. Also, actual re-conviction rates were calculated for 1 and 2 years after release. Each individual programme (ETS or R&R) was also examined for effectiveness.

Front 4

Results

Back 4

No significant difference was found between the treated group and the comparison group on expected re-conviction. No significant difference was found between the group for actual re-conviction after 1 or 2 years. No significant differences were found for ETS but for R&R the treated group actually fared worse and were significantly more likely to re-offend.

Front 5

Discussion

Back 5

These results add to a mixed picture for the effectiveness of treatment programmes. In an earlier study with male offenders, Friendship et al. (2002) found a significant difference for their effectiveness but other researchers (including Friendship a year later) have failed to find a positive effect.

Front 6

Cann (2006) suggests the following reasons in the case of females:

Back 6

1. Women offend for different reasons from men and while they may have cognitive skills deficits, these are not necessarily criminal in nature; e.g. drug abuse, relationship problems, emotional factors and severe financial hardship; 2. the programmes were inappropriate for the women’s needs, having been developed for men with men’s risk factors in mind; 3. the programmes were not delivered consistently in the women’s prisons and were limited in length, not meeting the standards in the description above.