What Do We Need To Learn More About?

While the research on rehabilitation has come a long way over the last few decades to support the notion that "rehabilitation works," a multitude of unanswered questions remain for future research to address. The following are some of the issues that are most pertinent to the advancement of effective rehabilitation.

Effects of Incarceration on Rehabilitation

Some authors suggest that the effects of prison may wipe out the effects of programming (Webster, 2004: 116). Although it has been contended here that effective treatment can be offered both within and outside the walls of a correctional facility, there is evidence that being imprisoned elicits negative effects. However, if it is decided that imprisonment is the most appropriate choice of punishment, it is suggested that rehabilitative efforts are a requirement in order to combat negative effects of prison.

On the one hand, continued efforts in rehabilitation are arguably an obligation by the state to ensure at a minimum - that offenders do not return to the community worse off than before conviction (Webster, 2004: 120).

As noted earlier, treatment within prison is better than prison with no treatment.

Interaction Effects

While most studies discuss the effects of particular programs or approaches, the literature is lacking on the topic of combinations of different programs. The reality is that most offenders receive multiple programs, especially during incarceration. It would be interesting to learn what the cumulative benefits and/or downfalls are to combining various types of programming.

"What Works" for Female Offenders?

Most of the rehabilitation studies on youth involve a male sample. Much like what is seen in the adult system, the lack of data on female youth is generally attributable to the small numbers of female youth, compared with males, who enter the youth justice system. Pertinent to the present context, it is important to remember that females are far less likely to engage in violent behavior than males are. This makes it difficult to obtain a representative sample for research purposes. This in turn makes it difficult to bring forth female-specific conclusions regarding effective rehabilitation for female offenders. Therefore, researchers may need to consider new, creative methods for obtaining a reliable research study on female youth.

With such limited data available on programs for violent female youth, Goldstein et al. (2007) conducted a study on 12 girls who were randomly assigned to anger management or a "treatment as usual" condition. The study found that there was a positive effect (Goldstein et al., 2007: 1); however, the small sample precludes any decision-making based on this study. Consistent with the authors' recommendations, a larger-scale study should be conducted to determine the potential of such programs. Other studies (for example, Dowden and Andrews, 2000; Hubbard, 2007; Lipsey, 1999) have supported the notion that the RNR model extends to female offenders as well, particularly the responsivity principle. Nonetheless, more research needs to be done to make robust conclusions for this particular group.