U.S. flag
        An official website of the United States government
          Here's how you know
        Here's how you knowDot gov**Official websites use .gov**
              
              A **.gov** website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
        Https**Secure .gov websites use HTTPS**
              
              A **lock** (   A locked padlock
 ) or **https://** means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.  **
Menu


    close

        
        
                        
  
          Home
      
    
              How NIC can help
      
                
  
          **I need Training or Courses**
               Free e-courses available 24/7
              
      
                
  
          NIC Training Programs
          In-person and blended trainings
      
    
              I need Technical Assistance
          Guidance, support, advice, assessment, and/or customized training
      
    
              I'm looking for Information Assistance
          NIC publications, DVDs, FAQs, and more
      
    
              **I need other assistance from NIC**
              
      
                
  
          NIC Helpdesk
      
    
              Connect with other Corrections Professionals
          NIC Community Forums
      
    
              Funding Opportunities
          Cooperative Agreements and more
      
    
              Resources
      
                
  
          **News and Events**
              
      
                
  
          Conferences
      
    
              NIC Events
      
    
              NIC News & Media Releases
      
    
              Subscribe to NIC's News & Announcements
          Emails with NIC's latest news and initiatives
      
    
              NIC Quarterly Newsletter Archive
      
    
              **Featured Resources**
              
      
                
  
          Resources for Corrections Professionals
          Resources about correctional topics
      
    
              Topics
          Focused areas of research for Corrections Professionals
      
    
              NIC's e-courses
      
    
              Hot Topics
          Answers to questions about NIC services & resources
      
    
              FAQs
          Frequently Asked Questions
      
    
              **NIC Library**
              
      
                
  
          Search the Library Collection
      
    
              Ask a Librarian
      
    
              Free eBooks
      
    
              Sign in to the EBSCOhost Research Platform
          Free research resources provided by NIC
      
    
              Webinars and Broadcasts
          Streaming Video of NIC Trainings
      
    
              US State Statistics
          Statistics Information about US Corrections
      
    
              About NIC
      
                
  
          **About the Agency**
              
      
                
  
          Mission
      
    
              Staff Directory
      
    
              Reports to the Nation
      
    
              Funding Opportunities
      
    
              History of NIC
      
    
              Advisory Board
      
    
              **Divisions**
              
      
                
  
          Academy Division
      
    
              Community Services Division
      
    
              Jails Division
      
    
              Prisons Division
      
    
              **Strategic Plan**
              
      
                
  
          Subscribe to NIC's News & Announcements
          Emails with NIC's latest news and initiativesMy Cart
                                
                          
        
                Log in Home
                                    Resources
                                    Resources By Area of Practice
                                    Topics In Corrections
                                    Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

      

                    
          
    Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
"One form of psychotherapy stands out in the criminal justice system. Cognitive behavioral therapy reduces recidivism in both juveniles and adults. The therapy assumes that most people can become conscious of their own thoughts and behaviors and then make positive changes to them. A person's thoughts are often the result of experience, and behavior is often influenced and prompted by these thoughts. In addition, thoughts may sometimes become distorted and fail to reflect reality accurately. Cognitive behavioral therapy has been found to be effective with juvenile and adult offenders; substance abusing and violent offenders; and probationers, prisoners and parolees. It is effective in various criminal justice settings, both in institutions and in the community, and addresses a host of problems associated with criminal behavior. For instance, in most cognitive behavioral therapy programs, offenders improve their social skills, means-ends problem solving, critical reasoning, moral reasoning, cognitive style, self-control, impulse management and self-efficacy" (NIJ Journal No. 265, April 2010, p. 22).
                   Topic Categories and Resources
The following grey bars are accordions that can be expanded to show a list of "top-shelf" resources that have been hand-picked by our library team around this topic. If you would like additional research assistance on this topic, please contact our help desk. They have access to specialized databases and thousands of resources you won't find online. Click on a grey box below to browse resources in that section.
            
      Accordion    Broadcasts, Videos, Webinars
      
      "Cuff Key to Door Key": A Systems Approach to Reentry: NIC's Inaugural Virtual Conference

            
      
If you or your agency wants or needs information about improving or creating and implementing a new reentry program, then attending this virtual conference is a must. “On June 12, 2013, the National Institute of Corrections (NIC) will launch its first-ever virtual conference, “Cuff Key to Door Key
              Accordion    CBT & EBP
      
      Evidence-Based Adult Corrections Programs: What Works and What Does Not (2006)
              Accordion    CBT & Female Offenders
      
      What Works for Female Probationers? An Evaluation of the Moving On Program (2010)
              Accordion    CBT & Mentally Ill Offenders
      
      Reducing Criminal Recidivism for Justice-Involved Persons with Mental Illness: Risk/Needs/Responsivity and Cognitive-Behavioral Interventions

            
      
If you work with mentally ill offenders you find this publication very useful. “In this document, we [the authors] review the leading offender recidivism-targeted intervention paradigm: Risk/Needs/Responsivity (RNR) ... In particular, we focus on criminal thinking, one of the identified “needs,” and
              Accordion    CBT & Probation
      
      Reducing Recidivism Through Probation Supervision: What We Know and Don't Know From Four Decades of Research

            
      
“This article is about the relationship between recidivism rates and supervision skills used by probation officers (or others who supervise offenders on community-based orders or parole). It focuses on routine day-to-day supervision rather than on intensive supervision programs or other specialized
              Accordion    CBT & Sex Offenders
      
