Hello: I found a NIC publication with some information on evaluations of T4C. The publication was called Cognitive Behavioral Treatment: A review and discussion for corrections professionals. I was able to find the evaluation from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. The study in Tippecanoe County had not been completed the last time I checked. You can contact Chris Lowencamp at the University of Cincinatti. I know they have done several studies on T4C. I have attached a copy of the article. Jeff Keith
Two evaluations of Thinking for a Change were found. The first is a doctoral dissertation from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas (Golden, 2002). This study centers on 42 adult male and female medium- and high-risk offenders on probation. Completers and dropouts from the T4C program were compared with those not assigned to the program, with procriminal attitudes, social skills, and interpersonal problem-solving skills as the studied factors. Ratings were based on self-report measures, applied-skill tests, and facilitator ratings as well as recidivism during the 3-month and 1-year postprogram completion time periods.
The study found that new criminal offense rates for those who completed the T4C program were 33 percent lower than for the comparison group. No differences were found between groups for technical violations of probation. On attitudinal measures of procriminal sentiments, again no differences were shown between the groups. Social skills did improve for completers and dropouts, but remained the same for the comparison group. Completers of the program improved significantly in interpersonal problem-solving skills, while dropouts and comparisons showed no change.
The author points toward the shortcomings of her study, including the small sample size, noting that the trend observed toward reduced offenses would have been statistically significant with a larger sample size. Also, generalization of the results is difficult because the sample consisted mostly of young, unmarried, black males of lower socioeconomic status in a large urban setting.
The author further notes that the study showed that new criminal charges, as well as technical violations, typically had occurred at least 3 months after completion of T4C for program participants, while those for comparisons and dropouts occurred within the first 3 months of the probationary period. Thus, she recommends "booster sessions" or an aftercare group to assist in relapse prevention.
The second study, of 233 probationers, was conducted in Tippecanoe County, Indiana (Lowenkamp and Latessa, 2006). It showed a significant reduction in recidivism (defined as arrest for new criminal behavior) over an average of 26 months (ranging from 6 to 64 months) for those who participated in the T4C program. Of the 136 treatment cases, the 90 who were "successful T4C participants" had a recidivism rate of 18 percent; the recidivism rate of the 121 probationers who participated in T4C was 23 percent. The recidivism rate of the 96 probationers in the control group was 35 percent.