ABSTRACT
Within the complex and contested context of criminal justice, rehabilitation still manages to stand out as a particularly complex and contested concept. Its resultant ambiguity is a problem both for its advocates and its critics; it is hard to debate a concept that is so slippery. Since we cannot hope to resolve these complexities in this brief introductory chapter, we settle instead for clarifying them, expecting that the rest of this Companion will add substance to the initial frameworks we offer here. We approach that task by first identifying the distinctions and relationships between four forms of rehabilitation – personal, legal, social, and moral; second, by briefly outlining two prominent practice models for rehabilitation; third, by reviewing evidence about how and why people desist from or offending with or without rehabilitative intervention; and, finally, we sketch out some of the challenges that face those who seek to pursue or promote rehabilitation in contemporary criminal justice systems.
