ENT OF M JU U.S. Department of Justice T S R T A I P C E E D

B

O J Office of Justice Programs C S F A V M F O I N A C I J S R E BJ G O OJJ DP O F PR National Institute of Justice JUSTICE

P r o g r a m F o c u s National Institute of Justice Office of Correctional Education National Institute of Corrections

The Delaware Department of Correction Life Program PROGRAM FOCUS The Delaware Department of Correction Life Skills Program by Peter Finn

The program helped in every aspect of my life—for example, on building self-esteem and not letting incidents get violent. When I decided to get a divorce, my wife took the kids, but I learned not to let my self-esteem get destroyed and to control my rage. So I didn’t go do drugs. I still have the Moral Reconation Therapy (MRT) book. I looked at it on Thanksgiving Day. I saw it on the shelf, and it seemed to be saying to me “Come here!” I looked over the sketches of where I had wanted to see myself in 1, 5, 10, and 15 years. I’ve been out 2 years, but I’m already where I wanted to be in the book for my 15-year goals. My 20-year goal was to own my own business, but I already own my own home and I have a good job and a loving family. — A program graduate Prisons have been offering academic and life skills programs to inmates for many years. However, the Delaware Highlights Department of Correction has imple- The Delaware Department of Correction of- independent evaluation of the Delaware Life mented an innovative 4-month Life fers a 4-month Life Skills Program twice a Skills Program found that, for the first pro- Skills Program for prison inmates that year to up to 150 minimum- and medium- gram cycle, 19 percent of Life Skills students does much more than teach traditional security inmates during each cycle. The pro- in the four State prisons reoffended within academic and applied life skills. gram, which meets for 3 hours every weekday, 1 year after release, compared with 27 percent has three major components: academics, vio- of a group of inmates who did not participate. Delaware’s Life Skills Program is lence reduction, and applied life skills. However, the number of students and nonpar- offered in its four State prisons. In The core of Delaware’s Life Skills Program is ticipants examined was small, and the differ- 1997, these facilities housed 5,000 Moral Reconation Therapy (MRT), which is a ence in recidivism rates between them was not inmates (including 930 pretrial detain- systematic, step-by-step process of raising the statistically significant. Further analysis of ees—Delaware has no jails). Each moral reasoning level of students through a existing data and ongoing data collection will year, as many as 300 inmates enroll series of moral and cognitive stages. Students shed new light on any correlation between the systemwide, and nearly 85 percent of read How to Escape Your Prison, a workbook Delaware Life Skills Program and reduced them graduate. developed especially for inmates, that includes recidivism. group exercises designed to achieve this goal. Begun with a 3-year, U.S. Department of Why Offer Life Skills? Although MRT was designed as a tool for reduc- Education grant from the Office of Correc- ing , the five Life Skills teachers gear tional Education totaling more than $900,000, In the fourth or fifth week of the pro- much of their academic and applied life skills the program is now funded entirely by the gram, we watched a video that showed work around MRT exercises and principles. Delaware legislature at a cost of $145,000 in fiscal year 1997, or $577 for each of the 252 [a program graduate] buying a house— Research in other prisons suggests that MRT students who graduated that year. and he’s someone who’s never done may be effective in reducing recidivism. An anything right. But he got himself a job. So I realized they [program staff] weren’t blowing smoke in my face. The

2 National Institute of Justice PROGRAM FOCUS

The Link Between Educational Programs and Reduced Recidivism A literature review failed to identify stud- participation in educational programs and Sherman, L.W., D. Gottfredson, D. ies that have examined whether life skills recidivism.d MacKenzie, J. Eck, P. Reuter, S. Bushway, programs have resulted in reduced Preventing Crime: What Works, What Studies suggest that education programs are recidivism.a A large number of studies have Doesn’t, What’s Promising, Washington, most likely to succeed if students are housed reported that adult academic education pro- D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of separately from other inmates (as is done in grams for inmates result in reduced recidi- Justice Programs, 1997; Flanagan, T. J., one of the Delaware prisons), if the pro- vism. However, most of these studies have “Prison Education Research Project Final grams involve followup after release, and if been inconclusive because of methodologi- Report,” Huntsville, Texas: Sam Houston they teach skills relevant to the marketplace.e cal weaknesses, such as small samples or State University, 1994; and Office of Cor- short postrelease followup periods. In ad- The U.S. Department of Education’s Office rectional Education, “Recidivism Study dition, many studies failed to assign in- of Correctional Education and the Correc- Summaries,” Washington, D.C.: U.S. De- mates randomly to treatment and control tional Education Association are jointly partment of Education, 1986–1993. groups, compare the characteristics of stu- working on a project that examines the im- c. Harer, M.D., “Recidivism Among Fed- dents with the characteristics of inmates pact of correctional education on the rate of eral Prison Releasees in 1987: A Prelimi- who did not participate, or use statistical recidivism. A total of 3,000 offenders, ran- nary Report,” Unpublished Paper, Wash- tests to ensure that the findings did not domly selected from Maryland, Ohio, and ington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, occur by chance. As a result, the research- Minnesota, who were within 3 months of Federal Bureau of Prisons, Office of Re- ers could not prove that students did well release, were chosen for this 18-month study. search and Evaluation, March 1994; Piehl, after release because the programs changed Answers to the following research questions A.M., “Learning While Doing Time,” Un- the inmates’ behavior rather than because are anticipated: What is the relationship be- published Paper. Cambridge, Massachu- inmates who enrolled in them were so tween correctional education and postrelease setts: Harvard University, John F. Kennedy highly motivated to succeed that they would employment? Are certain types of correc- School of Government, April 1994. See not have reoffended even if they had not tional education programs more effective also, Adams, K., K.J. Bennett, T.J. participated in the programs.b than others in reducing recidivism and pro- Flanagan, J.W. Marquart, S. Cuvelier, E.J. moting employment, and does their effec- Several methodologically adequate stud- Fritsch, J. Gerber, D.R. Longmire, and tiveness differ for groups with different ies concluded that some educational pro- V.S. Burton, Jr., “Large-Scale Multidimen- characteristics? Findings from this study are grams may result in reduced recidivism for sional Test of the Effect of Prison Educa- anticipated in late 1998. some inmates. For example, after eliminat- tion Programs on Offenders’ Behavior,” ing selection bias, a study of Federal in- Notes Prison Journal 74 (4) (1994): 433–449; mates found that those who participated in Gerber and Fritsch, “Adult Academic and education programs were significantly less a. See, for example Gerber, J., and Vocational Correctional Education Pro- likely than other inmates to reoffend for as E. J. Fritsch, “Adult Academic and Vocational grams” and Flanagan, “Prison Education long as 3 years after release. A study of Correctional Education Programs: A Review Research Project Final Report.” Wisconsin inmates found that prison edu- of Recent Research,” Journal of Offender Re- d. Gerber and Fritsch, “Adult Academic”; cation programs were cost-effective in habilitation 22 (1995): 119–142. Flanagan, “Prison Education.” terms of reduced rates of return to prison b. See reviews of the available research, and increased time until reincarceration.c e. See, for example, Gerber and Fritsch, including Bushway, S., and P. Reuter, “La- However, other methodologically adequate “Adult Academic”; and Flanagan, “Prison bor Markets and Crime Risk Factors,” in studies have shown no correlation between Education.” program was for real. It’s a unique occupied), most State and Federal serious handicaps besides difficulty program for a prison, because inmates prisons, including those in Delaware, reading and writing that make it hard for always perform for the establishment typically offer a range of educational them to reintegrate into society, includ- while they’re locked up, but this was programming. Several studies have ing little or no experience in job hunting, the first evidence that I saw of a pro- reported that offenders who participate uncontrolled anger, inability to establish gram working on the outside with in educational programs while incarcer- healthy personal relationships, and fail- something that started on the inside. ated are less likely to reoffend than in- ure to establish realistic—or any—goals. mates who do not enroll in educational Many offenders also appear to lack the — A program graduate programs (see “The Link Between Edu- ability or willingness to choose ethical 1 In an attempt to give inmates the tools to cational Programs and Reduced Recidi- behavior over unethical behavior. avoid reoffending (and to keep them vism”). However, many inmates have

