Offenders learn how to report on situations that could lead to criminal behavior and to identify their thoughts, feelings, attitudes and beliefs that may lead them to offending. Participants learn how to write and use a thinking report as a means to determine their awareness of their risk thinking that leads them into trouble. Within the Social Skills component of Thinking for a Change, offenders try using the newly demonstrated social skill in role-play situations. After each role-play the group discusses and assesses how well the offender did in following the steps of the social skilled being learned. The offender practices the newly acquired skill during the time before the next group session in order to practice using it in an actual real-life situation.
Offenders apply problem-solving steps to problems in their own lives.
This application is done both in class and as homework. Role-plays, problem scenario discussions and homework applications provide assessment information on each offender's ability to problem solve. The Thinking for a Change program culminates in an individual assessment of skill use. Using a structured learning skills checklist, program participants self-report their use of 50 social skills, using a Likert type scale. They also engage a person who knows them well to rate them on the same set of skills.