ABSTRACT
The initial objective was to provide "bibliotherapy for cynics" by undertaking a number of literature reviews and demonstration which would validate the utility of offender treatment programs and lead to a practical theory of effective correctional treatment. Later, with the advent of meta-analysis, a more precise assessment of the empirical support for the principles became available. The chapter examines macro level psychological and criminological theories and demonstrates how they led to a micro level theory of effective correctional programming, which is often referred to in the treatment literature as the "principles of effective correctional intervention". It presents an independent test of the principles based on a measure of program quality applied to a meta-analytic database and in situ programs. The chapter addresses the empirical status of the principles of effective correctional intervention by examining the results of treatment outcome research.
