Evidence-based Corrections

Evidence-based practice is used in all areas of corrections. It is used in institutions, in community supervision, and in treatment settings at all levels of security and across jurisdictions. The image below provides a general idea of the model of evidence based corrections, but every facility and organization will have its own specific approach. This cycle of social-science-based practice allows us to get the most "bang for our buck" so to speak. The more we know about the nature of offending and the effectiveness of our interventions, the more rehabilitation can happen.

 

The scope of evidence-based corrections

Many of our treatment approaches address offending behavior from a psychological foundation. For example, cognitive-behavioral therapy- a widespread and well-supported psychological approach to offending- looks at the cognitive processes that can lead to offending. However, there are a lot of other ways that social-science contributes to corrections, outside of looking just at the psychology of offending. For example: 

• Research on neighborhoods and neighborhood characteristics helps us understand how probationers and parolees face different challenges based on where they live. 
• Research on race helps us understand and address the disproportionate minority representation in the criminal justice system.  
• Research on gender helps us understand the unique challenges faced by female inmates and address the violence and aggressiveness created by the "tough guy" image of masculinity among male inmates. 
• Research on behavioral ethics helps us understand how people respond to being in charge of other people and provide the professional training required for the challenges of supervision. 

The list goes on. Overall, the main point is that there are lots of ways we can use the scientific method in a correctional context, so evidence-based corrections is a large and valuable part of modern correctional approaches.