Program Focus 3 PROGRAM FOCUS

A Sample Life Skills Class Isabel Companiony teaches Life Skills in for the first part of the exercise; other members One student volunteered to get up in front of Delaware’s only prison for women. On of the class helped the student do the math. the class to talk about why she would like to this particular day, class began at 8:30 Then a second student repeated the presenta- be her brother—because he has been very a.m. with a session on buying a car. After tion. Companiony handed out a second exer- successful in life. However, talking about a brief explanation of the “blue book” of cise sheet on financing the car. The class her envy helped her realize that she does not car prices, Companiony distributed a hand- repeated the procedure. The exercises involved give herself enough credit for what she has out of exercises in which students calcu- calculating percentages and multiplication— done. After the student’s presentation, late how much they could offer to pay for for example, calculating monthly payments on Companiony asked her to leave the room, a car based on specified percentages a $4,400 loan at 13 percent for 4 years. and the other students voted on whether she above the wholesale price. The handout has “passed” one of MRT’s 16 stages or At 9:30 a.m., Companiony called a 15- provided retail and wholesale prices of “steps.” (See “What Is MRT,” page 5.) minute break. At 9:45 a.m., class resumed six different cars. Companiony explained After a brief discussion, they agreed that she and focused on an MRT exercise called the exercise and passed out calculators. passed. Companiony told them, “I’ve seen “trading places,” which requires students her help you guys with your math, so tell her, Some women completed the exercise as a to identify someone with whom they would ‘I appreciate the help,’ to help build her self- group, others individually. A few students like to trade places temporarily. By forcing esteem.” The student returned to the room to asked another student for help. Companiony students to figure out exactly what they like applause from the rest of the class. Other walked around the room checking on the or admire about that person, the exercise students then volunteered to speak to the students’ progress and offered assistance as helped them determine what they value class and the same procedure was followed. needed. Then she asked one student to go to most in life. The class ended at 11:30 a.m. the board and write down her calculations

To address these additional barriers to success, a number of corrections depart- Program Costs ments have implemented so-called life The Delaware Life Skills Program was established through a 3-year grant from the U.S. skills programs that provide inmates Department of Education’s Office of Correctional Education awarded in November with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes 1993, for a total of more than $916,000. The budget breakdown appears below. they need to maintain strong family ties, find and keep good jobs, manage their Item Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 finances, and lead productive lives (see Personnel $236,308 $243,008 $221,988 “A Sample Life Skills Class”). Fringe Benefits * * $76,494 The U.S. Department of Education’s Travel $10,075 $13,261 $2,000 Office of Correctional Education has Equipment $1,800 $1,800 0 2 funded 18 of these programs. The Supplies $28,130 $31,627 $5,000 Delaware Department of Correction Life Other $1,461 $1,461 $1,471 Skills Program is one such program— now funded (see “Program Costs”) Indirect Costs $8289 $8,677 $8,289 entirely by the State of Delaware—that Training $7,545 $7,545 0 has been carefully evaluated. Costs/Stipends Total $293,608 $307,379 $315,242 The Delaware Life Skills Program * Staff received no fringe benefits the first 2 years because they were contracted consultants. runs 3 hours a day for 4 months. Each of 5 teachers conducts a morning and When the State of Delaware took over funding, it provided $145,300, including an afternoon course with 12 to 15 stu- $136,500 for five teachers’ salaries for a 10-month year and $8,800 for supplies such as dents in each course. Offered twice instructional materials, videotapes, and MRT workbooks. The program survives with annually, with a 2-month interval be- less money than when the Department of Education funded it due to elimination of the tween cycles, the program can accom- program administrator’s position, reduced need for staff training, and other economies. modate 300 students each year. There The program’s cost per graduate was $1,260 under Federal grant funding and $577 under is one teacher in each of the three State funding. minimum security institutions and two

4 National Institute of Justice PROGRAM FOCUS Photo by Lewis C. Tidball Productions

in the medium security facility.3 The curriculum consists of three principal components—academics, violence reduction, and applied life skills.

Academics

● Reading comprehension ● Mathematics ● Language expression

Violence Reduction

● Moral Reconation Therapy (MRT)

● Anger management A student shares with the class what he has learned from an MRT step. ● Conflict resolution training ployer who trusts me with the keys to his MRT’s developer). The course uses Applied Life Skills house. —A program graduate a step-by-step process of raising the moral reasoning level of students ● Credit and banking Moral Reconation Therapy (MRT), a through a series of 16 hierarchically ● Job search tool for reducing violence, is the core graded moral and cognitive stages.4 ● Motor vehicle regulations of the Delaware Life Skills Program. The course is taught primarily by To many students, MRT is the Life means of group and workbook exer- ● Legal responsibilities Skills Program. Elaine Hawpe, a Life cises. The exercises are designed to (e.g., restitution) Skills teacher, says, “The bulk of what achieve therapeutic goals through ● Family responsibilities I do every day is MRT.” George Dean, educational means—that is, to alter the (e.g., child support) another teacher, reports, “I tie most of way individuals act by changing the ● Health issues my teaching around MRT.” way they think. A typical exercise asks ● Social services students to draw pictures of their big- Instructors typically spread the MRT gest problem areas and pictures of the ● Educational services exercises across the 16-week Life things that they believe will lead them ● Cultural differences Skills Program, devoting part of every to happiness. Another exercise asks ● Government and law class to MRT, spending the entire them to identify the five most satisfy- class on MRT, or skipping MRT en- ing and the five worst experiences in The Core: Moral tirely in a class to concentrate on other their lives and to consider what made parts of the curriculum. each event good or bad. Yet another Reconation Therapy asks them to systematically examine (MRT) What Is MRT? how they spend their time. Each stu- dent shares his or her results with the The MRT steps helped me the most in Life Moral Reconation Therapy is a nontra- rest of the class. Skills, beginning with the first step of ditional, cognitive-behavioral treat- ment for offenders, substance abusers, honesty. That step is as clear in my mind The program is used in corrections batterers, and other individuals with today as if I just read it. I always felt, facilities such as prisons, halfway “resistant” personalities (see “Sources stealing, lying—politicians and preachers houses, and community corrections for Further Information” in order to do it, so why not me? But I learned to do programs, as well as in drug courts the right thing. Now I work for an em- contact Correctional Counseling, Inc.,

