Full Answer Section

• Tailor rehabilitative services to the individual needs of the offender. The risk-needs-responsivity principle states that rehabilitative services should be tailored to the individual needs of the offender, taking into account their risk of reoffending, their criminogenic needs, and their responsivity to treatment. To better align rehabilitative services with this principle, it is important to conduct comprehensive assessments of offenders and to develop individualized treatment plans.
• Use evidence-based practices. Evidence-based practices are those that have been shown to be effective in reducing recidivism. Some examples of evidence-based practices for rehabilitating offenders include CBT, cognitive skills training, and vocational training.
• Incorporate restorative justice principles. Restorative justice is a holistic approach to criminal justice that focuses on repairing the harm caused by crime and restoring relationships between victims, offenders, and the community. Restorative justice principles can be incorporated into rehabilitative services by involving victims in the treatment process and by providing opportunities for offenders to make amends to their victims and the community.

Peer-Reviewed Resources

• Reducing Recidivism: A Review of the Evidence (2014) by Joanna Shapland, David Hodgson, and David Farrington
• Risk-Needs-Responsivity: A Review of the Evidence and Its Implications for Treatment (2006) by James Bonta and Ross Andrews
• Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Offenders (2009) by David DeGarmo and Mark Peter
• Restorative Justice: A New Way of Thinking About Crime (2011) by Howard Zehr
• Making Rehabilitation a Priority in the Criminal Justice System (2017) by the National Institute of Justice
• Evidence-Based Practices for Reducing Recidivism (2018) by the Vera Institute of Justice
• Restorative Justice and the Risk-Needs-Responsivity Model: A Complementary Approach to Rehabilitation (2019) by Peter K.silia

These resources provide evidence and guidance on how to improve rehabilitative services in the criminal justice system. By making rehabilitative services more accessible, affordable, tailored to the individual needs of offenders, and evidence-based, and by incorporating restorative justice principles, the criminal justice system can do a better job of rehabilitating offenders and reducing recidivism.