EBP Simplified

Engage On-Going Support in Natural Communities

There are multiple reasons for the need to involve the local community in an offender’s transition treatment.  Primary among them is the offender needs new role models and needs to feel accepted by a prosocial group of people.

Engage Community Law #1:  Environment is the single greatest influencer of behavior.

Engage Community Law #2:  Role modeling is the second greatest influencer of behavior.

Engage Community Law #3:  When people feel connected to a given group of people, they adhere to the group norms of that group.

Engage Community Bottom Line:  The goal is not to create “good inmates.” The goal is to create behavioral change that will generalize to the real world. Engaging that real world (i.e., the local community) will quicken the transition and solidify the behavioral changes.