Moral Reconation Therapy: Critical Thinking, Evidence-Based Practice, and Research Literacy in MSW Field Education

Overview: As more social work students pursue internships in carceral contexts, it is necessary to deepen our understanding of prominent treatment modalities in these settings. One such modality is Moral Reconation Therapy (MRT). Using evidence-based practice methods, this presentation critiques MRT’s evidence base, with significant implications for social work education.Proposal text: Learning objectives:
Participants will be able to identify the basic principles of Moral Reconation Therapy.
Participants will be able to describe the quality and trustworthiness of MRT’s research-base.
Participants will apply research literacy tools to corrections-based treatment interventions.
Participants will consider the role of ethics and evidence in the delivery of interventions with people under correctional supervision.

Background: Moral reconation therapy (MRT) is a treatment program owned by Correctional Counseling, Inc. (CCI), a company founded by Dr. Kenneth Robinson. Robinson and Dr. Gregory Little developed MRT as an intervention to “enhance ego, social, moral, and positive behavioral growth” among “traditionally ‘resistant’ population groups” (Little & Robinson, 1988, p. 135). MRT therapists seek to “reeducate clients socially, morally, and behaviorally and to instill appropriate goals, motivation, and values” (p. 135). The model, first used in 1985, is now delivered across a wide range of correctional settings - including jails, substance use treatment programs, and medical facilities - in every US state and nine countries. Reducing recidivism is often the targeted outcome of this intervention. According to CCI, over 37,000 people have been trained to facilitate MRT and over two million clients have been introduced to the MRT curriculum.

Methods: Utilizing systematic review methods, this paper presentation will analyze MRT facilitation as an MSW field practicum activity. Since 2008, the CSWE Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS) have used a competency-based education framework, requiring accredited schools of social work to assess practicum students according to a set of learning outcomes associated with the nine EPAS competencies. Each competency includes a set of observable behaviors that students are expected to demonstrate. In this paper, we analyze the compatibility of MRT interventions with EPAS 4, “Engage in Practice-Informed Research and Research-Informed Practice,” by conducting a systematic search of peer-reviewed studies of MRT published between 2011 and 2021.

Results &

Conclusion: MRT’s evidence base was found to: a) hinge upon an outdated form of SAMHSA evidence-based certification; b) rely significantly on a meta-analysis with a non-replicable search protocol; c) engage in improper citation practices that misrepresent the nature of research; and d) lack recently-published peer-reviewed studies evaluating the program’s efficacy. Today, some MSW students are introduced to MRT through field internship sites, where they may be led to believe that this is an evidence-based practice. This research provides MSW programs with a useful evidence-based practice case study that underscores the importance of research literacy in practice. The findings also have significant implications for field education coordinators and liaisons who may benefit from a clear protocol for assessing the evidence base of other (pseudo-)therapeutic interventions in correctional field internship settings.

References
Council on Social Work Education. (2015). 2015 Educational policy and accreditation standards for baccalaureate and master’s social work programs. CSWE Commission on Educational Policy, CSWE Commission on Accreditation. https://www.cswe.org/getattachment/Accreditation/Accreditation-Process/2015-EPAS/2015EPAS_Web_FINAL.pdf.aspx
Little, G. L., & Robinson, K. D. (1988). Moral Reconation Therapy: A systematic step-by-step treatment system for treatment resistant clients. Psychological Reports, 62(1), 135-51. https://doi.org/10.2466/pr0.1988.62.1.135.