Protocol: The effect of restorative justice interventions for young people on offending and reoffending: A systematic review.

This is the protocol for a Campbell systematic review. The objectives are as follows. The primary aim of this mixed methods review is to synthesise the available evidence regarding the effectiveness of restorative justice interventions (RJIs) for reducing offending and reoffending outcomes in children and young people. We are also particularly interested in the impact of RJIs on children and young peoples' violent offending and violent reoffending. A second aim of the review is to examine whether the magnitude of effectiveness of RJIs may be influenced by study characteristics such as the population (e.g., age, ethnicity, or sex), the form of intervention (e.g., face-to-face mediation compared to family group conferencing), the place of delivery of the intervention (e.g., in independent office, in court), implementation (e.g., trained facilitators, dose, fidelity) and methodology (e.g., randomised controlled trial). The third aim of the review is to synthesise the qualitative evidence about RJ to develop a better contextual understanding of how these programmes may work and to elucidate factors that might increase the efficacy and implementation of RJ interventions. The specific research questions this systematic review aims to address are: (1) Do RJ interventions reduce children and young people's involvement in offending or reoffending relative to a comparison group? [RQ1]. (2) Is there variation in the impact of different RJ approaches on young people's involvement in offending or reoffending? [RQ2]. (3) Is there variation in the impact of RJIs on children and young people's offending or reoffending depending on the characteristics of the participants taking part in the RJI (e.g., sex, age, ethnicity)? [RQ3]. (4) What characteristics of RJIs, influence the effectiveness of RJIs for children and young people's offending and reoffending? [RQ4]. (5) What are the most notable barriers and facilitators, as reported by participants (e.g., the victims, children/young people, or mediators who have taken part in an evaluation of an RJI, or those children or young people who were meant to take part in an evaluation but ultimately did not), to the implementation of RJIs to reduce later offending or reoffending? [RQ5].

Mediators of change in psychological interventions for adult offenders with personality disorders: A scoping review of the literature.

Offenders with personality disorder cause disproportionate harm to society and pose significant challenges for those responsible for their care and rehabilitation. Personality disorders are heterogeneous in terms of symptoms, as well as their pathways to offending behaviour. Thus, there is limited evidence regarding effective interventions. One solution might be to focus on how interventions are delivered as well as what is delivered. Within the non-offender personality disorder literature, the identification of potential mediators of change has enabled interventions to focus on 'how' they are delivered (e.g., therapeutic alliance) rather than the intervention itself. We explore the evidence and present a scoping review of the available literature on the mechanisms of change in psychological treatments for offenders with personality disorder. Only one study was found in the scoping review, highlighting a significant gap in the evidence base. We discuss the implications of this finding and potential future directions.

PROTOCOL: School-based interventions for reducing disciplinary school exclusion: An updated systematic review.

The primary goal of the present mixed methods review is to systematically examine the available evidence for the effectiveness of different types of school-based interventions for reducing disciplinary school exclusion. Quantitative evidence will help to understand the overall size of the impact, as well as the factors that better explain it. Qualitative evidence will help to better understand how these programmes may work, and what factors aid or hinder implementation and success. The research questions underlying the quantitative review are as follows: Do school-based programmes reduce the use of exclusionary sanctions in schools?Are some school-based approaches more effective than others in reducing exclusionary sanctions?Do participants' characteristics (e.g., age, sex, or ethnicity) affect the impact of school-based programmes on exclusionary sanctions in schools?Do characteristics of the interventions, implementation, and methodology affect the impact of school-based programmes on exclusionary sanctions in schools?Do school-based programmes have an impact on reducing the involvement of children and young people in crime and violence?Do participants' characteristics (e.g., age, gender, ethnicity) affect the impact of school-based programmes on crime and violence? If sufficient data are available, we will compare different approaches (e.g., school-wide management, classroom management, restorative justice, cognitive-behavioural interventions) and identify those that could potentially demonstrate larger effects. We will also (potentially) run analysis controlling for characteristics of participants (e.g., age, ethnicity, level of risk); interventions (e.g., theoretical bases, components); implementation (e.g., facilitators' training, doses, quality); and methodology (e.g., research design). The research questions underlying the qualitative review are defined as follows: What are the barriers and facilitators to implementation of interventions to reduce school exclusions?What are the barriers and facilitators to implementation of interventions to reduce the involvement of children and young people in crime and violence?

