Edited by Ken McMaster & David Riley. Christchurch, NZ: Hall McMaster & Associated, 2011. 

Reviewed by Jayson Ware, Executive Director, Offender Services & Programs, Corrective Services New South Wales, Australia.

It is no secret that New Zealand is considered to be one of the world’s leaders in the rehabilitation of offenders. For this reason when I was told of a newly published book written by respected staff who work for, or in partnership with, the New Zealand Department of Corrections, I knew that this would be an invaluable read. Sure enough, it was clear that all of the contributors are practitioners who know their science.

This book represents both a state-of-the-art review of what we know about offender rehabilitation and equally importantly an informed commentary on how we should use what we know to ensure that we protect the public and enhance the wellness and wellbeing of those that we treat. 

There are 11 chapters – each of which has very important messages that should be read, understood, and disseminated to all of us who work with offenders. At risk of doing the book a disservice I will outline only a few of these messages.

Within his chapter Riley powerfully outlines the evidence for rehabilitation within corrections. The take home message is simply that rehabilitation programmes work. More specifically Wales and Tiller alert us to the all important issue of treatment integrity whilst convincingly pointing out that correctional rehabilitation programmes that adhere to certain principles can be more effective than many physical interventions that we would never query – such as taking aspirin to reduce the risk of heart attack. McMaster and Wells outline the key components of rehabilitation programme design and provide an excellent commentary on the complexities and challenges in developing the right programme for the right people. Frost draws our attention to the often forgotten notion that rehabilitation programmes are contextual and must occur in a way that is meaningful to the offender and relevant to his real life concerns. Baker, King, and then Moth and Evans outline the issues for rehabilitative programmes about family violence.

Tamatea and Brown also remind us of the importance of incorporating cultural factors into our rehabilitative efforts. This cannot be overstated given the over-representation of indigenous people within all of our correctional jurisdictions.

Dark and McMaster then explore the competencies that facilitators of all of these programmes require and how these are to be provided. Farmer and Trainor then provide an excellent chapter which highlights the importance of good quality supervision for those who provide rehabilitation programmes. Finally, from a different perspective and in what is a very useful addition to the book, Gledhill examines the purposes of detention and poses the question of whether or not treatment is an offender’s legal right or entitlement?

All in all this certainly is an impressive book written by individuals with considerable insight into the complexities of offender rehabilitation. I highly recommend that this book becomes essential reading for all practitioners within this field.

To buy Effective Interventions with Offenders – Lessons Learned, visit the on-line bookshop at www.hma.co.nz

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ISSN 1178-8453

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