Expert: Finding Programs That Work Key to Reducing Oklahoma's Recidivism Rate

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Throughout the decades, corrections officials and community organizations have tried a multitude of tactics to keep the offenders they release from returning to their prisons.

Today, researchers know which approaches don't work - such as shaming offenders, self-help programs and punishment tactics like boot camp. But they're also beginning to understand much more fully what does work, with empirical evidence to back it up.

As Oklahoma continues to study criminal justice reform and ways to reduce recidivism, leaders in the effort received a lesson Wednesday from Ed Latessa, a criminal justice professor and researcher from Ohio. His visit dovetails with Oklahoma's …