Program Focus 5 PROGRAM FOCUS

A Sample MRT Exercise on Moral Reasoning Teacher Carol Eagle asked the class to another group reported, “We don’t want gather in small groups and take part in an anyone to die—we’re trying to think posi- and probation departments in 32 exercise. She described a hypothetical situ- tive and not have the moral burden of States. More than 20,000 students ation in which a killer typhoon is about to consigning someone to die—so we put participate each year. Instructors at- strike an island and asked each group to everyone in a hollowed-out tree trunk.” determine which 5 of the following 10 tend a 4-day training workshop during Eagle then tied the exercise to real life people they would allow to board a small scenarios. which they complete the exercises in raft and survive—and why: minister, doc- the 128-page student workbook them- tor, mechanic, ocean scientist, farmer, Eagle: “But what if you have to cut loose old selves. The workbook, How to Escape judge, sports hero, journalist, teacher, and buddies when you get out?” Your Prison, is designed specifically famous movie star. After 10 minutes of for inmates and written at a sixth- animated discussion, each group reported Student: “That’s not analogous.” grade reading level.5 its selections to the rest of the class. Eagle: “It is—what if it’s your brother? Are One group included the journalist “be- you going to sink with him?” As part of MRT, students also: cause he can write about the ones who Student: “If he’s going to get arrested, I’m didn’t survive.” Another group included ● Establish goals and identify the leaving him.” the minister “because the survivors will tools they will need to achieve them, need spiritual guidance in a time of crisis Another student: “I’ll go down with him.” including doing the right things in the and he can pray for the ones who die.” Yet right way. level off and stabilize approximately 2 impossible to know whether program ● Assess the quality of their current to 3 years after treatment.” However, participants exhibited better behavior relationships with other people and even after 7 years, MRT participants simply because they were more moti- formulate a strategy for repairing and still had a statistically significant vated to change than the other inmates. proceeding with valued relationships. lower recidivism rate than nonpartici- Despite this significant limitation, by ● Complete 20 hours of volunteer pants—44 percent compared with 60 6 looking at participants’ behavior before work. percent. Recidivism was defined as being sentenced to prison or jail for they enrolled in MRT, the researchers were able to examine how the students’ Does MRT Work? any reason, including any violation of conditions of supervision. subsequent behavior compared with the The developers of MRT first imple- problem behavior they could have been mented it in the 1980s at a correctional The National Institute of Justice spon- expected to exhibit if they had not par- facility in Shelby County, Tennessee. sored a study of MRT’s effects on ticipated. The researchers drew the Starting in 1988, they followed 70 institutional behavior and recidivism following conclusion: felony drug offenders who participated among Oklahoma prison inmates after in the program, comparing them with the Oklahoma Department of Correc- The majority of the analysis results 82 inmates who volunteered to partici- tions implemented the program in strongly suggested that initiation [of] pate but were rejected because there 1993 throughout the system. Examin- and participation duration in MRT was no space. The developers included ing the histories of 65,390 individuals were associated with reduced risk of every third person on the waiting list under department of corrections super- problem behavior (misconduct [while in the control group. The two groups vision (nearly two-thirds probation- in prison] and recidivism incidents) on had the same average age, sentence ers), the researchers tried to compare the part of the individuals who partici- 7 length, and ethnic composition. By the behavior of inmates who partici- pated in it. comparing the two groups, the devel- pated in the MRT program with indi- opers found that, although “MRT viduals who did and did not participate The promising results of these evalua- treatment suppresses recidivism by 50 in other Oklahoma correctional pro- tions—and the enthusiasm of both stu- percent or more . . . [for] 1 or 2 years grams while in prison. However, dents and instructors for MRT—need after treatment. . . . The initially large because inmates were not assigned to be treated as preliminary. The re- treatment effect clearly appears to randomly to the three groups, it was search conducted by MRT’s developers

6 National Institute of Justice PROGRAM FOCUS

involved very small samples, and nei- issues when students say they can beat day, I asked everyone, including one of ther their study nor the study sponsored the system by not paying the balance his children who came, “What do you by the National Institute of Justice ran- on a credit card. When I teach O. Henry miss most about the member of your domly assigned ex-offenders to treat- short stories (and I tell them he spent family who’s in prison?” This student’s ment and control groups. A breakdown time in jail as an embezzler), I have the son answered, “My daddy belongs of recidivism by original conviction students put all the characters on the home. I miss him.” There was a hush (e.g., violent offenses, sex offenses, board and ask what stage of moral in the room, as the father began crying. drug offenses) would also be helpful in behavior each one has reached in the Now, the father makes fewer excuses judging the effectiveness of MRT for MRT system, so I tie the reading into about not doing the right thing because different offender populations. character building. The idea is to chal- I can remind him that there are people lenge their belief system repeatedly so out there who need him—so “do good.” How Delaware they begin to think in terms of what is Uses MRT the right thing to do.” (See “A Sample The Life Skills teachers integrate other MRT Exercise on Moral Reasoning” important MRT themes into the entire Delaware’s Life Skills teachers often for a description of a 3-hour class.) program: integrate academics and applied life Carol Eagle, another teacher, agrees: skills with Moral Reconation Therapy “In every aspect of the program, I al- ● Caring for others (see “Life exercises to reinforce MRT goals and ways ask them, ‘Did you do the right Skills Fosters Caring”). to lend relevance to these other sub- thing?’ ” Eagle illustrated her point: ● Being honest. jects.8 For example, Life Skills teacher ● Taking responsibility. George Dean reports, “In my unit on I had a student who had been in prison ● Planning for the future. investments and credit, I raise ethical several times. During the family visit Several students have made special mention of this last focus on planning: Life Skills Fosters Caring Usually, you only think about when Life Skills teachers make a sustained effort At first, I was shaky on that [helping other you’re going to leave prison, but MRT to get students to start to care about other students], because I wasn’t used to it. Then forces you to think beyond the date of people. One way they nurture caring is by I learned to care. For example, if Martin is release. requiring peer teaching. Teachers and stu- having a problem with fractions, a couple dents alike explain that, because students guys help him out. At first, the teacher had The most important part of the [Life must complete workbooks as part of their someone sit with him to help. Now guys Skills] course is writing out your goals— course work, those who have difficulty offer help spontaneously. Also, if a brother what is the first thing you’ll do when you reading and writing will need help from sees a guy slipping back into an argumen- get out, the second thing, and so on. My other students who have more advanced tative mode, he might tell him to be careful: skills. According to one student: “Look, man, you’re becoming defensive for goals are to (1) get all the identification I nothing; Joe’s entitled to his opinion . . . use need for a job and school; (2) attend Ms. [Carol] Eagle explains things on the his criticism or ignore it. adult high school to get a diploma and board but then tells everyone to help each complete a course for nursing; (3) work other: ‘If you see someone needs help, go Fostering caring is also built into MRT, for the Visiting Nurses’ Association with help them.’ And she mixes small groups with which requires 20 hours of documented my sister; and (4) get a bank account and more and less experienced people. Everyone’s volunteer work within the institution. For receptive to being helped—it amazed me. I example, students clean the classroom, save $50 a week. I never thought I could never thought she would get peer participa- tutor other inmates outside of class, or write down goals like this. If I feel I’m tion. Even a guy who can’t read at all, no one draft letters for inmates who cannot write. slipping up, I can go back to the [MRT] laughs at him, not even after class. The person who is helped signs a special book and review them; I already do that form that the student submits to the teacher here in prison. My whole life—my past Another student put it this way: for credit. and future—is in this book.