Systematic review of early risk factors for life-course-persistent, adolescence-limited, and late-onset offenders in prospective longitudinal studies.

This paper builds on our previous systematic review of prospective longitudinal studies and examines the early risk factors associated with life-course persistent offending (LCP), adolescence-limited (AL) and late-onset (LO) offending. Out of the 55 prospective longitudinal studies which theoretically could possess the relevant information, only four provided information about risk factors associated with the different offending types. An additional three provided data so that relevant analyses could be conducted. The results suggested that there was little evidence that specific early risk factors were associated with specific offending types. There was also limited evidence that specific risk factors predicted specific offending types when criminal career duration was included in the definitions of LCP, AL, and LO offending. However, LCP offenders tended to have a greater number of risk factors, and the magnitude of these was somewhat greater than for AL offenders, who in turn tended to have more risk factors (and of a greater magnitude) than LO offenders. LCP and AL offenders may differ more in degree (in the number and magnitude of risk factors) than in kind (in the specific risk factors that are predictive). Importantly, as the potential criminal career duration was increased in defining the offending types, those with longer careers tended to have more risk factors, but, LCP and AL offenders were not predicted by different risk factors. Much more research is needed on risk factors for offending types defined according to criminal career durations.

Suitability of a three-dimensional model to measure empathy and its relationship with social and normative adjustment in Spanish adolescents: a cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVES: (1) To examine the psychometric properties of the Basic Empathy Scale (BES) with Spanish adolescents, comparing a two and a three-dimensional structure;(2) To analyse the relationship between the three-dimensional empathy and social and normative adjustment in school. DESIGN: Transversal and ex post facto retrospective study. Confirmatory factorial analysis, multifactorial invariance analysis and structural equations models were used. PARTICIPANTS: 747 students (51.3% girls) from Cordoba, Spain, aged 12-17 years (M=13.8; SD=1.21). RESULTS: The original two-dimensional structure was confirmed (cognitive empathy, affective empathy), but a three-dimensional structure showed better psychometric properties, highlighting the good fit found in confirmatory factorial analysis and adequate internal consistent valued, measured with Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's omega. Composite reliability and average variance extracted showed better indices for a three-factor model. The research also showed evidence of measurement invariance across gender. All the factors of the final three-dimensional BES model were direct and significantly associated with social and normative adjustment, being most strongly related to cognitive empathy. CONCLUSIONS: This research supports the advances in neuroscience, developmental psychology and psychopathology through a three-dimensional version of the BES, which represents an improvement in the original two-factorial model. The organisation of empathy in three factors benefits the understanding of social and normative adjustment in adolescents, in which emotional disengagement favours adjusted peer relationships. Psychoeducational interventions aimed at improving the quality of social life in schools should target these components of empathy.

Evaluating the impact of the London Pathway Project.

BACKGROUND: The London Pathway Project (LPP) is an innovative whole-systems approach to addressing the needs of offenders who have severe personality disorder, with the goal of reducing their risk of harm. Previous research has evaluated the initial implementation of the LPP. AIMS: This paper focused on evaluating the impact of the LPP on a number of criminogenic needs over time and its impact on the risk of reoffending and harm compared with a similar group who did not experience the pathway. METHOD: Data for men who had been identified for the LPP were used to explore changes in key criminogenic needs an average of 11 months after commencing on the pathway. In addition, Offender Assessment System data was used to match men who had experienced the LPP for at least 12 months to a comparison group on key demographic and criminal history variables. Changes in validated risk assessment devices and changes in practitioners' perception of risk were examined. RESULTS: The LPP was associated with desirable within-individual change for most of the criminogenic needs explored. However, strong non-desirable changes in lifestyle and associates were also identified, but this was particularly the case for those sentenced to prison. When compared with a matched group, those identified for the pathway showed a significant reduction on an objective measure of risk of reoffending but were rated as having significantly increased risk of harm on the basis of practitioner's perceptions. There was no evidence that greater progression along the pathway was associated with greater benefits. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first impact evaluation of the LPP, and the results were generally positive in terms of its relation to criminogenic needs and risks. Much more research that clearly links project inputs to actual behavioural outcomes, such as later reoffending, is needed. IMPLICATIONS: This initial evaluation of the impact of the LPP could be used as baseline data to examine the impact of the pathway over time, and with greater precision (e.g. matching on personality features). Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Factors associated with progression in the London pathway project.

