Beyond ‘What Works?’ A 25-year Jubilee Retrospective of Robert Martinsons Famous Article

Abstract

The story behind the publication of American sociologist Robert Martinson's 1974 article entitled “What Works?” provides researchers, policy-makers and social science observers with a sobering reminder of the possibilities of research conclusions assuming an inappropriate life of their own. This paper explores briefly the origins of the article and its impact at the time on corrections policy It discusses some of the events since 1974, in both the USA and Australia, that demonstrate the subsequent reification of “Nothing Works”. It is not designed as contributing to the debate on the effectiveness of rehabilitation. Rather the story is used an illustration of the potential for research to fall victim to the dangers of socially constructed realities.