Violent Offenders: Treatment Approaches

Successful approaches to the treatment of violent offenders reduce the risk of future violent and nonviolent reconviction by remediating changeable characteristics of offenders and their environments that are empirically linked to criminal risk. Remediation often requires (a) supporting offenders to reconceptualize how they understand or view themselves, their lives, and other people and (b) teaching them skills that develop their capacity to live more positive, constructive, and prosocial lives, as an alternative to crime. Increasingly, treatment approaches also recognize the importance of concrete preparations for reentry into the community and the development of a supportive environment for the offender, during and after treatment. Together these components have been demonstrated to reduce the likelihood of conviction and enhance desistance for violent offenders.

Violence is a diverse class ...