BACKGROUND: The London Pathways Partnership (LPP) Community Service is an approach to mainstreaming the identification of offenders with severe personality disorder to address their needs and reduce their risk. AIMS: To evaluate the result of the full-scale implementation of the LPP and evaluate factors associated with an offender's progression on the pathway. METHOD: The data collected as part of the LPP project and Offender Assessment System data were used to evaluate who was screened into the pathway and their progression on the pathway. RESULTS: Over 3,400 offenders were screened into the pathway in the first 48 months of implementation but fewer were recorded as having progressed. It was not possible to determine whether this attrition reflected appropriate pathway action, inefficient service provision or weak recording procedures. Certain types of offenders were represented at progressive stages of the pathway. Those who had violent or sexual offences, had received custodial sentences, had more personality disorder indicators and were of higher risk were more likely to be found at progressive stages of the pathway. When probation areas began implementing the service was also found to be related to pathway movement. Also, those of Non-White ethnicity were no less likely than those of White ethnicity to be recommended or referred for services but were significantly less likely to start services. CONCLUSIONS: The LPP attempts to balance breadth (covering all offenders being convicted in London) with depth (developing a feasible pathway for all offenders identified with severe personality disorder) and has done so with some success. IMPLICATIONS: Future research should examine the continued rollout of the LPP service, and importantly the relationship between salient individual, risk and personality features, pathway inputs and measures of later reoffending. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Characteristics of Empathy in young people measured by the Spanish validation of the Basic Empathy Scale.

BACKGROUND: Empathy is a personality feature that can play a major role in predicting the emotional and social functioning of adolescents (Jolliffe & Farrington, 2006). Recent research confirms the existence of two fundamental dimensions embedded within this construct, Affective Empathy (experiencing a congruent emotional response with another person) and Cognitive Empathy (understanding rationally the emotions of another person). The Basic Empathy Scale (Jolliffe & Farrington, 2006) is an up-to-date instrument which has been reported to satisfactorily measure these two dimensions. METHOD: We used a sample of 752 adolescents (339 males, 413 females) aged 14-25 who completed the Spanish adaptation of BES. RESULTS: Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the Spanish adaptation of the scale had the same bi-factorial structure as the original (CFI = .93). This adaptation also showed both satisfactory reliability (Cronbach’s alpha coefficient > .92) and discriminant and convergent validity with regard to measurements of Narcissism, Psychoticism and Agreeableness. Females were found to have higher scores than males both in Affective and Cognitive Empathy. Both subscales show a direct significant correlation with age. CONCLUSIONS: The evidence suggested that this revised scale possessed good psychometric properties for evaluating empathy in Spanish young people.

Holistic Facial Composite Creation and Subsequent Video Line-up Eyewitness Identification Paradigm.

The paradigm detailed in this manuscript describes an applied experimental method based on real police investigations during which an eyewitness or victim to a crime may create from memory a holistic facial composite of the culprit with the assistance of a police operator. The aim is that the composite is recognized by someone who believes that they know the culprit. For this paradigm, participants view a culprit actor on video and following a delay, participant-witnesses construct a holistic system facial composite. Controls do not construct a composite. From a series of arrays of computer-generated, but realistic faces, the holistic system construction method primarily requires participant-witnesses to select the facial images most closely meeting their memory of the culprit. Variation between faces in successive arrays is reduced until ideally the final image possesses a close likeness to the culprit. Participant-witness directed tools can also alter facial features, configurations between features and holistic properties (e.g., age, distinctiveness, skin tone), all within a whole face context. The procedure is designed to closely match the holistic manner by which humans' process faces. On completion, based on their memory of the culprit, ratings of composite-culprit similarity are collected from the participant-witnesses. Similar ratings are collected from culprit-acquaintance assessors, as a marker of composite recognition likelihood. Following a further delay, all participants--including the controls--attempt to identify the culprit in either a culprit-present or culprit-absent video line-up, to replicate circumstances in which the police have located the correct culprit, or an innocent suspect. Data of control and participant-witness line-up outcomes are presented, demonstrating the positive influence of holistic composite construction on identification accuracy. Correlational analyses are conducted to measure the relationship between assessor and participant-witness composite-culprit similarity ratings, delay, identification accuracy, and confidence to examine which factors influence video line-up outcomes.

Assessing children's empathy through a Spanish adaptation of the Basic Empathy Scale: parent's and child's report forms.

