Citation

Polaschek DLL, Wilson NJ, Townsend MR, Daly LR. J. Interpers. Violence 2005; 20(12): 1611-1627.

Affiliation

Victoria University of Wellington.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2005, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0886260505280507

PMID

16246920

Abstract

Rehabilitation programs for adult violent offending are still novel, and few published studies examine the recidivism outcomes of those who complete such programs. This study describes a New Zealand prison program for high-risk violent men. The program is intensive and cognitive behavioral. Preliminary outcome data are presented for three indices during2 or more years of follow-up: nonviolentre conviction, violent reconviction, and subsequent imprisonment. In comparison with untreated offenders, treated men were less likely to be reconvicted of a violent offense, and those who were took longer to fail. There was also a 12% difference in favor of the treated men on the two other indices, nonviolent reconviction and reimprisonment. The authors conclude that the program shows early promise and that further evaluation with a larger sample of treated men will be important in clarifying whether the program is having a differential impact on violent versus nonviolent offending.