Martinson's 1974 essay that asked whether any rehabilitation is effective had a strong impact, despite his later retrenchment. Later reviews of evaluation studies demonstrated the effectiveness of treatment for a variety of offenders and noted that effective programs had an impact on the offender's thinking and promoted the development of prosocial attitudes and behavior. Probation's overall goal is to modify or change the offender's behavior through a structured program of community supervision. However, many offenders lack interpersonal problem-solving skills and exhibit egocentricity. Cognitive skills training in the correctional setting is not designed to produce basic personality change; instead, it seeks to equip offenders with prosocial thinking and behavioral skills to avoid further offending. It assumes that offenders are unsocialized rather than mentally disordered and emphasizes education, not therapy. It also assumes that thinking determines behavior, that the ability to think is a skill, and that the thinking process can be taught. A cognitive skills education program coupled with a structured with a structured and focused supervision protocol can dramatically reduce recidivism and increase offender success. Several States are using this training; such an approach would be a useful investment of probation officer time. 28 references