How do offenders move through the stages of change?

Abstract

This study sought to investigate the way in which offenders moved through the stages of change. The University of Rhode Island Change Assessment Scale (URICA) was administered to a group of general offenders (N = 371) who participated in the Short Motivational Programme (SMP), a brief motivational interviewing programme administered to medium-risk offenders in New Zealand. The offenders' URICA responses were subjected to a cross-lagged panel analysis using structural equation modelling. Four models specifying different prospective associations between stage engagements were examined. It was hypothesised that there would be support for sequential transitions through the stages as proposed by the Stages of Change model. However, the analysis rendered support for and against sequential transitions, in that offenders regressed to earlier stages or skipped a stage post-SMP. Offenders who skipped to an adjacent stage after the SMP may have actually passed through an intermediary stage during the intervention, and those who regressed to an earlier stage post-SMP may have gained a more realistic awareness of their problem behaviour. This finding also raises questions about the practical utility of the model with offenders and highlights the need for more rigorous studies investigating the way offenders move through the stages of change.

Psychometric Examination of Treatment Change Among Mentally Disordered Offenders: A Risk–Needs Analysis

“…The subscales can be combined to yield a second-order continuous readiness to change score that can be used to assess readiness to change prior to commencing treatment. The URICA has been used in a number of studies with offender samples (Lewis, 2004; Polaschek, Anstiss, & Wilson, 2010; Yong, Williams, Provan, Clarke, & Sinclair, 2015) and with MDOs (DiClemente, Nidecker, & Bellack, 2008) showing acceptable levels of internal consistency and sensitivity to change.…”

A Qualitative Examination of the Experiences of Veterans Treatment Court Graduates in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania

“…Many Veterans were not prepared to confront their need for behavioral health treatment until well into the VTC program. The testimony documenting Veterans’ transformation during their VTC experience evokes similar language to models of treatment readiness and the concept of a journey through varied stages of change (Burrowes & Needs, 2009; Casey, Day, & Howells, 2005; Day, Bryan, Davey, & Casey, 2006; Prochaska & DiClemente, 1982; Prochaska, DiClemente, & Norcross, 1992; Yong, Williams, Provan, Clarke, & Sinclair, 2015). The abilities of a VTC graduate to reflect on his or her treatment journey and to recognize the purposeful behavior changes made during the treatment process are important observations.…”

“…Relatedly, the TTM theorized the need for individuals to sequentially partake in adaptive behaviors that lead to successful behavior change (DiClemente & Prochaska, 1982; Prochaska & DiClemente, 1982; Prochaska et al, 1992). While some critics argue the TTM does not allow an appropriate measurement of the motivations to change, the context of behavior change, and the measurement of the progression of change for offender populations (Burrowes & Needs, 2009; Casey et al, 2005; Day et al, 2006; Yong et al, 2015), there remains the importance of the change process which has resulted in the emergence of other forensic-specific change models. For example, the Readiness to Change Framework (RCF) differs from the TTM by focusing on what the individual may be contemplating rather than that the individual is contemplating, and explores why the individual is in the contemplation stage rather than simply that the individual is contemplating (Burrowes & Needs, 2009).…”

Motivação para mudança no uso de substâncias entre usuários de drogas encaminhados pela justiça

“…Por isso, essa igualdade entre os grupos se destaca, pois a Ação e a Manutenção são tidos como estágios em que a negação do problema e a ambivalência sobre mudar o comportamento se dissiparam (Prochaska, 2013). Por outro lado, um estudo onde também fora aplicada a escala URICA, os resultados demonstraram que após a aplicação de um protocolo para aumentar a motivação o Short Motivational Programme (SMP), os infratores não transitaram entre os estágios, havendo inclusive regressões para estágios anteriores, o que gerou dúvidas a respeito da aplicação dos estágios de mudança para essa população (Yong, Williams, Provan, Clarke, & Sinclair, 2015).…”