Program Focus 7 PROGRAM FOCUS

Although MRT is the program’s core, improving ties with their families as a reward. Dean calls from his home the teachers devote considerable atten- one critical element of leading produc- phone on weekends or evenings, using tion to the other Life Skills compo- tive lives—whether in prison or on the his own time and money (see “Teachers nents. Instructors are required to outside.10 Teacher George Dean tele- Innovate—On Their Own Time”). teach applied life skills and to use the phones the family of every student at American Correctional Association least once to inform them of the Two students attested to the value of videotapes and handbook, Cage Your inmate’s progress. “They’re dumb- promoting family ties. One said: Rage: An Inmate’s Guide to Anger founded when I call,” he says. Control.9 Beyond this, teachers have Because of the program, I’ve been flexibility in what and how they teach, Then they ask if he [the inmate] is able to talk as a father and friend to including selecting their own text- really okay, because they know he’s my two adult daughters. My conversa- books and classroom materials. lying when he tells them he’s okay. tion is more open now with them and Sometimes the family member tells me my mother. In the past, I never said Teachers are also free to determine the she cries herself to sleep. . . . So I re- much. Now I can tell them who I am amount of time spent on each of the assure her. I end up talking with some and that I need their support to help three components. For example, two of them for 90 minutes. But I say only me change. As a result, my daughters’ teachers estimated they spend roughly positive things to family members, and attitudes toward me have changed. 65 percent of classroom time on vio- I try to enable the parent and kid to be They used to visit me, but the visits lence reduction (principally MRT), honest with each other. But the family were just a formality. Now I’m more 20–25 percent on applied life skills, members end up talking later to their interactive with them, so they are too. and 10–15 percent on academics. All sons, telling them, “I want you to do Life skills has been that—making me the teachers devote the least time to really well in this program,” which think about what I did 20 years ago academic skills because students can gives me more clout in the classroom. and what I’ll do in the future. study them in other courses in the In addition, the students thank me for prison. According to Bruce Hobler, putting their moms at ease, because it Another said: the former department of correction makes them feel less guilty about what I had never had a relationship with my director of education who set up the they’ve done to their families. dad. I was raised by a working mom. I Delaware program, “After the first blamed my father for my having stolen program cycle, we found a lot of stu- The calls also challenge inmates’ notion guns and ending up in jail. The pro- dents were in or had already taken that people do things only if they expect basic education programs. So rather than duplicate that, I allowed the Teachers Innovate—On Their Own Time teachers to spend more time on the other two components.” One day, teacher Isabel Companiony no- interest in purchasing and reselling the ticed a cross that a former student had crosses. The students sold the crosses for made out of canvas and satin ribbon. That $1 each; of that, 12–15 cents went to Life Skills Involves evening she stayed up until 2 a.m. writing reimburse the prison for materials, 50 the Community a proposal for her students to start a small cents was credited to individual inmate for-profit business making the crosses. The accounts for each cross they made that The teachers themselves added two warden approved the plan and arranged a sold, and the churches that retailed the other elements to the Life Skills Pro- small cash advance to buy enough materi- crosses kept the balance. als for 500 crosses. gram—involving family members and The activity has enabled Companiony to bringing in guest speakers. After her students made an initial produc- teach her students practical business skills tion run of 100 crosses, Companiony sold (e.g., the concept of overhead) and create The Life Skills Program in general and 75 at two State education workshops. She motivating math exercises (e.g., calculat- MRT in particular place a strong em- also contacted churches to solicit their ing profits). phasis on students reestablishing or

8 National Institute of Justice PROGRAM FOCUS Photo by Lewis C. Tidball Productions

assembly how the Program Operations Life Skills Pro- There are four structural components gram has made a of the Life Skills Program’s opera- difference in their tions: recruiting, staffing, housing, and lives. On one followup. occasion, three students sang a 1950s-style pop Recruiting Students song they com- During the 3 years the Life Skills Pro- Students help each other in a small-group exercise. posed in honor of gram was funded by the U.S. Depart- the program. The ment of Education, the course was gram changed my hatred for my fa- governor has spoken at three gradua- offered only to minimum- and medium- ther. Because of the program, I called tions; other speakers have included security inmates with at least 6 but no him up. He was shocked to hear from judges and State senators. more than 22 months remaining on me. I realized that I had neglected my their sentences. These limits were cho- dad—he didn’t just neglect me. On their own initiative, teachers also sen to schedule graduation approxi- bring in outside speakers to talk to mate to release, to avoid enrolling Teachers in three of the institutions host students, primarily about making the inmates who would remain in prison a well-attended family event such as a transition to freedom after release. Rep- for many years after completing the picnic or inmate presentation followed resentatives of the State’s Department course, and to make sure that there by socializing during each program of Labor explain how ex-offenders can would be enough applicants to make cycle. (Security considerations at the find decent jobs, entrepreneurs discuss it possible to statistically analyze the State’s Multi-Purpose Facility make how to start a small business, staff from evaluation data. family days impossible to arrange.) the Department of Motor Vehicles Andrew Freeman, a student, explained: explain how to get a driver’s license or Once the State took over the program get a suspended license back, and the in 1996, these limitations were dropped Ms. Eagle invited family members twice head of a polytechnical school de- to accommodate the many long-term to come to the prison. On one occasion scribes how to enroll in free vocational minimum- and medium-security in- she had the family members and stu- courses after release from prison. mates who expressed a strong interest dents break into small groups—I wasn’t in the program. in the same group with my mom—to According to students, the speakers give discuss what various family members them that they can succeed after The institutions’ classification teams should do when an inmate comes home release. A skeptical inmate reported: continue to screen out the few appli- very late at night. Then each group re- cants with serious behavioral, mental, ported its solutions to the whole class. I had my family call the polytech guy to or physical problems that would inter- In my group, a mom actually had a son verify it was true about the free classes. fere with attendance. Teachers, and who was going through this problem. It was. I never thought there were any sometimes the institutions’ education The groups help each family to see how opportunities besides selling drugs and supervisors, then screen applicants other families would solve the problem, working at fast food joints. So you can’t with personal interviews to make sure and they also help everyone to see that give the lame excuse, ‘Man, there’s they are serious about doing the work everyone has the same problems. nothing out there.’ But it starts in here. required. Difficulty in reading or writ- You can’t wait until you’re ready for ing is no barrier to enrolling. In fact, All the teachers invite family members release to change your thinking and applicants are not even tested for basic to attend graduation ceremonies. Typi- behavior and attitude. skills until after they have enrolled. cally, one or more students tell the

Program Focus 9 PROGRAM FOCUS

Initially the program When the 3-year had difficulty getting Federal demonstration inmates to apply. The project grant ended program was advertised in 1996 and the State through posters in picked up the bill Photo by Lewis C. Tidball Productions dining halls and by each (see “Teamwork and institution’s education Evaluation Win the supervisor during infor- Day”), the position of mation sessions with program administrator inmates. According to was dropped. However, John Liptak, the Students in the women’s prison work on a math exercise together. Hobler continued as program’s first director, acting program admin- “Inmates wanted to know, ‘What’s in reported that one attractive feature of istrator until he resigned from the this for me?’ Some of the men threw the program is the chance to live in an department in August 1997. the program flier on the floor, saying, environment that is better regulated, ‘I don’t need this!’ ” In response, more peaceful, and cleaner than in the Housing Liptak and other staff members de- other housing units. According to a Bruce Hobler believes it would be ideal scribed the program, the opportunity for program graduate, “The initial attrac- if all Life Skills students in each institu- earning additional “good time,” and the tion for me was that the pod was a tion lived together in housing units possibility of more favorable consider- physically safe environment—for ex- away from the general population. ation at parole hearings. In addition to ample, there was less stealing.” Some “Life Skills is a 24-hour program,” he inmates’ skepticism about the program, inmates in the women’s facility enroll said. “Students need to apply what they Life Skills had to compete with other because they have more freedom than learn in class to their everyday lives in institution programs for students. in the other units: they are allowed to prison and receive positive reinforce- wear street clothes and walk unescorted ment for their changed behavior from By 1997, enrollment was no longer a to the medical unit and cafeteria. After other inmates.” (Research tends to problem. In fact, today’s students con- the first cycle, however, most students confirm this view—see “The Link sistently report that they heard about reported they enrolled in the program Between Educational Programs and the program from other inmates who because other inmates recommended it. were attending or had graduated. As a Reduced Recidivism.”) However, with the exception of the multipurpose facil- result, word of mouth is the only out- Staffing reach method now being used—and ity, none of the other institutions were there is still a waiting list at some insti- When the Life Skills Program began in able to establish such a housing tutions for each new cycle. Interested 1994, staff members included a full-time arrangement. inmates write letters to the teachers program administrator and five full-time Inmate movement presented a problem asking to enroll and explaining why instructors. As part of their regular du- at Delaware’s Multi-Purpose Facility they are interested in the program. ties, the education supervisors in the prisons assist with student recruitment. because, with 32 housing units, in- Why does the Life Skills Program no Bruce Hobler, former Life Skills project mates would have to come from all longer have a shortage of applicants? director, estimates that he also spent 50 parts of the prison to attend classes— As described, inmates can get good to 60 percent of his time on the program a logistical nightmare. When one of time for participating in the program. during its first year and 40 percent of his the institution’s Life Skills teachers, Furthermore, inmates in the Multi- time the following years. “It took a lot Leroi Coit, explained the dilemma to Purpose Facility, where Life Skills more time than I ever expected—being the warden, the administrator agreed students are housed together in a spe- supportive, giving talks, making a video- to move all Life Skills students into cial pod (see the section on housing), tape—but I’m glad I did it.” one minimum/medium pod, accommo-

