--- title: "More journaling, lower risk: What language analysis shows about change over time" description: Explore how a Receptiviti study of 352 incarcerated participants linked Interactive Journaling in Atlas to positive shifts in risk and protective factors. image: https://blog.changecompanies.net/hubfs/Blog/Banner%20Graphics/New%20mexico%20atlas%20demo%20(2).png --- [Technical Support](https://support.changecompanies.net/?hsLang=en) [Contact Sales](https://go.changecompanies.net/contact?hsLang=en) Search changecompanies.net About Us [About](https://changecompanies.net/about?hsLang=en) [Leadership](https://changecompanies.net/about?hsLang=en#leadership) [Advisors](https://changecompanies.net/about?hsLang=en#advisors) [Contact Us](https://go.changecompanies.net/contact?hsLang=en) [Careers](https://changecompanies.net/careers?hsLang=en) [![The Change Companies Logo](https://844aa8d177dcf87d02fc-8f72bb99f02c2e7ec80fe67c19b57c36.ssl.cf1.rackcdn.com/newsite/TCClogo_website.png)](https://blog.changecompanies.net/) - 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The language analysis offers corrections professionals insights into changes in risk and protective factors associated with reoffending.   A language-analytics study by [Receptiviti](https://www.receptiviti.com/)followed 352 incarcerated participants using Interactive Journals in Atlas. As participants progressed through their Journals, their writing showed fewer antisocial behaviors and beliefs, more prosocial content, and greater engagement with school, work, and future plans.![RECEPTIVITI DATA](https://blog.changecompanies.net/hs-fs/hubfs/Blog/Banner%20Graphics/RECEPTIVITI%20DATA.png?width=1330&height=210&name=RECEPTIVITI%20DATA.png) Can more journaling actually change the things that put people at risk of returning to prison? That is the question [The Change Companies](https://changecompanies.net) set out to answer with Receptiviti, a Toronto-based language psychology company that analyzes written text for the thinking patterns underneath it. Because a Journal response is a record of how a person is thinking at that moment, a series of Journals becomes a record of how that thinking changes. Receptiviti used that record to measure movement on criminogenic risk factors that decades of corrections research have tied to reoffending. ### How the study worked The analysis covered 352 incarcerated participants who had written at least 50 words in four or more digital Journal titles inside of the [Atlas: behavioral change platform](https://changecompanies.net/atlas), with a median of seven Journals per person. Each person’s first Journal served as a baseline, Journals two and three as the early phase of the program, and Journals four onward as the later phase. Receptiviti then coded every Journal for behaviors and beliefs aligned with key risk and protective factors: antisocial behavior, prosocial behavior, self-regulation, family support, and school and work engagement. Every model included baseline language use and accounted for time in the program, number of Journals completed, and how much each person wrote, so the results reflect change over the course of journaling independent of dosage effects. [![Discover Atlas Improving client engagement and motivation to change by 90%; Giving staff back 1 day/ week.   See how Atlas supports assessment, planning, intervention, documentation and measurement in a fully integrated system.](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/20881724/interactive-210836473477.png)](https://blog.changecompanies.net/hs/cta/wi/redirect?encryptedPayload=AVxigLJj5q1J9vdR7wa5Tcqx%2F2dNESFbd6EHgD5fiU%2FvTZsNd5RCb6B2bb3lsILjuWwik5EckkqgWLQ76WQNbQvAlGTA8FKC4%2BT6fKFbBAY5yH60wWc3HiGxFpo1qD38%2BfBptiuhnMIWelT46Osfu%2BYsinErVl%2FL0u9bAddObAkB6hEUczNoGONW6yQ%2BK7YN6XAErpC6M%2BK1vMAXOEp4jCI%3D&webInteractiveContentId=210836473477&portalId=20881724) ### As people journaled more, risk indicators went down and strengths went up Across the sample, the later Journals looked measurably healthier than the early ones. **Antisocial behavior and beliefs declined.** In the early phase, 44% of participants referred to at least one antisocial behavior, feeling, or belief in a typical Journal, such as fighting, isolating, irritability, or the belief that violence is sometimes justified. By the later phase that share had dropped to 33%. **Prosocial behavior and beliefs increased.** Prosocial content, including talking with others, finding meaning in helping people, working to control anger, and believing that communication improves relationships, was already mentioned more than twice as often as antisocial content. The share of participants writing about it at high rates rose from 41% to 48%. **School and work engagement increased.** The share of participants making more than one reference per Journal to school, work, current training, or future plans rose from 32% to 41%, a meaningful shift for a population whose employment prospects are a key predictor of successful reentry. **Self-regulation remained stable.