An Outcome Evaluation of a Prison-Based Life-Skills Program: The Power of People. (April 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Clark, Valerie A.; Duwe, Grant
• Is Part Of: International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology. Volume 59:Number 4(2015)
• Page Start: 384
• Page End: 405
• Publication Date: 2015-04
• Subjects: corrections -- prisoner reentry -- recidivism -- life-skills programs; Criminals -- Rehabilitation -- Periodicals; Criminal psychology -- Periodicals; Violent offenders -- Periodicals; Sex offenders -- Periodicals; Criminology -- Periodicals; 364.3
• DOI: 10.1177/0306624X13509444
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0306-624X

Abstract

The Power of People (PoP) is a personal leadership development course that was originally developed in a non-correctional setting and now serves as a prison-based life skills course. This study examined PoP's effect on four different types of recidivism: rearrest, reconviction, reincarceration, and technical violation revocation. The results of the analyses revealed that PoP does not have a significant effect on any of the four measures of recidivism. Following established principles of effective correctional treatment, we make several recommendations that could improve PoP's effectiveness on recidivism outcomes. Overall, this study provides guidance on how to make programs not originally designed for correctional systems into effective recidivism-reducing tools.