Maintaining change programmes for offenders: some suggestions for practice

Abstract

Despite the widespread acceptance that follow-up or maintenance sessions are an important part of the change process for those who have completed offender rehabilitation programmes, there have been few attempts to articulate the basis upon which such sessions might be developed. This paper reviews the current theoretical and empirical literature relating to maintenance programmes, concluding that whilst there are a number of theories which might be relevant to the design of effective maintenance programmes, there is almost no empirical basis from which to make any assessment of their likely value or effectiveness.

Keywords:

• maintenance
• offender
• rehabilitation
• relapse

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the support of Corrections Victoria in preparing this paper. The view expressed, however, do not necessarily reflect those of Corrections Victoria.