Goals of Offender Counseling and Treatment 01 12 15 Overview The US Criminal Justice System The goals of offender counseling and treatment are challenged by the convergence of three recent trends 1 Political and scholarly debate concerning the effectiveness of offender Willie Horton Ad 1988 US President Campaign 2 A litigiously based drive for hyper vigilant if not excess agency Medical care use of force property damage crowding food services therapy accountability and nutrition etc Habeas Corpus Petitions The Prison Litigation reform Act 1996 Declining fiscal and personnel resources The primary goal of correctional counselors is to intervene with clients who are offenders Types of therapeutic interventions Prison Adjustment Prisoner re entry Risk of future offending Educational and employment Trauma Family concerns Mental Health Concerns The Counseling Process Four essential qualities of good correctional counseling 1 A sense of timing and good communication 2 Effective risking 3 Therapeutic intention and outcome 4 Professional humility Therapeutic intention is a key quality the counselor attempts to impart to his or her client through modeling empathy genuineness and storytelling Six basic elements of communication 1 Body 2 Values 3 Expectations 4 Senses 5 Words and voice 6 Past experiences Additional concerns Cultural and ethnic sensitivity Gender responsiveness Motivational Interviewing a client centered directive method for enhancing intrinsic motivation to change by exploring and resolving ambivalence Miller and Rollnick 2002 25 This is done through a process of electing and selectively reinforcing times when clients demonstrate change talk or their own self motivational statements Reflective listening Types of Correctional Counseling Correctional counseling occurs in both community based and institutional based systems o Community based systems parole and probation officers Halfway house counselors drug court case managers etc o Institutional based systems intake assessment staff vocational instructors prison chaplain psychologists and psychiatrists etc Types of interventions used in these settings include o Individual counseling and casework o Educational and vocational counseling o Recreation o Psychotherapy o Effectiveness of Offender Counseling and Treatment Meta analyses are the most effective tools to determine the effectiveness of correctional counseling programs Effective counseling is comprised of o Focusing intensive interventions on high risk offenders o Utilization of behavioral and cognitive behavioral interventions o A high degree of treatment integrity and programs quality o A method for matching characteristics of the offender therapist and o A cooperative treatment community o Administrative and institutional support o Practical life skills and treatment experiences that reinforce personal program accountability o Program evaluation o Relapse prevention strategies o A well trained and educated staff Treatment Versus Security Counselors are often faced with reconciling the competing roles of public safety and the rehabilitation and reintegration of an offender Counselor client confidentiality Security concerns that accompany the use of recreational programs 1 14 2015 Chapter 2 Understanding the special challenges faced by the correctional counselor in the prison setting Principles and Techniques A collaborative relationship between counselor and client is required for successful interventions While personal involvement with the offender is essential it is important to maintain interpersonal boundaries Looking to the past for understanding of an offenders behavior is often fruitless as offenders generally think more in the here and now o Inquires into and offenders past often provide the offender with one more excuse or justification for their criminality Counselors are advised to seek collateral information about their clients o More in depth info about their lives what they have going on Effective treatment techniques include group counseling cognitive behavioral interventions and challenging the thinking errors of the offender 8 primary criminal thinking patterns Walters 1990 s Elliot and Verdeyen 2002 1 Mollification 2 Cutoff 3 Entitlement 4 Super optimism 5 Power orientation 6 Sentimentality The blaming game I feel nothing I should get what I want I can get by with anything I m in charge Look at me being good 7 Cognitive indolence 8 Discontinuity that s to much work I talk one way and act another Resistance to treatment Power struggles are counterproductive to effective counseling To avoid power struggle between counselor and offender the 3Rs should be used o Redirection focus of attention to task issue at hand o Reframing encourage offender to adopt a different perspective o Reversal of Responsibility reflect the offenders resistance back at him her in a manner that assigns responsibility and accountability lying about the counselor telling lies again telling other offenders the counselor is an group of offenders boycott a specific counselor or counseling The Dirty Dozen Pg 31 in the book 1 Testing 2 Diversion 3 Extortion threaten them 4 Sphere of Influence 5 Disreputation 6 Rumor Clinic alcoholic 7 Solidarity session business working with male offenders 8 Negotiation 9 Revenge 10 Ingratiation 11 Splitting 12 Boundary intrusion trying to get close to a counselor brown nose them tells female counselor that a male counselor said they have no crossing the line personal life with the counselor Ethical Dilemmas Successful treatment can occur only in a secure environment treatment versus security Several ethical dilemmas can occur in the therapeutic environment o Definition of the client o Dual or multiple relationships o Competency issues o Confidentiality Contextual Demands Working in a bureaucracy Handling excessive paperwork Managing large caseloads Responding to racial and ethnic skewing Working with special needs offenders Providing crisis intervention services Surviving the dehumanizing effects of the prison environment Final Considerations Burnout prevention important for the correctional counselor to be aware of Maintaining and exercising a healthy sense of humor can help to prevent burnout Ten commandments for prison staff 1 Go home safe and sound at the end of the day 2 Establish realistic expectations 3 Set firm and consistent limits 4 Avoid power struggles 5 Manage interpersonal boundaries 6 Don t take things personally 7 Strive for an