Select your area

show areas

hide areas

Attitudes Thinking and Behaviour

Why focus on attitudes, thinking and behaviour…?


Many offenders, although not all, come from the most socially excluded groups in society - yet committing a crime is an active choice. Offending behaviour programmes within prison and probation aim to change the way that offenders think about their actions and their effects on others, and to improve their self-control.


The stats

  • Prisoners are more likely to have negative social attitudes and poor self-control. Successfully addressing their attitudes, thinking and behaviour during custody may reduce re-offending by up to 14%.

Models adopting a cognitive-behavioural approach explore the role of thoughts and attitudes in influencing behaviour. There has been extensive research conducted on the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioural programmes in prisons and there has been positive evidence regarding their ability to impact on re-offending. These programmes focus specifically on the thinking skills that guide behaviour.

In terms of offenders, cognitive skills programmes aim to replace negative and engrained thinking patterns with thoughts that promote pro-social behaviour choices. These programmes aim to assist offenders in becoming more reflective, planful and considerate of others in their response to potential problems and more open-minded, reasoned and deliberate in their thinking.
 

Having a wide range of programs to access, delivered by both statutory and third sector organisations, enables all areas of negative or entrenched thinking to be looked at and through the use of varied approaches and techniques, although all with a cognitive behaviour (CBT base).
 

What is on offer?

What can be accessed by offenders will vary dependant on length of sentence, offending history and individual need and what is delivered by the Probation team or Prison that they are attached to. However, widely delivered programs include subjects such as:

  •  (ADTP) – These are Drug & Alcohol interventions following the 12 step NA fellowship programme.
  •  ART (Aggression Replacement Training) – A group work programme for people convicted of violent offences or who have problems controlling their temper.
  •  ARV (Alcohol Related Violence Programme) – An alcohol programme which aims to reduce alcohol related violent offending.
  •  ASRO (Addressing Substance Related Offending
  •  Belief in Change - A year long programme for medium to high risk general offenders
  •  BSR (Building Skills for Recovery) - It aims to reduce offending behaviour and problematic substance misuse with an eventual goal of recovery.
  •  CALM (Controlling Anger and Learning to Manage it) - An emotional management programme designed for those whose offending behaviour is precipitated by intense emotions.
  • Choices, Actions, Relationships and Emotions (CARE) - This is a course for female prisoners whose offending is related to difficulties with emotion regulation.
  •  CDVP (Community Domestic Violence Programme)
  •  DID (Drink Impaired Drivers Programme) - DID challenges attitudes and behaviour, aiming to reduce drink driving.
  •  HRP (Healthy Relationship Programme) - A programme for men who have committed violent behaviour in a domestic setting.
  •  IDAP (Integrated Domestic Abuse Programme) – A domestic abuse programme designed for men who have committed violent behaviour in an intimate relationship.
  •  JETS (Juvenile Estate Thinking Skills Programme) - The JETS programme addresses thinking and behaviour associated with offending.
  •  LIAP (Low Intensity Alcohol Programme) - Provides motivation for behaviour change through alcohol misuse awareness to assist relapse prevention.
  • OSAP (Substance Abuse Programme) – This programme addresses drugs or alcohol misuse, using cognitive methods to change attitudes and behaviour to prevent relapse and reduce offending.
  •  P-ASRO (Prison - Addressing Substance Related Offending)
  •  PPTSP (Prison Partnership Twelve Step Programme)
  • RAPt (Rehabilitation of Addicted Prisoners Trust) - including Alcohol Dependency Treatment Programme
  •  SCP (Self Change Programme) - Aims to reduce violence in high risk repetitively violent offenders.
  •  SDP (Short Duration Programme) - A structured 4 week intervention, based on a CBT/Harm Minimisation model.
  •  Sex Offender Treatment Programmes (SOTP) - A range of programmes are available for sexual offenders, providing a menu which are offered according to the level of risk and need of the offender.
  •  SOTP Core (Sex Offenders Treatment Programme) - Core helps offenders develop understanding of how and why they have committed sexual offences.
  •  SOTP Rolling (Sex Offenders Treatment Programme Rolling) - Rolling provides a less intensive level of treatment with more emphasis on relationships skills and attachment styles deficits.
  • TSP (Thinking Skills Programme) – A cognitive skills programme which addresses the way offenders think and their behaviour associated with offending.


To find out where and how to access programs to address attitudes, thinking and behaviour, use the search functions on the side of this page.


Alternatively, if you are an organisation that offers similar programs and would like to be a member of this site, please contact us.