A Simple and Effective Cure for Criminality: A Psychological Detective Story (by Reg Reynolds and Douglas Quirk)

The Ontario Correctional Institute (OCI), a modern 220-bed medium security prison opened in late 1973. The OCI’s inmate population was composed primarily of alcoholics, drug addicts, and sex offenders, all of whom were serving “provincial” sentences. In Ontario, that means that their maximum imposed sentence was two years less a day plus any additional probation time which may have been imposed at the time of sentencing. Few of these inmates were considered to be “career criminals,” although a majority of them were recidivists at the time of their admission to the OCI, with significant numbers exhibiting long histories of criminal involvements of many types.

The OCI’s mission statement committed its staff to assessment, treatment, training, safe confinement of adult male incarcerated offenders, and research. These were excellent goals, but:

1. even in the beginning, the OCI’s funding was well below that of a mental health facility of comparable size.

2. since pursuing its ambitious mandate was more expensive than incarceration alone, it wasn’t long before its goals began to be eroded in the interest of saving money. The first to go was research funding.

Nevertheless, several of the psychology staff had particular interests in both treatment and research and continued to pursue these interests until cost-saving overcame any more lofty endeavours than incarceration.

To be continued

Two years after all of the inmates involved in this study had been released from the sentences during which they were treated, justice system records were examined to see if the treatments had any lasting effect on subsequent criminal recidivism.  Results were as follows:

Recidivism is significantly affected by all the treatments except the most general one (Treatment 9).  That is, eight of the nine workshops resulted in less chance of the inmate being reincarcerated within two years post release, one of the nine treatments appear to have affected the Severity of Offense score to some degree, and two of them resulted in any offences being of lesser severity.  This should be considered within following context:

(1) About 60% to 65% of the types of inmates treated at the O.C.I. tend to be convicted of further offenses within two years of their release if they serve their time at settings other than the O.C.I.  

(2) About 45% of the types of inmates treated at the O.C.I. tend to be convicted of further offenses within two years of their release (Wolfus & Stasiak, 1991) if they serve their sentences at the O.C.I. and receive only the basic/regular treatment program there.  

(3) The more treatment workshops attended, the fewer the number of inmates that recidivated, as shown in the following table.

Treatment ‘Amount’	Tx = 0	Tx > 0	Tx > 1	Tx > 2	Tx > 3	Tx > 4	Tx > 5
Number of Subjects	32	138	52	45	36	24	9
Recidivism Percentage	38	30	23	20	19	21	0

It seems reasonable to conclude that even the minimal amounts of the kinds of psychological treatment provided in these large-group workshops is a effective way to keeping people out of prison.

After some experimentation, a fairly exhaustive set of 68 twelve-item scales (Addicause) was constructed to cover a wide variety of psychological needs..  After this questionnaire had been administered to enough of our inmates, statistical analysis of the data collected led to the conceptual development of targets for treatment (presumed “drivers” of addiction/) and nine corresponding treatment goals, as follows: 

1. Failure                          Failure/Punishment History/Expectation   

Creating … SUCCESS                                              

• Inflexibility                    Rigid/Inflexible Habits/Adjustment)

Creating … FLEXIBILITY                                          

• Excitement-Seeking        Apathy/Inhibition –> Stimulus-Hunger

Creating … EXCITEMENT                                        

• Gratification Need          Immediate Satisfaction/Relief Need

Creating … SATISFACTION                                      

• Conflicted Values            Subcultural/Primitive/Regressive Values

Creating … VALUES                                                

• Guilt Intolerance            (Guilt-Proneness/Guilt Intolerance

Creating … INNOCENCE                                         

• Distress                         Ill-Health/Stress/Distress/Anxiety

Creating … HEALTH                                               

• Joylessness                    Depression/Joylessness/Unfulfillment

Creating … HAPPINESS                                           

• Weak Integration            Asocial/Anti-Social Adjustment/Integration

Creating … INTEGRATION                                       

Treatments were delivered in day-long large-group treatment workshops, and this book contains descriptions of them.

Statistical analysis of the relationship between attendance at the treatment workshops and questionnaire scores found that each of the treatments affected the participant’s motivation for self-medicating, and typically in the predicted direction.  That is, each treatment lowered the measured psychological motivation that it was predicted to lower, thereby eliminating the participant’s felt need to self-medicate for it.

Freedom from Addictions (by Douglas Quirk and Reg Reynolds)

This book presents a model to account for addictive behaviour in such a way that it can be modified, treatment based on this model, and a report on how well that has worked in practice.  It details (1) the development of a questionnaire to identify the motivations that drive addictions, (2) a detailed series of treatments for them, and (3) the successful outcome of those treatments.

Based on many years of clinical psychology practice, the authors had formed the belief that:

• addiction results from the user’s attempt to alleviate felt distress.  That is, addictive behaviour amounts to self-medication 
• a substance is only addictive if it relatively rapidly reduces an uncomfortable state and/or creates a desired or pleasant state.  
• a substance is only addictive for those people who experience and are uncomfortable with those specific habitual uncomfortable states that the substance alters.  
• the problems for which addicts seek chemical relief can more productively be addressed through psychological treatment, and 
• this can be most economically be done through either individual or group psychological treatment 

Since the aim was to identify the causes of addictions in order to be able to treat them, we began by drawing up a questionnaire to  explore things like anxiety, depression, stimulus hunger, felt need for disinhibition, and the like – along with the substances which these addicts might have been presumed to use.

