Focusing on Effective Offender Transitioning in Community Corrections

Posted by Evan C. Crist, Psy.D. on 6/16/16 12:30 PM

Transition-blog-image.jpgMy 15-year-old daughter has her driver’s permit. She is attentive and cautious, but sometimes being in the car with a learning driver is a bit harrowing. She is slowly becoming more comfortable and confident but still needs guidance at times and frequent feedback for assurance. She will have her license soon, but, for now, this learners’ permit experience serves a great transition from being an unlicensed driver who still needs Dad to play taxi driver to a licensed driver who believes she needs nothing from no one.

Learning the necessary skills to earn that freedom is not without stress for driver and passenger, but imagining what the roads would be like without such a transition period is certainly far more frightening.

Transition Clients Back into the Community

Thoughtful planning, basic skills training and the freedom to make some mistakes are vital aspects of a good transition for community corrections offenders too. In fact, it can be argued that the lack of such a process is largely to blame for our unacceptably high recidivism rate.When an offender leaves prison with a bus ticket and good advice, but little structure and less feedback, the consequences are predictable. Certainly some people can learn to swim by being thrown in the deep end, but most learn better, and with fewer bad mistakes and habits, with a little direction and a lot of support.

Recognizing the importance of such a process, in Colorado, offenders who move from prison to a community corrections program prior to being placed on parole are actually referred to as “transition” clients. Most similar programs have a level system in which the more engagement in the process you demonstrate, the greater freedom you earn.

Unfortunately, the emphasis on support and feedback often decreases more quickly than the need for structure and support does when an offender is transferred to a lower level of supervision. Much like trying to keep a teenager’s brain active during the summer so that they do not forget what they learned in the previous nine months in high school, the point of transition is less about pushing for major change and more about attempting to maintain the gains already realized.

Controlling vs. Facilitating

Not that we ever have control over another person’s behavior, but during the transition period, the amount of time and influence you have with them decreases substantially…by design. Allowing them to struggle but ask for help is part of the plan, not a failure to plan. Encouraging them to think for themselves rather than just comply with rules by definition comes with some antisocial and impulsive choices.

While some addicts go cold turkey and never relapse they are the exception to the rule. Children fall down when they are learning to walk… their legs and brains are not mature enough to handle more than a few steps without giving way to exhaustion or imbalance. Appropriately, our response usually includes some combination of positive reinforcement for attempting the move to greater independence and encouragement to try again, with a pinch of advice or guidance.

Ultimately, the message is, “You can do this!”

While the focus on and treatment of criminogenic needs certainly continues, the stability factors that indirectly influence criminal behavior become even more important during the transition period. Without the daily structure and support coming from their case manager or P.O., offenders will be looking for it elsewhere. Offenders, particularly stimulant abusers, are prone to boredom. With the decrease in the amount and frequency of treatment and professional contact, they often start to notice environmental influences that they had been successful at blocking out for several months.

Environment is always a powerful influence on behavior, but during a period of uncertainty, its power increases substantially.

Stability Factors in your Client's Environment

While we have little direct control over another person’s environment, the following stability factors determine, to a large extent, who an offender spends time with and where:

Employment: While not a primary criminogenic need, a sense of purpose and a structured day makes most people more satisfied with their life. Being unemployed does not lead directly to crime but according to my grandmother, “Idle hands are the devil’s playground.” That can’t be good!

Financial Stability: When people are not constantly struggling to survive, they are better able to focus on the future. While the presence of money will not make someone less prone to crime, when it isn’t there, “easy money” becomes a unique temptation. It is much easier to avoid temptation when you don’t have to worry about your next meal or shoes for your children. 

Leisure and Recreation: Desistance from crime usually includes changing your playgrounds and playmates. Boredom breeds a sense of nostalgia for “the good ole days.” Like an alcoholic who believes he can hang out in a bar without drinking (some can!), the desire to see old friends and old places tends to increase over time. Without a prosocial network of friends and activities, the desire to be “where everybody knows your name” often wins.

Housing: While linked to financial stability, adequate housing is not just about money. There are a variety of reasons individuals choose to live in what we call “bad neighborhoods.” Familiarity, cost of living, and being close to family are all good reasons to choose a residential location. Unfortunately, high crime neighborhoods mean increased exposure to antisocial associates and antisocial attitudes, the real drivers of criminal behavior.

Emotional/Personal Wellbeing: Most people function better emotionally and mentally when they are surrounded by social opportunities, even when those connections are superficial. Often, the transition to a lower level of supervision includes increased social isolation unless the offender is motivated to participate in various social activities. Social isolation, for most people, is a risk factor for depression and/or anxiety or any other emotional/mental disorder. Unlike antisocial relationships, prosocial relationships rather just happen by chance.

The idea of offender transition reminds me of the adage, “Failing to plan is planning to fail.” For sure, even the best transition plans will be met with hiccups, mountains, and unforeseen curves, but the lack of a transition plan will almost certainly create a path that, in time, leads directly back to incarceration.

To request more information or schedule an online demonstration of our community corrections software, click here. We offer integrated corrections software and support services for probation/parole, residential and reentry programs. Our Program Foundation Platform and 20+ robust modules were designed by community corrections professionals to guide organizations toward a powerful EBP implementation, relieve them of strenuous paperwork and manual processes, and enable them to focus on what matters - people!

Topics: Evidence Based Practices

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