Responsible Adult Culture (Rac)

This article examined cognitive and behavioral changes among participants in Responsible Adult Culture (RAC), a cognitive-behavioral (especially, cognitive restructuring) treatment program in use at the Franklin County Community-Based Correctional Facility (CBCF). Participants were adult felony offenders (approximately three-fourths male). A treatment aim of RAC is to promote social cognitive gains and thereby to promote responsible conduct among its residents. The findings indicated cognitive gains (as measured by cognitive distortion reductions and increased moral self-relevance) and behavioral gains (reductions in institutional misconduct and risk level) among RAC participants. Cognitive gains related to short-term and long-term behavioral improvements. Relative to a comparison sample, RAC participants evidenced greater reductions in institutional risk, lower recidivism rates, and a longer recidivism latency. These findings suggest the RAC program is meeting its goal of inducing behavioral improvements through social perspective-taking techniques in general and targeting criminogenic thinking in particular.