Conférence publique de l’Ecole des sciences criminelles
Abstract
One of the oldest questions that researchers have tried to answer is what works and what doesn’t work in correction interventions and how it can be done for dealing with offenders. After the pessimist period of the “nothing works” movement (in the ‘70s) and the optimism of the “what works” movement, at the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st, a new line of research started to demonstrate that the content of the intervention with an offender is relevant, but even more how it is carried out: the skills of the professional play a fundamental role. Research shows that the most important reductions in reoffending are achieved by correctional staff trained in how to create a working alliance with involuntary clients, among other structuring skills such as problem-solving, pro-social modelling or motivational interviewing. Therefore, based on the What Works and Desistance literature, this presentation will focus on the most important starting point for treatment professionals who deal with offenders in the career life: how to build a relationship with an involuntary client.
About the speaker
Esther Montero has a law degree from the University of Seville and a PhD in Criminology, obtained in 2008 at the School of Criminal Justice of the University of Lausanne. Since 2010 she is a member of the Technical Superior Body of Penitentiary Institutions (Spanish Ministry of the Interior). From 2012 to 2017, she was Deputy Director of Treatment at the Huelva Penitentiary Center. Currently, she works as juristcriminologist in the therapeutical educational units at the Sevilla Penitentiary Center, dealing with high-risk offenders. She has been lecturer (teacher and trainer) in several institutions and currently she is Professor-collaborator of Law and Criminology and researcher at the Universidad Loyola Andalucía (Loyola University).