Motivational Interviewing With Offenders ─ Engagement, Rehabilitation, and Reentry

From experts on working with court-mandated populations, this book shows how motivational interviewing (MI) can help offenders move beyond resistance or superficial compliance and achieve meaningful behavior change. Using this evidence-based approach promotes succesful rehabilitation and reentry by drawing on clients' values, goals, and strengths--not simply telling them what to do. The authors clearly describe the core techniques of MI and bring them to life with examples and sample dialogues from a range of criminal justice and forensic settings. Of crucial importance, the book addresses MI implementation in real-world offender service systems, including practical strategies for overcoming obstacles. 

Jill D. Stinson, PhD, is Assistant Professor and Director of Clinical Training in the Department of Psychology at East Tennessee State University. She previously served as an administrator and sex offender treatment coordinator at Fulton State Hospital, a maximum- and intermediate security forensic mental health hospital in Missouri. Her research and publications focus on sex offenders with serious mental illness, the role of self-regulation in treatment of personality and severe behavior disorders, and the impact of early childhood trauma in high-risk psychiatric and offender populations. Dr. Stinson is an active member of the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers and an associate editor of Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment.

Michael D. Clark, MSW, is Director of the Center for Strength-Based Strategies, a Michigan-based training and technical assistance group. His interests lie in the application of strength-based and motivational practices for marginalized, court-mandated populations. He served for 16 years as a probation officer and a court magistrate in Lansing, Michigan. He is a board member of the International Association for Correctional and Forensic Psychology and recently served on an expert panel for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Vienna, Austria. A member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers, he delivers MI training in blended learning formats to probation officers, reentry staff, juvenile justice professionals, and addiction counselors across the United States. His website is www.buildmotivation.com.