Dominant Principles and Models of Treatment Work with Adult Offenders in the Community

Abstract

In its introduction the paper provides a presentation of probation activities in Croatia, many of which also imply treatment work with offenders. As part of the rehabilitation approach, the Croatian probation service follows the principles of the Risk-Need-Responsivity Model (RNR Model) and the principles of the Good Lives Model (GLM) to a certain extent. This paper analyses the RNR Model from the perspective of existing benefits and criticisms, with particular consideration of the responsivity principle, which is pointed out as especially challenging in foreign literature. The short presentation of the GLM is followed by a comparison of these two models, whose principles currently lead to great debates, due to potential differences in approaches to the offender. Models and associated principles are then analysed from the perspective of the challenge of their implementation in the performance of probation activities. The conducted analyses can contribute to the efficiency of the Croatian probation service and also be useful to scientists in the validation of the probation actuarial instrument and research of the local probation practice.