Choosing Correctional Options That Work: Defining the Demand and Evaluating the Supply

Choosing Correctional Options that Work captures the highlights of the International Association of Residential and Community Alternatives (IARCA) conference, at which practitioners and researchers came together to identify what we know about effective community-based options and how we can improve that knowledge. Integrating the important finding and messages from that meeting, this volume is a major contribution to those interested in advancing the efficacy and utility of community correctional options. --John J. Larivee, Executive Director, Crime and Justice Foundation and President, IARCA Choosing Correctional Options that Work is the first volume to answer in detail the continuing and escalating demand for insight into correctional options and their effectiveness. This carefully edited book not only critiques the possible meanings of "correctional options" but also articulates "what works" by providing comprehensive reviews of relevant theory and empirical evidence. Reaching beyond an emphasis on interventions only, the contributors respond to the question of what works by examining risk or needs assessment techniques, intervention or sanctioning options, and program implementation approaches. Chapters illuminate how key decision and policymakers can improve their odds of choosing correctional options that work by simultaneously clarifying the demand for viable options and critically assessing past attempts to supply that demand. A must read, Choosing Correctional Options that Work provides a new and effective model for researchers, policymakers, planners, evaluators, administrators, and practitioners to facilitate more successful development of future correctional and other criminal justice options.