For whom are treatments for criminal recidivism effective? Moderator effects from a randomized controlled trial of justice-involved veterans.

OBJECTIVE: In a recent trial, moral reconation therapy (MRT)-a cognitive-behavioral intervention for criminal recidivism-was not more effective than usual care (UC) for veterans in behavioral health treatment. To determine for whom treatments of recidivism are most effective, we tested if recency of criminal history or psychopathic traits moderated MRT's effects on outcomes. METHOD: In a multisite trial, 341 veterans (95.3% male; 57.8% White/Non-Hispanic) with a criminal history who were admitted to behavioral health treatment programs were randomly assigned to UC or UC + MRT and followed at 6- and 12-months. Incarceration (yes/no) or criminal conviction (yes/no) in the year prior to enrollment and psychopathic traits at baseline (median split) were prespecified as moderators of treatment effects on primary (criminal thinking, criminal associations) and secondary outcomes (legal, employment, and family/social problems; substance use problems and days of use). RESULTS: Among veterans incarcerated in the year prior to enrollment, MRT (vs. UC) was associated with greater reductions in criminal associations (6 months) and days drinking or using drugs (12 months). Among those convicted in the year prior to enrollment, MRT (vs. UC) was associated with greater reductions in employment problems (12 months) and days drinking or using drugs at each follow-up. For those high in psychopathic traits, MRT (vs. UC) was associated with greater reductions in days drinking or using drugs at each follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: For veterans in behavioral health treatment with recent criminal histories and high in psychopathic traits, MRT may be effective for reducing risk for criminal recidivism. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Evaluating e-Connect: Mitigating Race by Gender Disparities in Behavioral Health Referral Among Youths on Probation, Northeast United States, 2019.

Addressing the behavioral health needs of youths involved in the justice system is key to reducing recidivism risk and preventing long-term system involvement. However, rates of treatment referral and initiation remain low, especially among minoritized youths and boys. The e-Connect System, a digital, clinical decision support system, addresses this problem by increasing rates of behavioral health treatment referral and initiation rates among youths on probation. In this study, we examine whether e-Connect helps improve equity in referral and treatment initiation outcomes. (Am J Public Health. 2023;113(12):1267-1270. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2023.307417).

Neurotechnology to reduce recidivism: Ethical and legal challenges.

Crime comes with enormous costs, not only financial but also in terms of loss of mental and physical health and, in some cases, even loss of life. Recidivism is responsible for a considerable percentage of the crimes, and therefore, society deems reducing recidivism a priority. To reduce recidivism, several types of interventions can be used, such as education and employment-focused rehabilitation programs which are intended to improve psychological and social factors. Another way to prevent reoffending is to influence the offender's brain functions. For example, medication can be offered to treat delusions or to diminish sexual drive. In the near future, innovative neurotechnologies are expected to improve prediction and prevention of reoffending. Potential positive effects of such neurotechniques include a safer society and earlier release of prisoners who are no longer "at high risk" to relapse into criminal behavior. Meanwhile, employing these neurotechniques in the criminal justice system raises fundamental concerns, for example, about autonomy, privacy and mental integrity. This chapter aims to identify some of the ethical and legal challenges of using neurotechnologies to reduce recidivism.

Subsequent risky driving behaviors, recidivism and crashes among drivers with a traffic violation: A scoping review.

