ABSTRACT
This chapter argues desistance research and program evaluation research are not just compatible but also strongly complementary. It outlines a realist synthesis between these apparently contrasting approaches that could draw on the strengths and contributions of both "what works" evidence and desistance research, under the banner of "evidence-based corrections", if the term "evidence" is understood more broadly. In particular, desistance research offers the hope for developing much-needed theoretical models for change necessary in developing correctional practice. The study of desistance originally emerged out of something of a critique of the professionally driven "medical model" of corrections. Treatment institutions need to once again become servants of the larger recovery process and the community in which that recovery is nested and sustained. Treatment is best considered, not as the first line of response to addiction, but as a final safety net to help heal the community's most incapacitated members.
