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Journal Article 12.1

Citation: Newsom, J., & Cullen, F. T. (2017). The risk-need-responsivity model revisited: Using biosocial criminology to enhance offender rehabilitation. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 44, 1030–1049.

Abstract: During the past four decades, researchers and practitioners working in corrections have shifted from a “nothing works” to a “what works” orientation. Emphasizing the importance of adopting evidence-based interventions, Andrews and Bonta have argued that efforts to rehabilitate offenders should adhere to a number of specified principles of effective intervention, three of which—risk, need, and responsivity—are considered the most critical. These principles were derived from Andrews and Bonta’s theory of the psychology of criminal conduct, which underscores the necessity to link correctional practice to empirically defensible theories of offending. The vast majority of research has provided evidence of the effectiveness of the risk-need-responsivity model; however, far less attention has been given to expanding its theoretical foundation. Given the wealth of evidence supporting biosocial explanations of criminal behavior, we consider potential avenues for enhancing the risk-need-responsivity model through the integration of key findings from biosocial research.

Journal Article 12.2

Citation: Bosma, A. Q., Kunst, M. J. J., Dirkzwager, A. J. E., & Nieuwbeerta, P. (2017). Selection processes in prison-based treatment referrals: A street-level bureaucracy perspective. Crime & Delinquency. doi:10.1177/0011128717719662

Abstract: Studies indicated that detainees are not always allocated to treatment programs based on official guidelines. Street-level bureaucracy theory suggests that this is because government employees do not always perform policies as prescribed. This study aimed to assess whether this also applies to the allocation of offenders to treatment in Dutch penitentiary institutions, and aimed to determine which factors influenced this. The proposed questions were addressed by studying a group of 541 male prisoners who participated in the Dutch prison-based Prevention of Recidivism program. Results showed that official guidelines were, in most cases, not leading when referring detainees to programs. Instead, treatment referrals were influenced by a broad range of risk factors, as well as the length of an offender’s sentence.