| The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) has offered several types of voluntary self development programs to build inmate educational and life skills. In support of this effort, Values programs have been implemented to encourage more prosocial outlooks and to teach positive values. This study evaluates the BOP Values Program initiative through an assessment of various outcomes (including disciplinary variables, behavioral scales and staff ratings). Using a one-group pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design, changes are detected in the outcome measures for participants of the 20-week residential program. Comparisons of graduates and non-graduates are also made as a means of learning more about the differences between these groups. The research results indicate a positive program effect for the periods studied. A central finding is that program graduates experienced a significant decline on several antisocial attitude and criminal thinking style scales. Implications of the research results for the design and evaluation of Values programming are also discussed. |
Updated 05/20/2006