Working with people who don’t want to work with you

As part of MINT Oceania, we were thrilled to recently host Michael Clark, co-author of Motivational Interviewing with Offenders: Engagement, Rehabilitation and Re-Entry (Guilford, 2017), in Aotearoa/New Zealand, during the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers Forum in Ōtautahi/Christchurch. Sixty-one people attended the workshop in Ōtautahi/Christchurch and 36 in Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland. They had the opportunity to hear Michael reflect on his practice and insights.

Michael is the Director of the Center for Strength-Based Strategies, a USA-based training group. He focuses on applying strength-based and motivational practices to hard-to-serve, court-mandated populations. With 16 years of experience as a magistrate and senior probation officer, Michael recently completed a two-year position as a secretariat for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Vienna, Austria.

Michael is currently updating his book, and it was fascinating to hear his latest thinking on balancing approaches when working with individuals who offend. One of the key points he raised, which resonates with me, is the disconnect between the rhetoric of “community safety” in correctional systems and the practices on the ground that often increase the risk of reoffending. We can no longer tolerate practices that exacerbate risk. A few insights Michael shared include:

• Officers focused solely on compliance were three times more likely to revoke parole, meaning those on parole were more likely to be recalled.
• When community supervision workers rely on sanctions to shape behaviour, failure rates rise. It’s clear we can’t bully people into submission. Instead, we need to help individuals explore their relationship to offending or drug-taking behaviour and encourage conversations that foster change.
• Supervision strategies based on punitive, deterrence-oriented principles have a poor track record in reducing recidivism. Bullying people only externalizes behaviour, making them more resistant to change.
• Research shows that deterrence, incapacitation, and increased control do not reduce future criminal behaviour.
• Fear-based, punitive treatment approaches focusing on avoiding “bad” behaviours have not been successful. People are more likely to change when they see value and importance in behaviour change.

I was privileged to spend time with Michael and his partner, Nancy, discussing the importance of this work. It’s crucial to spread the message that punitive approaches are ineffective and often worsen behaviour. I look forward to the day when correctional systems can move away from these unhelpful practices and embrace more effective, strength-based approaches.

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