10 National Institute of Justice PROGRAM FOCUS

Teamwork and Evaluation Win the Day The commissioner of the Delaware De- tive of the State Department of Labor. The stead of five teachers. However, the com- partment of Correction had long been in- committee was especially useful for getting missioner presented the program terested in correctional education. When the prisons’ senior administrators to cooper- evaluator’s preliminary results regarding the U.S. Department of Education issued a ate with the program, because the Life Skills’ promising impact on recidi- Request for Proposals to fund inmate edu- commissioner’s highly visible participation vism to the legislature’s Joint Finance cation programs, the commissioner sup- on the committee made it clear that he fully Committee, and the program received ported Bruce Hobler’s interest in submit- supported the program. As a result, Hobler funding for five teachers—all new monies ting a proposal. The department received reports, “We had a much easier time getting for the department. (See “Program Costs” its funding in November 1993. what we needed for the program. For ex- for a breakdown of the first 3 years.) ample, we were able to get inmates classi- Hobler asked a planner with the Delaware According to Representative Richard fied to the program in a short period of time Criminal Justice Council, the State’s crimi- Davis, Chair of the legislature’s Joint Fi- and hold graduation ceremonies within the nal justice planning agency, to put to- nance Committee, the program’s prelimi- institutions with family members in atten- gether under his supervision what became nary evaluation results were influential in dance.” Having the data processing center the Life Skills Program curriculum. Hobler motivating the legislature to take over the director on the committee with the commis- hired a project director in March 1994 and program’s funding. “The budget commit- sioner also enabled the program to get the five instructors in April. The first Life tee looks hard at programs begun with names of eligible inmates statewide in time Skills cycle began in June 1994. Federal funding to determine whether they to set up the first program cycle before word are producing good results. The informa- Hobler also formed an Oversight Com- of mouth became the primary outreach ap- tion we had on the Life Skills Program was mittee, which he chaired, that included the proach. The committee met monthly from that it was helping to prepare inmates to commissioner of corrections, the bureau late 1993 until late 1994, then every 2 or 3 leave prison and not come back. We don’t chief of prisons, the education supervisors months until it was disbanded in 1995. have a lot of prison programs that have a in each of the four institutions, the head of Before Federal funding ran out, Hobler pre- good handle on reducing recidivism, so if Veterans Affairs in Delaware (a bilingual pared a budget that would support four in- Life Skills had any chance of reducing specialist and educator), and a representa- recidivism, we felt it was worth keeping.” dating 60 inmates near the classroom. At a brief reunion, four program gradu- Graduates Who Although half the residents were not ates—all now working full time in the current Life Skills students, most of community—reminisced about their Remain in Prison them were program graduates with experiences when living in the pod. Still Benefit From time left to serve. Graduate A [a member of the first class Life Skills Coit screened the officers who super- to live in the pod]: When we were Ideally, the program is best suited to stu- vise the pod, because he wanted only graduating, it was a big concern for dents who are released soon after the course those who would support the program. me whether I would be forced back ends. However, even inmates who remain For example, officers would be re- into a negative environment. But incarcerated for years after the program quired to enforce quiet time for study because of Leroi Coit, we could stay ends appear to benefit. According to cur- hall, restricting even nonprogram resi- in the pod’s positive environment rent student Andrew Freeman, “I don’t get dents from watching TV during this before we hit the streets. You can’t released until 2009, but Life Skills will time. Officers would also be asked to use the tools you learn in Life Skills help me deal with my time in jail—to be recommend inmates who should be as well if you get put back into [the more patient, not be upset at little things I can’t control, recognize that I’m not al- dropped from the program because of general prison] population. ways right, be more tolerant. I used to be poor behavior in the unit or even in argumentative—I had to be right and I took Graduate B: By remaining in the pod, the corridors. Coit appointed four Life everything personally. Now I’m more laid Skills graduates living in the pod as the [Life Skills] graduates acted as back. For example, when I suggested that a peer counselors, who helped students role models for the new students. guy in class try not to keep saying “uh . . . uh” when problems arose, assisted them during a mock interview, he told me to go with homework, and prevented disre- Graduate C: Thirty people ended up get some Noxema for my acne. But I didn’t spectful behavior (see “Graduates bonding together. When someone react hostile like I would have in the past. Who Remain in Prison Still Benefit began slipping—for example, I’ve learned to walk away from people From Life Skills”). cussing—we would talk to him— who just want to argue.” “Pull up on your language.”

Program Focus 11 PROGRAM FOCUS

Graduate D: You knew that if you group that he was starting to have prob- ● A willingness to extend themselves cried, you wouldn’t be held as a lems making ends meet with his un- beyond the technical requirements of sissy, because we’d all had the skilled job. “He had been a drug dealer, the job (e.g., telephoning relatives in same classroom experiences. and he began wondering whether he the evenings and on weekends). should start dealing again. Another Followup member of the group said, ‘Why don’t The instructors have to be especially talented to teach MRT properly. For “One area in which the program is you come with me to see Ed Lucus [an example, they have to be able to: weak,” according to Bruce Hobler, employer relations representative with the Department of Labor who had been “is in the transition to the community ● Handle the intense emotions MRT a guest speaker in the class]?’ The after release.” Hobler had originally exercises can elicit among students graduate met with Lucus, was placed in planned for Life Skills graduates to (see “Tension—and Improvisation— electrical school for 3 months, found a complete the first 12 steps of Moral in a Life Skills Class). Reconation Therapy in prison and the job, and was licensed.” final 4 under the supervision of spe- ● Model the behaviors they try to cially trained probation officers. The Importance of instill in their students, including open- However, even though funding was Finding Qualified ness, honesty, and not always acting in obtained for training the officers in Staff the expectation of a material reward. MRT and one officer received training and began holding group sessions, the According to Bruce Hobler, “The ● Challenge students constantly to plan was abandoned because the pro- power of the program lies in its capac- live up to their own stated priorities bation system did not allow for Life ity to hire and train correctional and goals. Skills graduates to be assigned to educators who are motivated to help specific probation officers. incarcerated students.” The teachers In fact, while they are in the program, need to be qualified to provide instruc- and in many cases for their entire pe- As a result, Leroi Coit took it upon tion in adult basic education, but, as riod of incarceration, students spend himself to create an opportunity for previously noted, they spend most of more time with their Life Skills teach- graduates within easy travel distance of their time teaching MRT and applied ers than with anyone else. the State’s largest city, Wilmington, to life skills. As a result, more important Because obtaining unusually capable meet for mutual support after release. to their success than any formal cre- instructors was of the utmost impor- The meetings also served as an early dentials are thorough training in these tance, Hobler instituted a lengthy warning system to identify emerging two areas and, above all, the following screening process. He first assembled problems that he and the group could personality characteristics: help short circuit. Coit obtained permis- an eight-member panel that included sion from a local community center to ● (e.g., linking characters not only the four institutions’ educa- use a conference room 1 hour a week in a short story to the MRT stages of tion supervisors but also the director for these meetings. He opened the moral development). of the State Department of Veterans’ meetings to program graduates from all Affairs (a former educator) and the four institutions and sent them all fliers. ● Flexibility (e.g., switching back State supervisor of . Usually only 5 or 6 graduates come to and forth, as needed, between MRT, Panel subgroups shared the work of each meeting—although as many as 12 life skills, and academics). narrowing down the 95 applicants to have attended—because they develop 20, mindful of the two most important time-consuming commitments to work ● Stamina (teaching two 3-hour qualifications—experience with both and family. classes a day with often outspoken adult and correctional education. The and unhappy students). entire panel then interviewed each of Coit remembers a graduate who had the 20 remaining candidates, individu- been out of prison for a year telling the ally rating each applicant’s responses

