Development

UCCI conducts and supports research to inform policy and practice in corrections in order to assist agencies in their efforts to implement evidence-based practices. Through partnerships with a wide variety of agencies, we seek to build knowledge to equip professionals with the information they need to be successful agents of change and enhance rehabilitative services for offenders.

UCCI has taken a special interest in developing curricula that utilize a Cognitive Behavioral Interventions approach to treatment.

UCCI CBI-IFR is designed for adult individuals who are moderate to high risk on a general risk assessment and have a need in the area of family. While the curriculum incorporates parenting skills, its primary focus is on those needs that are correlated with recidivism reduction, such as communication and social-emotional skills, patterns of antisocial thinking and behaviors, and obtaining and maintaining support systems. As a cognitive-behavioral curriculum, sessions are skills-based so that individuals learn and practice techniques for managing difficult situations once back in the community. The goal is to improve communication, thinking, social and emotion regulation skills, so that individuals are better prepared to live a prosocial lifestyle that improves outcomes for the entire family unit.

UCCI CBI-E is currently in development. The curriculum is designed to be integrated into the school day and delivered by educators within the classroom setting. Each session, or class, is about 50 minutes in length and can be used with preteens, teenagers, and post-adolescents who are moderate to high risk for self-destructive and/or unlawful behavior. Cognitive-behavioral approaches teach individuals strategies for identifying and managing risky thoughts and feelings and prosocial techniques for coping with risky situations. In this way, CBI-E enables students to develop relevant cognitive, social, emotional, and coping skills by emphasizing skills and behavioral routines. Students also learn how to develop prosocial behaviors (i.e., behavior that is pro-society), including actions that are law-abiding, empathetic, and focused on the needs of others. Prosocial behavior is converse to antisocial behavior in that antisocial behavior involves actions that fail to conform to societal norms and are characterized by self-centeredness, reckless disregard for others, irresponsibility, deceitfulness, and lack of remorse and empathy.