The Treatment and Rehabilitation of Offenders

`[A] useful and informative book. ...I would recommend it to students wanting
a good introduction to the current issues in criminal justice and probation' -
Vista: Perspectives on Probation

`The three chapters on treatment in practice are all excellent; the treatment
of sex offenders, mentally disordered offenders and the treatment of drug
misuse are all described within the social context of public concern... Ian
gives a good overview of the sex offenders' treatment program as operated in
prisons and Finkelhors model which is typically used by probation in working
with offenders' \- Simon Bass, Caring Magazine

Treatment and rehabilitation have been central to the development of criminal
justice policy, and have played an important role in the development of
criminology. In recent years punishment and retribution have attracted more
attention than rehabilitation, but there has been a resurgence of interest in
treatment and rehabilitation, with indications that some things do 'work', and
an emphasis on 'evidence-based' policy making. It is also the belief of many
that a penal policy without an adequate treatment strategy is unjust and a
denial of human rights.

In this book Iain Crow provides an accessible overview of the concepts of
treatment and rehabilitation, adopting a deliberately broad definition, and
considers the historical basis of treatment, and its place within the penal
system and British criminology. The collapse of the 'rehabilitative ideal' is
examined, along with what followed it and the development of the more recent
'what works' movement. The basis for evaluating 'what works' is also subjected
to critical examination. In the second part, the book looks at the part that
particular agencies such as the Probation Service, prison and non-statutory
organisations have played in the treatment of offenders. In Part Three, the
issues raised by treatment and rehabilitation are illustrated with reference
to three groups of offenders: sexual offenders, drug misusers and mentally
disordered offenders.

The Treatment and Rehabilitation of Offenders will be essential reading for
students of criminology and criminal justice at both undergraduate and post-
graduate levels.