To be continued

Dr. Reg M. Reynolds, Psychologist (Retired)

My name is Reg Reynolds. I was employed as a psychologist for almost sixty years. At various times during my career, I functioned as a counsellor and psychotherapist for individuals, couples, and groups; as Director of Vocational and Recreational Services at Lakeshore Psychiatric Hospital; as Chief Psychologist at the Vanier Centre for Women, the Oakville Reception and Assessment Centre (for juveniles admitted to training school), and the Ontario Correctional Institute; as a consultant regarding assessment and treatment of sex offenders; as a consultant regarding ethical issues; as Coordinating Psychologist for the Central Region of the Ontario Ministry of the Solicitor General and Correctional Services; as a researcher in programs for addiction and criminality; as a college lecturer; as an intern in, clinical member of, and board member of the Halton Centre for Childhood Sexual Abuse; as an intern, co-therapist and therapist in the treatment of spousal abuse; as a member of the Council of the College of Psychologists of Ontario; as a member of the Ontario Hypnosis Society and president of its southwest region; as a developer of biofeedback equipment and as a provider of biofeedback; as a student of education and special education; as a student of Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA) and its application in the treatment of children with autism; as psychologist and supervising clinician in the Ontario Government’s Intensive Behavioural Intervention program for children with autism; as clinical supervisor of private ABA-based programs for children with autism; as an educator of parents of children with autism.

Since being retired, I have authored and/or published a couple of dozen books so that the oh-so-valuable psychological information in them doesn’t get lost. About a third of them were written by my friend and colleague, Douglas Quirk; about a third of them were a collaborative effort between Doug and myself; and about a third of them were written by myself. Almost all of them are available through Amazon as Kindle ebooks and paperbacks at minimal cost. In succeeding posts, I intend to tell you about them and in case you might like to read some of them.

I am currently 92 years old, and my friend and colleague, Doug, died almost thirty years ago. I am living in a seniors’ residence. My wife of sixty-eight years died in June 2026 and I am now putting in time until I join her.

My name is Reg Reynolds. I was employed as a psychologist for almost sixty years. At various times during my career, I functioned as a counsellor and psychotherapist for individuals, couples, and groups; as Director of Vocational and Recreational Services at Lakeshore Psychiatric Hospital; as Chief Psychologist at the Vanier Centre for Women, the Oakville Reception and Assessment Centre (for juveniles admitted to training school), and the Ontario Correctional Institute; as a consultant regarding assessment and treatment of sex offenders; as a consultant regarding ethical issues; as Coordinating Psychologist for the Central Region of the Ontario Ministry of the Solicitor General and Correctional Services; as a researcher in programs for addiction and criminality; as a college lecturer; as an intern in, clinical member of, and board member of the Halton Centre for Childhood Sexual Abuse; as an intern, co-therapist and therapist in the treatment of spousal abuse; as a member of the Council of the College of Psychologists of Ontario; as a member of the Ontario Hypnosis Society and president of its southwest region; as a developer of biofeedback equipment and as a provider of biofeedback; as a student of education and special education; as a student of Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA) and its application in the treatment of children with autism; as psychologist and supervising clinician in the Ontario Government’s Intensive Behavioural Intervention program for children with autism; as clinical supervisor of private ABA-based programs for children with autism; as an educator of parents of children with autism.

Since being retired, I have authored and/or published a couple of dozen books so that the oh-so-valuable psychological information in them doesn’t get lost. About a third of them were written by my friend and colleague, Douglas Quirk; about a third of them were a collaborative effort between Doug and myself; and about a third of them were written by myself. Almost all of them are available through Amazon as Kindle ebooks and paperbacks at minimal cost. In succeeding posts, I intend to tell you about them and in case you might like to read some of them.

I am currently 92 years old, and my friend and colleague, Doug, died almost thirty years ago. I am living in a seniors’ residence. My wife of sixty-eight years died in June 2026 and I am now putting in time until I join her.

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EXTRA QUIRKY BEHAVIOURAL   PSYCHOTHERAPY

Douglas A Quirk M.A., C.Psych. (1931-1997)

This book consists of psychotherapy case studies, with the addition of a description of an adjunct to biofeedback.  It is about both the wide range of human problems and some pragmatic treatments for them. It also demonstrates how psychotherapy can be terrific fun for all concerned, how it can be quite inexpensive, and how it can ignore the unconscious.  Psychotherapy is a way to provide relevant assistance to solve resistant problems that don’t yield to help from friends, clergy, or physicians.  Almost everybody can benefit from psychotherapy.  Almost nobody has to be crazy, crooked, or addicted.

Douglas Quirk’s knowledge of psychotherapy was phenomenal; and one of the reasons for assembling these case studies was to serve as a quick course in psychotherapy.  Any budding clinical psychologist could not help but be enthralled and enriched by “watching” this experienced psychologist in action.