NCJ Number
227600
Journal
THE CRIMINOLOGIST Volume: 31 Issue: 3 Dated: May/June 2006 Pages: 1,3,6
Date Published
May 2006
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This article examines the challenges in determining "what works" in the areas of reentry, reintegration, rehabilitation, recidivism, and redemption focusing on the multisite evaluation of the Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative (SVORI).
Abstract
The multisite evaluation of the Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative (SVORI), representing a $150 million Federal investment in reentry programming for adult prisoners and juvenile detainees in every State, demonstrates the complexity of the issue of reducing recidivism and of studying efforts to do so. It is a daunting task to understand what elements comprise each of the SVORI programs, assessing some manner the extent to which elements were implemented, and for whom the totality or specific elements of each SVORI program may work. Each of these tasks poses a substantial challenge for the evaluation. Issues and questions of the theoretical bases for programs, the fidelity of implementation, and the quality of the evaluations continue to plague the efforts of practitioners and evaluators of rehabilitation programs. It is not yet known whether SVORI or one or more of the many SVORI program models "works" however, SVORI may provide an opportunity to identify programs with sufficient content to "work." References