12 National Institute of Justice PROGRAM FOCUS

Tension—and Improvisation— in a Life Skills Class

Janet Lopez, a former Life Skills teacher, The father, playing himself, started out by tells the following story to illustrate a asking his “daughter,” “You know I love came very frustrated and said I was number of features of the program, in- you, you’re my baby. Why did you do cluding the need to address students’ im- this? You’re so young!” He then began quitting, but she offered me help after mediate needs, the highly charged emo- crying, repeating, “I love you.” Then he class and that made me see it through. tions the course can elicit, the value of turned to the “boyfriend” and yelled, —A Life Skills Student student honesty and trust in each other, the “How dare you! You’re stealing my daugh- need to learn to control violent behavior, ter. How can you provide for her?” Evidence of and the importance of caring for others. “Boyfriend”: “But I love her.” Effectiveness When I noticed that a big-time drug Father: “But you’re a child. How can you dealer was extremely upset during one Students and teachers alike are enthu- support her?” class, I took him outside the room to ask siastic about Delaware’s Life Skills what was going on. He told me that he had “Boyfriend”: “By working in my family’s Program. just learned that his 15-year-old daughter construction business. I’m sorry, but I will had gotten pregnant while he was in prison take care of our child.” I was on my unit doing nothing— and was moving out of their home. He was gambling and talking slick and hus- so angry he wanted to hit someone, so he Eventually, the father got up and held his “daughter,” saying, “Please don’t leave tling inside the institution—the same felt he should go off by himself so he things I did on the outside, and I got wouldn’t have the opportunity. Instead, I the house, I’ll help you.” Then he began to tired of it. So when my friend enrolled, proposed that he return to class and do calm down. He never did hit anyone. In- a role play of the situation, but I empha- stead, after he graduated, Leroi Coit and I decided to enroll. It broke the mo- sized that he could not hit anyone. “You I made him a peer counselor in the pod. notony of jail, gave me structure. The can curse and scream if you need to,” I After his release, he took classes to be- Cage Your Rage book and videos, and said. He agreed to give it a chance. So I come a cook, and now he’s a chef. He acting out prison scenes—for example, explained the problem to the class and reconciled with his daughter right after someone knocking over your cup of asked for two volunteers to play his daugh- his release. His daughter did move out, coffee—helped me deal with my anger. but her child’s father is supporting her ter and the daughter’s boyfriend. Several I used to get angry if someone on the macho inmates offered to be the daughter! and the baby. He told me, “You saved me with that role play.” basketball court called a foul. The program taught me a different per- spective—considering the conse- to a common set of questions on a Miss Eagle teaches everything for 3 quence of my actions. 1 to 5 scale with written comments. hours, and she’s always pushing us. —A released program graduate Where does she get Photo by Lewis C. Tidball Productions Teaching two 3-hour classes 5 days a the energy? week for 4 straight months and often —A Life Skills dealing with emotionally charged is- student sues can be exhausting and stressful. As one teacher said, “Sometimes I’m After 2 months, I so drained from doing MRT in my didn’t want to have morning class that I just don’t do it to get up so early in my afternoon class.” Despite these any more, but challenges, on their evaluation forms Miss Izzy [Isabel students routinely rate the teachers Companiony] came very highly—from 3.57 to 3.77 on a and woke me up for 4-point scale. Students also comment 2 straight weeks. I spontaneously about how energized was very impressed and caring the instructors are: that she would bother to do that. An inmate in the women’s prison writes her answers to a math Another time, I be- exercise on the chalkboard for other students to check.

Program Focus 13 PROGRAM FOCUS

Many family members of inmates have small pool of eligible inmates in the program defined recidivism as a pending told me they see improvements in their prisons and other reasons, she was charge or a misdemeanor or felony convic- son (or brother), such as more fre- able to establish a control group only tion in the first year following release. quent and honest , and for the first program cycle at two pris- Marsha Miller concluded that 7 percent letters thanking them for taking care of ons (with 25 inmates and 23 inmates, was the minimum reduction in recidivism their children and talking about their respectively) and for the third program that would enable the State to recoup the plans when they are released. Some cycle at a third prison (34 inmates). costs of the program by avoiding criminal family members tell me, “This is the In the fourth institution, the women’s justice system expenses to arrest, pros- first program he’s ever stuck with.” prison, Miller used sentenced inmates ecute, and incarcerate this percentage of —George Dean, Life Skills teacher leaving the institution in 1989 as a ex-offenders. comparison group. The principal What do the evaluation data say? Dur- objectives for the program follow. The data for program participants ing the first 6 program cycles between include information on inmates who June 1994 and November 1996, 826 Objective 1: Better Scores. failed to graduate. Because control students enrolled in the program. Nearly group members were free to attend After graduation, students will have a 85 percent of enrollees graduated—699 other programs, Miller could assess significantly greater average score in inmates. Of the 15 percent (127 enroll- only the value of the Life Skills Pro- academic and applied skills than con- ees) who dropped out, most (64) left gram as an enhancement to existing trol group inmates. Because nearly a because of institutional movement (e.g., correctional programs, not the third of the sentenced inmates in Dela- to work release centers) or early release. program’s value compared with no ware participate in other educational Forty-four students dropped out, and 19 rehabilitation programming. were expelled for behavior problems. programming, any increases in academic performance among Life Skills Program Overall, the recidivism objective was Of the 826 students enrolled in the students might have been due to their met. For the first program cycle, the program, 68 percent were African- other course work. Therefore, comparing rate for Life Skills students in all four American, 5 percent Hispanic, and 26 students’ scores with those of other in- prisons was 19 percent, and for the percent non-Hispanic white. Nearly half mates would have been the next step in control group members, it was 27 the students (49 percent) were between evaluating the program’s effects. How- percent—a reduction of eight points. the ages of 20 and 29, and more than ever, most inmates in the control groups, However, at one of the four prisons one-third (35 percent) were between 30 all of whom had been tested before they the recidivism rate was higher for Life and 39 years old. Thirty-eight percent of were excluded from the Life Skills Pro- Skills students than for control group students were sentenced for a crime of gram, refused to answer additional survey members. Students in this prison re- violence; 39 percent were convicted of questions once they learned they could mained incarcerated longer after pro- nonviolent drug offenses. not enroll. Pretest and posttest results among Life Skills participants did show gram graduation than students in the Marsha Miller, an outside evaluator, statistically significant improvements in other prisons; the program may be less established two principal impact self-esteem, more appropriate expressions effective when too much time elapses objectives for the Life Skills Program of anger, and constructive attitudes to- between graduation and release. and then collected the data and as- ward finding employment after release sessed how well each objective was The recidivism objective was met at (e.g., planning to rely on a job search achieved during the program’s first three of four institutions. However, rather than on luck). 3 years.11 To measure achievement, there was difficulty establishing control Miller attempted to establish control Objective 2: Reduced groups for every cycle in every institu- groups of inmates in each of the four tion. This leaves open the possibility institutions by randomly assigning Recidivism. that the program achieved its recidi- applicants to the program or to a con- Student recidivism will be 7 percentage vism objective because it served the trol group. However, because of the points lower than the control group. The most motivated or capable inmates.

