Rehabilitation, reintegration and offender management

Research consistently concludes that a correctional system is effective when it makes human service a top priority. Human service includes rehabilitation (programming that targets the reasons people stay involved in crime), reintegration (preparing and assisting people to successfully transition to the community after prison), and management (making well-informed decisions about which people pose risk to others and how to address that risk). 

The behavioural sciences are a critical source for the evidence-based approaches that define best practice within corrections. Our team draws on these empirical traditions to design, evaluate and support human service within contemporary corrections. 

Current and recent projects 

• Developing and testing a group therapy to treat aggressive scripts in an incarcerated offender population 
• Comparison of open-ended and closed psychological treatment for sexual offenders 
• Evaluation of the Dynamic Risk Assessment for Offender Re-entry (DRAOR) in Corrections Victoria 
• Psychological change through youth justice group conferencing 
• Offender decision making and desistance from crime during community supervision 
• Therapist perspectives on building therapeutic alliance, including with clients with a history of criminal behaviour 
   

Research stream leaders 

• Dr Caleb Lloyd
• Professor Michael Daffern
   

Recent publications 

Lloyd, C.D., Hanson, R. K., Richards, D.K., Serin, R.C. (2020). Reassessment improves prediction of criminal recidivism: A prospective study of 3,421 individuals in New Zealand. Psychological Assessment.

Luke, R., Daffern, M., Skues, J., Trounson, J., Pfeifer, J.E., Ogloff, J.R.P. (2019). The effect of time spent in prison and coping styles on psychological distress in prisoners. The Prison Journal.

Papalia, N., Spivak, B., Daffern, M., Ogloff, J.R. P. (2019). A meta‐analytic review of the efficacy of psychological treatments for violent offenders in correctional and forensic mental health settings. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 26(2), article no. e12282 

Higley, C.A., Lloyd, C.D., Serin, R.C. (2019). Age and motivation can be specific responsivity features that moderate the relationship between risk and rehabilitation outcome. Law and Human Behavior, 43(6), 558-567. 

Rose, A., Trounson, J., Skues, J., Daffern, M., Shepherd, S.M., Pfeifer, J.E., Ogloff, J.R. P. (2019). Psychological wellbeing, distress and coping in Australian Indigenous and multicultural prisoners: A mixed methods analysis. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 26(6), 886-903. 

Trounson, J.S., Peters, A., Munro-Harrison, E. (2019). Evaluation of a culturally safe education support program for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men in prison. Journal of Australian Indigenous Issues, 22(1–2), 9-30. 

Sturmey, P., McMurran, M., Daffern, M. (2019). Case formulation and treatment planning. The Wiley International Handbook of Correctional Psychology / Devon L. L. Polaschek, Andrew Day, Clive R. Hollin (eds.), Chapter 29, pp. 476-487. 

Lloyd, C.D., Perley-Robertson, B., Serin, R.C. (2019). Age and strengths in a community corrections sample. International Journal of Forensic Mental Health.