The aim of the current research was to study cognitive and affective empathy in children aged 6-12 years old, and their associations with children's family environment and social adjustment. For this purpose, we developed the Spanish version of the Basic Empathy Scale (BES), self- and parent-report forms. Factorial analyses confirmed a two-component model of empathy in both self- and parent-report forms. Concordance between parent-child measures of empathy was low for cognitive and affective factors. Analyses of variance on the cognitive and affective components brought a significant effect of age for self-reported cognitive empathy, with older children scoring higher than younger ones. Gender brought out a significant principal effect for self-reported affective empathy, with girls scoring higher than boys. No other main effects were found for age and gender for the rest of the factors analyzed. Children's empathy was associated with socioeconomic status and other family socialization processes, as well as children' social behaviors. Overall the new measures provided a coherent view of empathy in middle childhood and early adolescence when measured through self and parent reports, and illustrate the similarity of the validity of the BES in a European-Spanish culture.

Testing the Cambridge quality checklists on a review of disrupted families and crime.

BACKGROUND: Systematic reviews of the relationship between non-manipulated factors (e.g. low empathy) and offending are becoming more common, and it is important to consider the methodological quality of studies included in such reviews. AIMS: To assess aspects of the reliability and validity of the Cambridge Quality Checklists, a set of three measures for examining the methodological quality of studies included in systematic reviews of risk factors for offending. METHODS: All 60 studies in a systematic review of disrupted families and offending were coded on the CQC and codes compared with the effect sizes derived from the studies. RESULTS: Overall, the CQC was easy to score, and the relevant information was available in most studies. The scales had high inter-rater reliability. Only 13 studies scored high on the Checklist of Correlates, 18 scored highly on the Checklist of Risk Factors and none scored highly on the Checklist of Causal Risk Factors. Generally, studies that were of lower quality had higher effect sizes. CONCLUSIONS: The CQC could be a useful method of assessing the methodological quality of studies of risk factors for offending but might benefit from additional conceptual work, changes to the wording of some scales and additional levels for scoring.

Is low empathy related to bullying after controlling for individual and social background variables?

This paper examines the relationship between low empathy and bullying while also controlling for the impact of a number of other individual and social background variables linked with bullying. This included the relationship to the prevalence of bullying, but also to the frequency and type of bullying. Questionnaires were completed by 720 adolescents (344 females, 376 males) aged 13-17 in three secondary schools in England. The results suggested that low affective empathy was independently related to bullying by males, but not females. There was no evidence that low cognitive empathy was independently related to bullying, but high impulsivity was related to all forms of male bullying and to female bullying. The implications of the findings for research and practice are discussed.

Development and validation of the Basic Empathy Scale.

In developing the Basic Empathy Scale (BES), 40 items measuring affective and cognitive empathy were administered to 363 adolescents in Year 10 (aged about 15). Factor analysis reduced this to a 20-item scale that was administered 1 year later to 357 different adolescents in Year 10 in the same schools. Confirmatory factor analysis verified the two-factor solution. Females scored higher than males on both affective and cognitive empathy. Empathy was positively correlated with intelligence (for females only), extraversion (cognitive empathy only) neuroticism (affective empathy only), agreeableness, conscientiousness (for males only), and openness. Empathy was positively related to parental supervision and socioeconomic status. Adolescents who would help victims of bullying had high empathy.

Predictive, concurrent, prospective and retrospective validity of self-reported delinquency.

BACKGROUND: The self-report method is widely used to measure offending. Previous studies suggest that it is generally valid, but that its validity may be lower for blacks than for whites. AIM To assess the validity of self-reported offending in relation to court referrals, and to investigate how it varies with types of offences, sex and race. METHOD: Annual court and self-report data were collected between ages 11 and 17 for eight offences in the Seattle Social Development Project, which is a prospective longitudinal survey of 808 youths. RESULTS: Self-reports predicted future court referrals. Predictive validity was highest for drug offences, for males and for whites, and lowest for females and Asians. The probability of youths with a court referral reporting offences and arrests was highest for drug offences, for males, for whites and for blacks. Retrospective ages of onset agreed best with prospective ages for drug offences, Asians and whites. More Asians than blacks or whites failed retrospectively to report offences that had been reported prospectively. CONCLUSIONS: The validity of self-reports of offending was high, especially for drug offences, for males and for whites. Contrary to prior research, validity was high for black males. It was lowest for Asian females. Sex and race differences in validity held up after controlling for socioeconomic status. Differential validity probability did not reflect police bias.