program evaluation form for MSOP

Program Evaluation

Name __Bob Smith Date _January 26, 2015______________

Program Name _____Program X__________________

1) Please provide a brief overview of the program. (This may be 1-2 sentences.)

Program X is a program which promotes cognitive reconstruction, problem

solving skills and social skills for offenders. The objective in implementing this program

is to change the offenders thinking and in turn change the offender’s behavior in a

positive manner.

2) What, in your opinion, makes this program effective?

The program has multiple qualities which makes it effective. The first of which is

the fact that the program does not attempt to directly affect the offender’s behavior, but it

attempts to affect the offender’s cognitive thinking. This quality of the program seems to

be more effective because our behavior is a direct result of our cognitive thoughts,

problem solving skills and social skills. Therefore this program goes directly to the

source of human behavior, cognitive reconstruction.

Another way in which this program is effective is the fact that it focuses on

problem solving skills, which I believe, can have a significant impact on deviant

behavior. In my opinion, many crimes which occur on a daily basis in America could

very easily be prevented in individuals possessed better problem solving skills. Problem

solving skills are directly related to crime especially in cases of violent crime. Many

deviant acts could be prevented if individuals had better problem solving skills.

3) What, in your opinion, makes this program ineffective?

In my opinion one characteristic of this program which would be ineffective is

how the program is administered, in a classroom setting with offenders. This setting may

provide various distractions while the trainers are administering the program. For

instance, if one trainer was attempting to teach a group of fifteen offenders. Let’s say

only five of the fifteen offenders graduated high school and five had a GED or high

school diploma equivalent. The five offenders who do not have a high school education

will probably be very difficult to control and even more so keep their attention. This

could provide for an ineffective learning environment even for those who truly want to

learn. I understand the participants (offenders) will be pre-screened and selected, but it

would be very difficult to avoid the above situation described in every program session.

4) Name one thing you would change about the program.

One thing I would change about Program X would be the selection of offenders

who will attempt to complete the program. The pre-screening process would be very

strict on who can participate in the program. Only offenders who attributed a desire to

better their cognitive reconstruction, problem solving skills and social skills would be

chosen. The reason I would change this is because offenders who do not truly want to

learn and engage in the program in a positive manner would only hinder others from

benefitting from the program. As in any educational setting there will be individuals who

have the drive to learn more than others, but this program should be seen by the offenders

as a privilege and not a right. This would allow for offenders to get more out of the

program and also help the offenders respect their trainers more.

For the following questions, pretend you are a prison warden. You have the decision to continue

to offer the program at hand, or to terminate it. Please answer the following questions

accordingly.

5) Should this program continue, how many offenders would you attempt to target each year?

As a prison warden who has implemented the program I would attempt to target

as many offenders as possible each year. I believe if one hundred and fifty offenders

completed the program each year that would be a success. However, the amount of

offenders who complete the program each year would totally depend upon how many

trainers were available and also how large the class sizes could be. I believe the success

of the program in offenders would be very dependent upon the class size. If there were

too many offenders in one class, there would be more room for distraction and the

offenders may not be able to participate in discussions as regularly.

6) Should this program continue, what hiring requirements would you implement? In other words, how will you choose staff to run the program?

As a prison warden who has implemented Program X, I would ensure the hiring

of trainers to implement the program was strict. The candidates for trainers of this

program would have to possess a drive to instill information in a group of individuals

who may arguably be one of the toughest groups of individuals to teach. The candidates

for the trainer positons of the program would undergo a background investigation and

would have to be at least 25 years of age. The age requirement in my opinion is necessary

for the individuals to maintain control of a group of offenders. Also, I believe offenders

would pay closer attention to someone who is 25 or older than a 20 year old trainer.

Finally, the trainers would have to have excellent verbal communication skills in order

for the offenders to learn from the program.

7) Should you terminate the program, how else would you use the funds initially allocated for this program?

As a prison warden who decided to terminate the program, I would use the funds

initially allocated for the program for a similar rehabilitation purpose. The offenders who

are incarcerated in my prison need some type of mental rehabilitation before their release

into the community. I would, to the best of my ability allow for offenders to learn to think

more critically and to also possess better problem solving and social skills. In doing so,

the offenders would hopefully be less likely to reoffend.

8) How would you ensure your program was working efficiently and effectively?

I believe the best way to ensure my program was working efficiently and

effectively would be to have pre-program and post-program interviews with the

offenders. In the interviews I would want to know how the offenders would react to

certain situations to ensure the offenders were displaying better problem solving and

social skills. I would also like to stay in close contact with the trainers of the program to

hear their opinion on the effectiveness of the program.

9) Finally, would you keep this program, or terminate it?

As warden I believe I would keep Program X. The way I understand this program

it seems as if it would effective in the cognitive rehabilitation of offenders. I also like

how the program focuses on where deviant behavior comes from, our mind and

cognition. If offenders left my prison with better problem solving and social skills I

believe they would not be as likely to reoffend. I would make the minor change to the

program of a stricter selection process and also make the inmates understand the program

is a privilege for those who want to better their cognitive abilities.