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Core correctional skills training using the Prosocial Model has been producing promising results for staff trainees and residents (that is, justice-involved individuals with severe mental illness serving a provincial sentence).
Staff at the St-Lawrence Valley Correctional and Treatment Centre-Secure Treatment Unit (SLVCTC-STU) in Ontario received the training. Preliminary research findings indicate that staff found the training very relevant for their work with residents. Staff said they felt confident they could more effectively help the residents move toward more prosocial behaviours and attitudes by applying the model’s principles in their daily interactions with them.
Residents reported a better climate on the units after staff began applying the prosocial principles. They said they felt safer and found staff more helpful and dependable. Residents also felt more confident about their ability to change.
During her talk at the International Forensic Psychiatry Lecture Series, Dr. Anik Gosselin described how her team has been training all staff at the SLVCTC-STU. She explained how the model differs from traditional approaches and the model’s principles.
The Prosocial Model
The prosocial model is a structured, evidence-based approach developed to help staff working with involuntary patients. Based on established behavioural principles, the model teaches staff core correctional skills, which need to be applied with involuntary patients to help them move toward a more prosocial lifestyle.
The prosocial model aligns with the Risk–Need–Responsivity model’s core correctional skills requirements. It does not eliminate stress or conflict, but its four principles offer an excellent framework of skills for responding to it.
Research findings indicate that when staff use these skills, the social climate in custody improves. Staff have also reported increases in job satisfaction and in their sense of accomplishment. Decreases in rates of reoffending and improvements in mental health symptoms have also been reported.
Departure from Traditional Approaches
With the prosocial model, all supervisory staff receive training on core correctional skills, not just therapists. In this model, staff intervene “on-the-spot” when problematic behaviours occur, rather than waiting to discuss them later in group or individual therapy settings.
Prosocial interventions are extremely brief, lasting a few seconds to a few minutes, while traditional interventions can last up to two hours. These interventions focus on a defined population (e.g., involuntary, justice-involved patients) rather than on specific diagnoses.
Prosocial Model Principles
The prosocial approach rests on four principles: role clarification, positive reinforcement, collaborative problem-solving, and relationship building.
Role Clarification
The dual role staff have of being a helper and a security enforcer is unique to custodial settings and difficult for residents to understand at times. Managing this role includes being clear that while staff can be friendly with residents, they are not friends, and they are not enemies either. To help residents “buy-in” to a helping process, staff were taught how to be clear about their expectations, what can and cannot be shared, what they can and cannot do to help residents, and what is and is not negotiable.
At the SLVCTC-STU, staff reported that they had never previously received training on how to manage their dual role.
Modelling and Reinforcing Prosocial Behaviour
Prosocial behaviour and attitudes include sharing, comforting, cooperating, being polite, being on time, respecting rules, and staying calm.
The prosocial model teaches staff how to identify, model, and reward prosocial behaviour as well as to address antisocial behaviour in a non-blaming way. This leads to more desired behaviours, which can lower the risk of residents reoffending.
Rewards need to make sense in the correctional setting environment, and they should not be greater than necessary.
Irregular rewards proved most effective, and praise stood out as one of the most valuable rewards.
Collaborative Problem-Solving
Justice-involved individuals tend to be poor problem solvers, often as a result of growing up with poor or no role models. Poor problem-solving skills are associated with more distress and suicidality, so improving these skills can be extremely helpful in achieving positive outcomes.
Staff learn to help residents identify and address their problems without telling them what to do. The ultimate goal is to help residents improve their ability to solve problems once they are back in the community, which can help decrease reoffending.
Relationship Building
Knowing how to build supportive relationships with residents is essential to creating positive changes and better outcomes. This principle includes teaching staff strategies to build good relationships with residents, including having warm, open communication, healthy boundaries, and a positive attitude, as well as asking open-ended questions and using nonverbal behaviours effectively.
Obstacles and Next Steps
One obstacle to teaching the prosocial model is initial pushback — staff often say, “I already do this.” Even if some staff apply some of the principles, they do not usually apply all of them consistently enough or to everyone, including the most difficult residents.
Another obstacle is that it can be hard for staff to find time for the 10-hour training. And it can be challenging for trainers to confirm that staff are implementing their new skills in their daily work.
So far, the preliminary findings show no difference in psychological well-being for staff nor residents, and no staff participants have reported any change in job satisfaction. However, Dr. Gosselin noted that even small success is success, and the common goal is to improve the lives of the residents.
Understanding the prosocial model’s potential is ongoing. The SLVCTC-STU team continues to meet regularly to discuss the benefits and obstacles and expects to gain better insight over time.
For more details, watch the recording of the February 19, 2026, lecture, “Implementing the Prosocial Model: Impact of Core Correctional Skills Training at the Secure Treatment Unit of the Brockville Mental Health Centre” on our website.
Approved by Dr. Anik Gosselin