      The Effectiveness of Treatment for Adult Sexual Offenders (2015)
              Effectiveness of Treatment for Juveniles Who Sexually Offend (2015)
              Evidence-based treatments for juvenile sexual offenders: review and recommendations (2015)
              Effectively Utilizing the “Behavioral” in Cognitive-Behavioral Group Therapy of Sex Offenders (2013)
              Psychological Treatment of Sex Offenders (2013)
              Treatment for Convicted Adult Male Sex Offenders: An Overview of Systematic Reviews (2011)
              A Meta-Analysis of the Effectiveness of Treatment for Sexual Offenders: Risk, Need, and Responsivity (2009)
              Accordion    CBT Program Evaluations
      
      What Works? Short-Term, In-Custody Treatment Programs

            
      
Assessing the effectiveness of in-custody treatment programs is essential in the correctional system to appropriately allocate resources and reduce offender recidivism rates.
              An Intermediate Outcome Evaluation of the Thinking for a Change Program

            
      
The Thinking for a Change (TFAC) program "teaches problem-solving skills, particularly when interacting with others, in order to increase rational thinking and lead to pro-social interactions and behaviors. In addition, through cognitive restructuring (aka, cognitive self-change), thought processes
  
      The Use and Impact of Correctional Programming for Inmates on Pre- and Post-Release Outcomes (2017)
              Accordion    Effectiveness with Youth
      
      Cognitive Behavioral Theory, Young Adults, and Community Corrections: Pathways for Innovation (2018)
              Evaluating the Impact of Two Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Programs on Recidivism in Chronic Juvenile Offenders (2015)
              Evidence-based treatments for juvenile sexual offenders: review and recommendations (2015)
              Taking Steps toward Recidivism Prevention: Examining the Impact of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy on Juvenile Delinquency (2008)
              Cognitive Behavioral Interventions for At-Risk Youth (2006)
              Accordion    General
      
      Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment: A Review and Discussion for Corrections Professionals

            
      
Detailed information regarding the use and benefits of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) in prisons and jails is provided. Chapters comprising this guide address: the increasing need for effective treatment services; what cognitive-behavioral therapy is; prominent CBT programs for offenders
  
      Bringing Jails into the Twenty-First Century: Evaluating Jail TV as a Method for Programming (2020)
              Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for Moderate- and High-Risk Adult Offenders (2016)
              Does Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Work in Criminal Justice? A New Analysis From CrimeSolutions.gov (2016)
              Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (High and Moderate Risk Adult Offenders) (2012)
              Reducing Recidivism: Evidence from 26 Years of International Evaluations of Reasoning & Rehabilitation Programs (2012)
              Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: An Evidence-Based Intervention for Offenders (2011)
              Effects of Cognitive-Behavioral Programs for Criminal Offenders: A Systematic Review (2007)
              A Quantitative Review of Structured, Group-Oriented, Cognitive-Behavioral Programs for Offenders (2005)
              The Positive Effects of Cognitive-Behavioral Programs for Offenders: A Meta-Analysis of Factors Associated with Effective Treatment (2005)
              Cognitive Behavioral Programs for Offenders (2001)
              Accordion    Moral Reconation Therapy (MRT)
      
      A Meta-Analysis of Moral Reconation Therapy (2012)
              Twenty-Year Recidivism Results for MRT-Treated Offenders (2010)
              An Evaluation of the Moral Reconation Therapy of the Franklin/Jefferson County Evening Reporting Center Program (2005)
              Meta-Analysis of Moral Reconation Therapy Recidivism Results From Probation and Parole Implementations (2005)
              Review Of One- to Three-Year Recidivism of Felony Offenders Treated with MRT in Prison Settings (2006)
              Accordion    Thinking for a Change (T4C)
      
      Price
              $0.00

Evaluation of the Efficacy of a Cognitive Behavioral Program for Offenders on Probation: Thinking for a Change

            
      
The effectiveness of "Thinking for a Change" -- a cognitive behavioral program for adult probationers -- is investigated. Following an abstract, this dissertation contains these chapters: introduction; literature review; study purpose and major aims; method; results; and discussion. While "results

  Amount in Stock
              0
  
      Program Profile: Thinking for a Change (2014)
              Effectiveness of Community Corrections in the State of Indiana (2011)
              A Quasi-Experimental Evaluation of Thinking for a Change: A "Real-World" Application (2009)

Contacts for this content
          NIC Information Center
      
  Job Title / Position
              Information Specialists

Agency / Business / Organization
              National Institute of Corrections

            Contact the NIC Helpdesk

Divisions
          Academy Division

  Topics
          Rehabilitation programs
                    Behavior modification

  Audiences served by this initiative
          Prisons Return to top

      About NIC

About the Agency
	Divisions
	Staff Directory
	Contact NIC

NIC Services

Training
	Technical Assistance
	Corrections Forums
	Subscribe to NIC News

Resources

Resources by Role
	Resources by Topic
	NIC News
	NIC Events
  
      Agency logo
              
                              National Institute of Corrections
        
                  NIC Legal Policies and DisclaimersNIC Privacy Policy and DisclaimersPlain Language PolicyAccessibility PolicyDOJ Links:Justice.govOpen GovernmentLegal Policies and DisclaimersInformation QualityPrivacy PolicySmall BusinessOffice of the Inspector GeneralBudget and PerformanceFOIANo FEAR Act DataVulnerability Disclosure PolicyVote.govHave a question about government services? Contact USA.govFollow NIC on X
the National institute of corrections governmental seal