** The measure shifted from 50% to 52%. Self-control is an implicit rather than explicit focus of most Journals. **Family support was the exception.** References to supportive family relationships fell from 29% to 17% over the course of journaling. Rather than a program effect, Receptiviti reads this as the well-documented psychological distance from family that grows the longer a person is incarcerated. | **Risk or protective factor** | **Early → later Journals** | **What changed** | | --- | --- | --- | | Antisocial behavior and beliefs | 44% → 33% | Fewer references to fighting, isolation, irritability, and pro-violence beliefs | | Prosocial behavior and beliefs | 41% → 48% | More participants expressing high rates of prosocial content, including helping, communicating, and controlling anger | | School and work engagement | 32% → 41% | More participants making more than one reference per Journal to school, work, training, or future plans | | Self-regulation | 50% → 52% | Stable; self-control is an implicit rather than explicit focus of most Journals | | Family support | 29% → 17% | Declined, consistent with growing distance from family during incarceration | ### The thinking behind the change Because the analysis followed each person over time, it could also show which shifts in thinking accompanied the gains. People whose early Journals grew more positive in tone went on to express fewer antisocial behaviors and beliefs. People whose writing became more goal-oriented, using words like “get,” “gain,” and “earn,” went on to express more prosocial behavior. People who grew more decisive and less ambivalent, and who increasingly described stepping back to “see” their situation clearly, showed stronger self-regulation. And people who increasingly wrote in terms of cause and effect, the language of “because” and “consequences,” became more engaged with school and work. Each of these is a marker of the kind of thinking [*Interactive Journaling®*](https://changecompanies.net/interactive-journaling) is designed to build: more hopeful, more forward-looking, more accountable, and more grounded. The study also found that where a person starts matters. Participants whose very first Journal leaned heavily on “they” pronouns (they, them, their), reflecting an us-versus-them outlook that blames peers or the system, went on to express less prosocial behavior later, and participants who began with higher cognitive load benefited less from growing positivity over time. These patterns are paired with specific Journal titles that counteract them, giving programs a practical way to reinforce the gains journaling already produces.   ### Why it matters Programs rarely get to see change while it is happening. Recidivism data arrives years later, and supervisor ratings capture only what a person chooses to show. This study demonstrates that the writing participants already produce in their Journals is itself evidence of change, and that with more journaling, the evidence points in the right direction: less antisocial thinking, more prosocial commitment, and a stronger orientation toward work and the future. > “Preliminary results … show that people on average benefited from journaling, and the language of journals provides clear behavioral indicators of vulnerabilities and strengths that are detectable both at baseline and in changes over the course of the program.” > > — Receptiviti Inc., Step 2 Results Report Receptiviti is careful to note that no behavioral model is a prophecy and that crime has many intersecting causes. These findings concern changes in Journal language and related risk and protective indicators; they do not establish that journaling caused a reduction in reoffending. But for practitioners deciding where to invest limited time and resources, the finding is a practical one: sustained journaling was associated with changes in several risk and protective factors tied to reoffending, with the overall pattern moving in a positive direction. Want to explore Interactive Journaling for your program? [Book a quick Atlas demo](https://changecompanies.net/atlas/demo) to see how digital programming can support your participants and staff.  ###### References Receptiviti, Inc. (2026). *Atlas × Receptiviti: Step 2 Results Report*. Analysis of Interactive Journaling® data from the Atlas platform. --- [![Atlas devices](https://blog.changecompanies.net/hs-fs/hubfs/Email%20Graphics/Product%20Images/Atlas%20devices.png?width=508&height=274&name=Atlas%20devices.png)](https://changecompanies.net/atlas) Evidence-based, behavioral health[Interactive Journaling®](https://changecompanies.net/interactive-journaling) curricula are available digitally on [Atlas](https://changecompanies.net/atlas). Atlas can save staff time while supporting fidelity to evidence-based practices. Ready to see what Atlas can do for your program? Visit our website to schedule a personalized demo today. 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