14 National Institute of Justice PROGRAM FOCUS

In addition, the numbers in all using similar methods, teachers four institutions are small have the same supplies and because as of 1996 few in- facilities, and the same number mates had been released into of inmates participate in each the community for at least 1 class. year. As a result, even when Photo by Lewis C. Tidball Productions cycle one students from all Liptak advised, “Work closely three institutions and control with the wardens. Meet with group members are combined, Students review the instructions for completing an MRT exercise. them in advance to describe the recidivism difference is what you wish to do so they not statistically significant. Replicating the understand your plans and can anticipate potential problems at their institutions.” As more students and control group Program For example, although the commissioner members have lived in the community The following keys to implementing said that students would be entitled to for at least 1 year, it will be possible to Delaware’s program successfully are good time for participating, one warden provide more valid assessments of the within the grasp of any jurisdiction: felt that the program did not qualify for program’s impact on recidivism. Further- good time. Some institutions, but not more, Miller is now comparing recidi- ● Involve local stakeholders (e.g., a others, were concerned about such vism rates between the groups over a representative from the State Department things as teachers having scissors. 2-year period. The cumulative second- of Labor) and other top prison officials Liptak reported, “I spent the majority of year results for female students (com- (e.g., the commissioner and head of my time the first year dealing with war- pared with the 1989 baseline females) security) in planning the program. dens, deputy wardens, and captains iron- and for male students (compared with the ing out all these issues.” control group members) in the program’s ● Hire highly qualified teachers, first cycle are promising. Whereas only send them for MRT training, and Building in evaluation from the start 3 of 20 female Life Skills participants encourage them to be creative. and developing an effective approach have been charged or convicted 2 years to supporting students after they are after release, 171 of 335 females in the ● House students in the same pod or released from prison are important comparison group (51 percent) have work with security staff to arrange for when replicating a Delaware-style Life recidivated after 2 years. Similarly, 9 of their timely transport to and from class. Skills Program. Delaware’s program 40 male Life Skills participants have incorporated an evaluation that played In replicating the program, John Liptak, recidivated in the 2 years since their re- a major role in motivating the legisla- its first director, warns against assuming lease, compared with 10 of 20 control ture to provide funding after Federal that every prison in a State system oper- group members. Miller concludes, “If the Government support ended. Although ates similarly. He found that each insti- 2-year cumulative recidivism results the program was unable to implement tution in Delaware was unique, with its continue to be so promising when all a postrelease support component, pro- own informal rules and regulations. “So inmates from the first program cycle can grams in other jurisdictions have man- you have to deal with each facility as an be included (once they have been re- aged to develop aftercare services independent, unique entity, rather than leased into the community for at least using funding from their departments assuming that the commissioner will be 12 2 years), then Life Skills will have more of corrections and from grants. able to arrange for consistent treatment than met its recidivism objective and the for the program in every facility,” Liptak results will be statistically significant.” Other jurisdictions seeking help in said. Furthermore, for the evaluation to adopting Delaware’s approach to a be valid, it is essential that the program life skills program can find additional operate consistently within each institu- resources in “Sources for Further tion—for example, inmates are recruited Information.”

Program Focus 15 PROGRAM FOCUS

Sources for More Information For information on implementing a Marilyn C. Moses The National Institute of Corrections Delaware-style Life Skills Program, Program Manager offers literature searches and free techni- contact: National Institute of Justice cal assistance regarding prison and jail 810 Seventh Street N.W. programming. Contact: Bruce Hobler, Ph.D. Washington, DC 20531 NIC Information Center Former Project Director Telephone: 202–514–6205 1860 Industrial Circle, Suite A Delaware Life Skills Program Fax: 202–307–6256 2653 Abington Road Longmont, CO 80501 Wilmington, DE 19810 The National Institute of Justice established Telephone: 800–877-1461 Telephone: 302–475–1496 the National Criminal Justice Reference The Correctional Education Associa- Service (NCJRS) in 1972 to serve as a tion (CEA), affiliated with the American The Delaware Department of Correc- national and international clearinghouse for Correctional Association (ACA), is an tion used part of its Federal funding to exchange of criminal justice information. international professional organization develop a videotape, largely as a tool for For more information about topical searches, serving education program needs within training its instructors in MRT but also to bibliographies, custom searches, and other the field of corrections. Membership promote replication of the program in other available services, contact: jurisdictions. For a copy of the tape and includes teachers and other community the final evaluation report, contact: NCJRS corrections program personnel. Members P.O. Box 6000 receive a quarterly journal and newsletter, Anthony R. Farina Rockville, MD 20849–6000 an annual directory, and a yearbook. Cage Chief of Media Relations Telephone: 800–851–3420 (8:30 a.m. to 7 Your Rage: An Inmate’s Guide to Anger Delaware Department of Correction p.m. Eastern time, Monday through Friday) Control videotapes and handbooks are 80 Monrovia Avenue E-mail: [email protected] available from ACA’s Division of Com- Smyrna, DE 19977 munications and Publications (see note 9 Telephone: 302–739–5601 For specific criminal justice questions or for details). Annual conferences are held Fax: 302–653–2853 requests via the Internet, send an e-mail in each of CEA’s nine regions and many E-mail: [email protected] message to the above address. of its State chapters. One of the regions The Office of Correctional Education The Office of Correctional Job Training hosts an international conference with (OCE) within the U.S. Department of and Placement (OCJTP) within the Na- workshops on successful instructional Education was created by Congress in tional Institute of Corrections was created in strategies. Contact: 1991 to provide technical assistance, grant March 1995 to: Alice Tracy funding, and research data to the correc- ● Cooperate with and coordinate the ef- Assistant Director tions and correctional education fields. To Correctional Education Association speak with a program specialist and to forts of other Federal agencies in the areas of job training and placement. 4380 Forbes Boulevard receive relevant publications such as Lanham, MD 20706 Choosing Life Skills: A Guide for Select- ● Collect and disseminate information on Telephone: 301–918–1915 ing Life Skills Programs for Adult and offender job training and placement pro- Fax: 301–918–1846 Juvenile Offenders, contact: grams, accomplishments, and employment Correctional Counseling, Inc. staff de- Richard Smith outcomes. veloped the materials and training for Director ● Provide training to develop staff compe- Moral Reconation Therapy (MRT) and Office of Correctional Education offer MRT training courses and publica- Office of Vocational and Adult Education tencies in working with offenders and ex- offenders. tions, such as How to Escape Your Prison, U.S. Department of Education for correctional educators. In addition, 600 Independence Avenue S.W. ● Provide technical assistance to State and they offer other publications on topics MES 4529 local training and employment agencies. such as anger management, counseling Washington, DC 20202–7242 approaches for offenders, relapse preven- Telephone: 202–205–5621 For more information, contact: tion, job readiness, family support, and Fax: 202–401–2615 others. Additional information may be World Wide Web site: http://www.ed.gov/ John E. Moore obtained from: offices/OVAE/OCE Coordinator Office of Correctional Job Training and Ken Robinson, Ed.D. The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is Placement President, Correctional Counseling, Inc. the research and development agency of National Institute of Corrections 3155 Hickory Hill Road, Suite 104 the U.S. Department of Justice. For infor- 320 First Street N.W. Memphis, TN 38115 mation about NIJ’s efforts in corrections, Washington, DC 20534 Telephone: 901–360–1564 program development, and corporate part- Telephone: 800–995–6423, ext. 147 nership development, contact: Fax: 901–365–6146 E-mail: [email protected]

