Social skills training for the complex offender: employment seeking skills

Compared 11 probationers with a history of psychiatric referral to a randomly selected group of unemployed persons from the State Unemployment Office in a number of job interview assessment situations. The probationers were rated as less skillful and also rated themselves as less likely to obtain employment than did the control Ss. After this pretest, the probationers were assigned to one of two treatment groups in which either monetary incentives for job interviews were provided or a skills training program was initiated. Posttest scores indicated that the skills program was most effective in changing behavioral and cognitive responses. These results generalized during the follow-up period; the skills training group obtained employment more frequently than did the incentive group. Implications for training critical skill deficits are discussed in terms of a response acquisition model.