The city probation department is a large, complex bureaucracy that
employs 1,600 people who work in various units throughout the city.
Probation officers, who make up the vast majority of department employees,
are responsible for investigation before court appearances and
supervision of offenders sentenced to probation. The primary goal of
probation supervision is to insure public safety and to monitor the conditions
of probation, whether generic or special conditions imposed by a
judge at sentencing.
The suggestion to use cognitive restructuring groups in the department
began as a part of an initiative to use staffs who supervise adult offenders
more effectively. The criminal justice literature suggests that offenders
most at risk for violent rearrest are the most likely to benefit from rehabilitation
initiatives. Conversely, low-risk offenders are unlikely to bencfit
from intensive rehabilitation, although they do respond to court ordered
restitution (Gendreau, 1993). The department administration decided to
focus supervision efforts on people under their supervision most at-risk for
violent rearrest. Cognitive restructuring groups were an important element
of this program.
The first cognitive restructuring groups developed through this collaboration
were for male offenders between sixteen and twenty years of age
who had a history of violent antisocial behavior. Both the population and
the broad parameters of the initial group program were consistent with the
current knowledge base in criminal justice research. The intervention was
concentrated and brief; groups met twice a week for thirty-six sessions
(Goodman et al., 1996). Group leaders used a written protocol that focused
on uncovering and challenging faulty thinking. Subsequently, the department introduced similar group programs for offenders in day treatment
and alternative to detention unit. These group programs responded to
program-specific problems, such as the uneven flow of respondents or
probationers or daily reporting schedules.