Key to combating recidivism in the thought process, expert says

How do you stop people from committing crimes over and over again?

Well, it’s not through yoga classes, reading self-help books or incarceration.

And tactics like “scared straight” visits to jails or boot camps don’t work too great either.

“If jail works so well, why the (heck) do they all keep coming back?” asked Dr. Edward Latessa, a professor and division head at the Center for Criminal Justice Research at the University of Cincinnati.

The key, Latessa told judges, prosecutors, probation officers, police and defense attorneys from Kane, DeKalb and Kendall counties Thursday, is to change thinking patterns and, thus, behavior.

Latessa, who has published more than 75 works and assessed more than 350 programs across the country, was the lead speaker at a symposium in Aurora on reducing recidivism through evidence-based practices.

While there is no magic bullet to stop offenders from committing crimes again, research has shown that assessing a person is critical for any program, along with programs that focus on changing behaviors and building skills sets.

“If you have anti-social attitudes, are you going to change that overnight?” Latessa said. “You’re not going to undo those anti-social attitudes in a couple of days. You have to work at it.”

One method was illustrated in a video of a probation officer who met with a client. She thanked him for being on time, asked about his family and learned of a situation in which an old friend of the client stopped by this home so they could go out drinking.

The client, who was on probation, did go to the bar, but didn’t drink or do illegal drugs because he didn’t want to violate his probation.

“He says he’s going to call in a couple of days. I got to change my number,” the man says to the probation officer. “I got to do what’s best for me anyway.”

The client and probation officer also took turns role-playing to show how to avoid similar temptations from acquaintances.

F. Keith Brown, chief judge of the 16th Circuit, said any effort will take cooperation and coordination from all levels of law enforcement.

“If only one part of the system is looking at this and wants to do it, it won’t work,” he said.

Court officials say they are working to purchase better computer tracking software within the next 18 months to help measure the system’s recidivism rate.

“Right now, we do it on an ad hoc basis as opposed to systemwide,” said Lisa Aust, the director of Kane County Court Services.