Online Graduate Certificate in Correctional Rehabilitation

Correctional Theory and Policy

This course examines the evolution of correctionaltheory, its impact on policy, and its empirical status. An emphasis is placed on the use of evidence-based knowledge to shape correctional policy and practice.

Seminar in Correctional Rehabilitation

This course examines the theories, techniques, andpolicies of correctional treatment, with a focus on behavioral and cognitive behavioral approaches and various models of family therapy. Interventions for special populations (women offenders, substance abusers, sex offenders and the mentally ill) are also discussed. The course also examines varied models of correctional assessment, including classification, and risk andneeds assessments.

Seminar in Community Corrections

This course is designed to provide an in depth review of various criminal justice programs found under the term "community corrections." Emphasis will be placed on developing theoretical models todistinguish what constitutes community corrections, and how various program types have been evaluated for effectiveness. Included will bea review of the critical elements of effective community based programs; design, offender assessment, supervision strategies, progamming andinterventions, and program fidelity.

Special Topics in Corrections

This course section offers faculty the opportunityto present material not available in our regular curriculum. Faculty will present information on issues related to correctional policy and practice.

What Works in Changing Offender Behavior: Correctional Case Planning

This course will introduce various concepts associated with correctional case planning. The importance of case planning, examining principles of effective intervention and how it relates to case planning will be discussed. The class will explore different opportunities for case management including case planning that is assessment-driven, components of case management, special populations, and discharge planning.

What Works in Changing Offender Behavior: Behavior Management Systems

Behavioral Management, as defined Shea and Bauer, can be explained as “all of the actions and conscious inactions to enhance the probability that people, individually and in groups, choose behaviors which are personally fulfilling, productive, and socially acceptable.” This seminar will further break down this definition and discuss effective behavior management systems when working with offenders. Beginning with identifying goals of utilizing behavior management techniques with offenders, the seminar will further discuss the underlying theory/rationale for using these systems, major components of effective behavior management systems, and finally how best to implement these systems when working with offenders.

What Works in Changing Offender Behavior

This course will introduce the characteristics of effective correctional programs and discuss what types of correctional practices are most likely to succeed in reducing offender behavior.

What Works in Changing Offender Behavior – Assessments and Classifications

This course will introduce a variety of concepts associated with offender assessments.

What Works in Changing Offender Behavior: Addressing Responsivity

Research has shown that correctional programs that assess risk, need, and responsivity factors are more effective in reducing participant recidivism than other programs that do not assess these factors. Of these three core factors, responsivity is the least understood. Responsivity requires that corrections professionals consider those characteristics specific to the individual under supervision and those generally true for offenders when matching him/her to interventions and treatment services. The process of understanding someone’s responsivity factors can be difficult, but when these factors are addressed, outcomes with participants under supervision are more successful.

Working With Special Populations – Substance Users

This course will provided an overview of working with special populations in the field of criminal justice, specifically offenders with substance use needs. Criminal Justice staff are often challenged with how to work most effectively with clients who use substances or have addiction disorders. This course covers some foundational information on the prevalence and impact of substance use, and provides examples of strategies that staff can use to work more effectively with this population.

Working With Special Populations – Female Offenders

This course will provide an overview of working with special populations in the field of criminal justice, specifically female offenders. In this course, you will be introduced to the best practices for working with female offenders. A review of the research around gender-responsiveness approaches provides the foundation for guiding evidence-based practice in the correctional setting. This course will also take a closer look at how these practices are providing support for female participants, as well as zero in on one of the most popular topics with female participants – trauma-informed practices.

Cognitive Behavioral Interventions in the Criminal Justice System

This class is designed to provide students with an overview of Cognitive Behavioral Interventions (CBI) for an offender population. The class addresses the connection between CBI and the Principles of Effective Intervention. Participants will learn both theory and practical application during this class. Specific topics include: (a) an overview of cognitive-behavioral intervention in the criminal justice system; (b) the effects of thoughts, feelings, and attitudes on behavior of offenders; (c) and key CBI techniques that can be used to change offender behavior.

What Works in Changing Offender Behavior – Increasing Staff Effectiveness

This course will introduce a variety of approaches targeting the delivery of evidence-based practices by staff in order to strengthen the effectiveness of programming tools.

What Works in Changing Offender Behavior: Correctional Program Implementation

Research recognizes the importance of focusing on the manner of delivering programs to an offender, but these interventions can fail when attention to implementation is overlooked. This self-paced class will address why implementation is so important. Specifically, the goal is to learn how to apply the principles of effective intervention and evidence-based practices to develop a program from scratch or modify an existing correctional program. Throughout this self-paced class you will examine the four phases of program implementation to learn how to not only design and implement a program, but also learn how to evaluate the success of the program.

What Works in Changing Offender Behavior: Introduction to EPICS

In this course you will be introduced to a way to structure interactions with offenders to promote prosocial behavior change. We will discuss strategies for identifying and addressing targets of change with the EPICS (Effective Practices in Community Supervision) model. The course will review the principles of effective intervention and will lay a foundation as to why the EPICS approach is important. Components of the EPICS model will be introduced and we will discuss how best to use these components to target behavior change through core correctional practices.

What Works in Changing Offender Behavior: Core Correctional Practices

This course will provide an overview of What Works in Changing Offender Behavior and how competencies of Core Correctional Practice play a key role in helping any staff in the field work toward becoming change agents. Research in the field of corrections shows these core skills to be effective in supporting behavioral change with the offending population. In this course we will identify the Principles of Effective Intervention and provide an overview of each Core Correctional Practice: quality interpersonal relationships, effective social reinforcement, effective disapproval, effective use of authority, cognitive restructuring, anti-criminal modeling, structured learning/skills building, and problem solving techniques.