PURPOSE: Drivers who have committed a traffic violation are a particularly high-risk group, yet studies conducted among this group are scarce. We analyzed and synthesized the current literature concerning subsequent risky driving behaviors, recidivism, and crashes among drivers with a traffic violation. METHODS: We searched PubMed, Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), Academic Search Complete, Web of Science, and Scopus for articles published in English between January 1, 1999, and May 31, 2023. A total of 25 articles met the selection criteria and were included in the final analysis. Two coders independently extracted and analyzed the selected articles to identify common categories across the articles, including study design, study population, type of traffic violation, and study outcomes including subsequent driving behaviors, recidivism, and crash risks. RESULTS: Of the 25 selected articles, 19 (76%) involved both male and female participants. Fourteen (56%) studies were interventions/evaluation studies, with the other 11 (44%) being observational. Nineteen (76%) studies included alcohol-impaired driving violations, and 23 (92%) studies examined recidivism as an outcome measure. Over half of the observational studies demonstrated that traffic offenders were more likely to commit a subsequent traffic violation or had elevated risk of crashes. Most of the intervention/evaluation studies demonstrated a significant reduction in driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol among the study participants. However, such positive effects observed during the active intervention period were not always sustained. CONCLUSIONS: Traffic offenders are a high-risk group for subsequent violations and crashes. Evidence from this review calls for more effective interventions implemented following a traffic violation to prevent recidivism, crashes, and crash-related injuries and deaths.

The Effects of Vocational Education on Recidivism and Employment Among Individuals Released Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Prior research shows employment is an important component of desistance, but there is mixed evidence regarding the effectiveness of prison-based education programs. Therefore, this study examines whether participation in vocational education programs while incarcerated improves recidivism and post-release employment outcomes. In addition, the study controls for the timing of release to examine whether recidivism and employment outcomes varied during the COVID-19 pandemic. Observable selection bias was reduced by using propensity score matching to create similar treatment and comparison groups. After matching, there were no differences in any outcome between those who obtained vocational certificates and the comparison group. The results demonstrate the importance of accounting for selection bias in evaluations of education and employment programs. It is recommended that career-focused educational programs incorporate the risk-needs-responsivity model and the continuum of care principle, build relationships with community employers, and assist with practical barriers to employment.

Correctional treatment as an economically sound approach to reducing the high costs of recidivism: A review of the research.

BACKGROUND: Prior research indicates that correctional treatment programmes can be highly effective in reducing reoffending. Less studied, however, is whether such programmes are economically efficient. AIMS: To review the research literature on the economic efficiency of correctional treatment programmes. METHODS: A review of cost-benefit analyses of correctional treatment programmes from 2004 to the present was carried out. To be included in the review, studies must have attempted to measure monetary costs and benefits of correctional treatment programmes and be based on experimental or quasi-experimental evaluations. RESULTS: A total of 22 cost-benefit studies of correctional treatment programmes met the criteria for inclusion in the review, 19 of which estimated (or allowed estimation of) benefit-to-cost ratios. All 19 studies yielded a favourable benefit-to-cost ratio. CONCLUSIONS: Correctional treatment programmes appear to be economically efficient, with the monetary benefits produced by such programmes substantially exceeding their monetary costs. This finding appears to hold across a variety of different intervention types, and offers policy-makers and practitioners ample evidence in favour of providing additional resources for correctional treatment programmes.

Examining the Impact of Jail Sanctions on Recidivism for Domestic Violence Probationers.

There has been a growth of domestic violence courts aimed at increasing offender accountability and victim safety. Although research has examined the effectiveness of these courts compared to typical court processing on recidivism, little is known about the mechanism of judicial accountability. Specifically, judicial review hearings, in which judges have discretion on whether and how to sanction for noncompliance, are common in these courts. This study examines whether incarceration sanctions for noncompliance affect recidivism among a sample of 347 probation review hearings in a Midwestern domestic violence court. Using logistic regression and survival analysis, we find that jail sanctions do not impact likelihood of recidivating but do result in significantly shorter periods of time until recidivating. The findings also signify the importance of addressing substance abuse issues in the prevention of recidivism. Further implications of the findings are discussed.

The influence of a Learning to Forgive Program on institutional offending and recidivism among offenders with mental disorder.

