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Moving On™ focuses on responsivity issues for women offenders. The structured program provides women with alternatives to criminal activity by helping to identify and mobilize both personal and community resources. The program is based on an educational and cognitive skills-building approach and can be delivered over 9 – to –13 weeks in small groups or on an individual basis by trained correctional practitioners.
Because of the smaller proportion of female offenders, most criminal justice treatment programs settings were developed specifically for male offenders. Accordingly, women offenders have been neglected in many of the new and exciting new treatment programs that have been pioneered with male offenders. Moving On™ helps address this situation by providing a cognitive behavioral intervention that is specifically focused on women. A critical aspect of this model is the notion that woman can learn alternative behaviors if they are provided with appropriate models, instruction and the opportunity to build self-efficacy. If we are to hold women accountable for criminal behavior they must be given the opportunity to explore and understand the relationship between their actions and the circumstances of their lives that place them at risk for re-offending.
To ensure that the needs of women are addressed, program goals and objectives were formulated after conducting a series of focus groups with female offenders and an exhaustive review of the correctional research. Essentially, the program deals with a series of topics that move from a broader understanding of what influences behavior (i.e., culture, society, family, relationships) to the personal, where women are introduced to self-change strategies. Specifically this program was designed to assist women offenders with reintegration to the community. The content of the program is organized around the following major themes:
Moving On™ is a cognitive-behavioral program that provides women with alternatives to criminal activity by helping to identify and mobilize both personal and community resources.
