Journal of consulting and clinical psychology | 2021
Systematic review and meta-analysis of noninstitutional psychosocial interventions to prevent juvenile criminal recidivism.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE\nTo assess the effectiveness of noninstitutional psychosocial interventions in preventing recidivism among criminal adolescents.\n\n\nMETHOD\nWe performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized and nonrandomized controlled trials assessing the impact on recidivism among juveniles aged 12-17. The included studies had a low to medium risk of bias and were published between 2000 and 2019. Standardized mean differences or risk differences were calculated.\n\n\nRESULTS\nWe included 35 (20 randomized, 15 nonrandomized) studies evaluating 17 unique, noninstitutional psychosocial interventions. A meta-analysis found no significant reductions in recidivism for studied interventions compared to control conditions. Although single studies suggested some positive effects, the evidence provided by these studies was found to have very low certainty. Post hoc analyses indicated that studies including a low-intensity control condition might have stronger relative intervention effects compared to studies with medium or high-intensity control conditions.\n\n\nCONCLUSION\nThis systematic review did not find any one noninstitutional psychosocial intervention to be more effective than control treatments in reducing future criminality among juvenile offenders aged 12-17. We discuss the implications of the present findings for social work and child and adolescent psychiatry practices. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).