16 National Institute of Justice PROGRAM FOCUS

Notes The Psychology of the Child, New estimated participants’ likelihood York: Basic Books, 1969. of failure after release (recidivism) 1. The literature on moral reasoning in two similar ways. The research- and criminal justice is reviewed in 5. Little, G.L., and K.D. Robinson, ers also examined whether pro- MacKenzie, D.L., and R. Brame, How to Escape Your Prison, gram participants enrolled in MRT “Moral Reconation Therapy and Memphis, Tennessee: Eagle Wing who were serving a second prison Problem Behavior in the Okla- Books, Inc., 1986. To obtain cop- sentence reoffended a third time homa Department of Corrections,” ies, contact Correctional Counsel- after release. For program Unpublished Paper, College Park: ing, Inc., listed in the Sources for participants who were first-time University of Maryland, n.d.: 6–7. Further Information section. offenders, the researchers used characteristics known to be associ- 2. All 18 programs were required to 6. Little, G.L., K.D. Robinson, K.D. ated with recidivism to determine evaluate their efforts. However, Burnette, and E.S. Swan, “Seven- whether the releasees could have the Delaware Life Skills Program Year Recidivism of Felony been expected to recidivate if they was chosen to be the topic of a Offenders Treated with MRT,” had not enrolled in MRT. Program Focus because its evalua- Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment tion was thorough and it showed Review 4 (1995): 6. 8. Marsha Miller, the program’s promising results. In addition, the independent evaluator, suggests State agreed to fund the program 7. MacKenzie, D.L., R. Brame, A.R. that to be most effective MRT after Federal support ended. Waggoner, and K.D. Robinson, needs to be incorporated into a life Examination of the Impact of skills program. “First,” she says, 3. Because the minimum-security area Moral Reconation Therapy in the “inmates become adept at saying at the Delaware Correctional Center Oklahoma Department of Correc- what MRT instructors want to is a separate part of the prison, only tions, Washington, D.C.: U.S. hear—for example, verbalizing minimum- and medium-security Department of Justice, National such goals as getting married and inmates were able to enroll in the Institute of Justice, 1996, NCJ finding work—but without neces- program. As a result, during prepa- 163413. For free copies, contact sarily making the commitment to rations for the third program cycle, the National Criminal Justice achieve these goals. When MRT one Life Skills class was placed in a Reference Service, Box 6000, is part of a life skills program, medium-security area in the institu- Rockville, MD 20849–6000, instructors have the opportunity to tion, while the other remained in the call 800–851–3420, or e-mail verify whether inmates are actu- minimum-security area. [email protected]. ally taking the steps necessary to achieve their goals, such as sign- 4. The MRT curriculum is based on The researchers estimated partici- ing up for a GED or Adult Basic research into stages of moral and pants’ likelihood of “failure” Education course or enrolling in a cognitive development previously while in prison (i.e.,misconduct) prison industry program. Second, explored, particularly by Lawrence by comparing the number of inci- inmates usually have no idea Kohlberg and Jean Piaget. See dents they were involved in before about how to go about meeting Kohlberg, L., “Moral Stages and enrolling in MRT with the number their goals—they don’t have Moralization: The Cognitive- they committed after graduation. information about education and Developmental Approach,” in The researchers also estimated a training programs available to Moral Development and Behavior: probability of failure based on them after release, about how to Theory, Research, and Social inmate characteristics that are open a checking account and Issues, ed. T. Lickona, New York: known to be associated withmis- balance their checkbook, and Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1976: conduct, such as sex, age, and about all the other information 31–53; Piaget, J., and B. Inhelder, criminal history. The researchers and skills most citizens take for

Program Focus 17 PROGRAM FOCUS

granted. A life skills program is other respects. For example, they succeed, or there might have been necessary to give inmates the tools had the same rates of disciplinary a nurturing family structure wait- they need to achieve their goals.” reports and participation in treat- ing to support them after release, John Liptak, the program’s first ment programs as the other in- regardless of whether they had director, observes, “Life Skills is mates. (Holt, N., and D. Miller, maintained family ties while the best way to run the entire prison Exploration in Inmate-Family incarcerated. system education department. Relationships, Report No. 46, Abolish GED courses and other Sacramento: California Depart- 11. Miller, M.L., “Evaluation of the education classes and integrate ment of Corrections, January Life Skills Program,” Wilmington, them into a life skills program, 1972.) Another study examined Delaware: Division of Correc- because developing academic skills 400 inmates who participated in a tional Education, Department of is not enough for inmates. They family reunion program in a New Correction, 1997. also need to learn decisionmaking York State prison that included 12. See, for example, the following skills, how to write a resume, and meeting privately with family Program Focuses from NIJ: Texas’ other practical skills that will en- members on facility grounds. This Project RIO (Re-Integration of able them to succeed after release.” study found that program partici- Offenders), NCJ 168637; pants who had been released for Chicago’s Safer Foundation: A 9. To obtain copies of Cage Your at least 1 year had a significantly Road Back for Ex-Offenders, NCJ Rage: An Inmate’s Guide to Anger lower recidivism rate (19.6 per- 167575; and Successful Job Place- Control, write the American Cor- cent) than the rate projected for ment for Ex-Offenders: The Center rectional Association (ACA), the overall population of inmates for Employment Opportunities, Division of and (26.5 percent) (MacDonald, D.G., NCJ 168102. For free copies, con- Publications, 4380 Forbes Boule- “Follow-Up Study Sample of tact the National Criminal Justice vard, Lanham, MD 20706, or call Family Reunion Program Partici- Reference Service, Box 6000, 1–800–222–5646. The book is pants,” Albany: New York State Rockville, MD 20849–6000, $10 for ACA members ($12.50 for Department of Correctional Ser- 800–851–3420. For online copies, nonmembers), and the package of vices, Division of Program Plan- access NIJ on the World Wide four videotapes is $368 for mem- ning, 1986). Findings of at least Web (http://www.ojp.usdoj. bers ($460 for nonmembers). two other empirical studies sug- gov/nij). gest there may be a relationship 10. Few studies have examined between inmate-family ties during whether inmates who maintain or incarceration and recidivism improve ties with family members (Hairston, C.F., “Family Ties Dur- are less likely to reoffend than ing Imprisonment: Do They Influ- inmates who do not keep these ence Future Criminal Activity?” ties. One study found that inmates Federal Probation 52 (1) (1988): who had continuing visits from 48–52). While suggestive, none of family members had lower recidi- these studies involved the use of a vism rates than inmates who did control group, so it remains pos- not. The researchers reported that sible that the inmates who main- differential motivation among the tained their family ties would have inmates who maintained family experienced relatively low rates of ties was unlikely to have been recidivism even if they had not responsible for the reduced recidi- kept in touch. They may have vism rates because the inmates did simply been more motivated to not exhibit increased motivation in

18 National Institute of Justice PROGRAM FOCUS

On the cover: Students listen The National Institute of Justice is a compo- About This Study attentively to another student making nent of the Office of Justice Programs, which an important point about an MRT also includes the Bureau of Justice Assistance, This document was written by Peter exercise. the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the Office of Finn, Senior Research Associate, Abt Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Associates Inc. Findings and conclu- (Photo by Lewis C. Tidball Productions, and the Office for Victims of Crime. sions of the research reported here are New Castle, Delaware). those of the author and do not neces- The Office of Correctional Education is a sarily reflect the official position or division of the Office of Vocational and Adult policies of the U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Department of Education. Justice. The National Institute of Corrections is a component of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. NCJ 169589 August 1998

JUSTINFOJUSTINFO — the online newsletter of the National Criminal Justice Reference Service

Important news from the Office of National Drug Control Policy and the Office of Justice Programs — National Institute of Justice • Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention • Office for Victims of Crime • Bureau of Justice Statistics • Bureau of Justice Assistance

★ Grants and solicitations Get the latest — Where, when, and JUSTice how to apply INFOrmation ★ Recent publications — Content summaries JUST when you need it! and ordering information ★ Upcoming conferences — Themes, speakers, and registration information ★ Other information you need to do your job well — Distributed on the 1st and 15th of every month

SubscribingSubscribing isis easy:easy: ★ Send an e-mail to [email protected]. Or read JUSTINFO online at ★ Leave the subject line blank. http://www.ncjrs.org/justinfo/ ★ In the body of the message, type subscribe justinfo your name No online access? For example Call 800-851-3420 to request the subscribe justinfo Jane Smith current issue via Fax-on-Demand.

Program Focus 19