Previous researchers have demonstrated that learning to forgive may reduce the likelihood of offending/reoffending. Forgiveness therapy may be useful for rehabilitation by assisting traumatized individuals to release revengeful emotions. The current study is a follow up to a previous study that examined the effects of a 6-week forgiveness psychoeducational intervention for offenders with mental disorders. The aim of the current study was to determine any differences for participants who received a forgiveness intervention versus a control group for rates of recidivism (likelihood of reoffending and length of time to reoffend) and type of institutional offense. Recidivism data was collected through the Canadian Police Information Center. Both the control and treatment group in this study were selected from offenders with mental disorder at the Regional Psychiatric Centre, a multilevel forensic psychiatry hospital in Saskatoon, Canada. Results indicated that participants who received the forgiveness intervention took significantly longer than the control group to both commit non-violent offenses, and to be convicted of any offense. Results suggest that forgiveness therapy for offender populations may improve behavior and reduce recidivism.

A Restorative Justice Intervention in United States Prisons: Implications of Intervention Timing, Age, and Gender on Recidivism.

Restorative justice seeks to balance the needs of the victim, offender, and community by repairing the harm caused by crime and wrongdoing and improving the prosocial competencies and accountability of the offender in response to an offense. Restorative justice interventions (RJIs) offer an alternative method to reduce harm and short- and long-term recidivism. However, empirical validation of mechanisms and moderating factors warrant additional inquiry within jail and prison settings. Thus, the authors sought to examine RJI delivery timing on recidivism outcomes with age and gender as moderators. A final sample of 1,316 individuals (49.8% female) incarcerated in several United States prisons received an RJI between 2001 and 2017. RJI timing did not relate to binary recidivism. However, women recidivated less than men and older individual recidivated less than younger individuals. For the subsample of reoffenders (n = 283), RJIs delivered closer to release increased the amount of time before recidivism. Delivering RJIs closer to release from prison may allow for other community programs to intervene and reduce recidivism even further.

Forecasting Stalking Recidivism Using the Guidelines for Stalking Assessment and Management (SAM).

We examined the long-term risk for stalking recidivism and the predictive validity of ratings made using the Guidelines for Stalking Assessment and Management (SAM) in 100 stalking offenders from a forensic clinic. Overall, 45 offenders were convicted of, charged with, or the subject of police investigation for stalking-related offenses during a potential time at risk that averaged 13.47 years. Survival analyses using the Cox proportional hazards model indicated that a composite score of the presence of SAM risk factors was significantly predictive of recidivism and had significant incremental validity relative to total scores on two scales commonly used in violence risk assessment, the Screening Version of the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL:SV) and the Violence Risk Appraisal Guide (VRAG). Overall ratings of risk made using the SAM, however, were not significantly predictive of recidivism. We discuss the potential uses of the SAM in stalking risk assessment and provide recommendations for future research.

Faith and Fortitude: 10-Year Assessment of Recidivism at a New Church-Based Prison in South Korea.

Substantial desistance from re-offending is one pragmatic goal of punishment. But that goal seemingly is not achieved in the contemporary experience of corrections within the U.S. This article marvels at how the abysmal record of desistance failure has characterized American penological practices in an age of mass incarceration. It notes prison programs are operationally desirable with short of empirical evidence for reduced recidivism. Religious immersion provides a promising avenue for lower recidivism. The article discusses a private prison in South Korea, built and operated by a church organization, that now has a decade of operating experience with sizable lower recidivism. The preliminary analysis shows a 3-year recidivism rate (re-incarceration) of about 10% compared with about 23% in comparable Korean prisons.

Attending to the Positive: A Retrospective Validation of the Structured Assessment of Protective Factors-Sexual Offence Version.

Sexual recidivism risk assessment tools focus almost exclusively on risk factors associated with increased rates of recidivism and do not attend to protective factors that might mitigate reoffense risk. The present study investigated the predictive validity of the Structured Assessment of Protective Factors - Sexual Offence version (SAPROF-SO), developed to assess hypothesised protective factors against sexual recidivism in adult males. The SAPROF-SO pilot version contains 24 items across two domains: Personal and Professionally Provided Support. SAPROF-SO scores were rated retrospectively from a review of archived case files of 210 men with convictions for child sexual offenses, using the SAPROF-SO pilot manual and a supplementary retrospective scoring guide developed for the current study. SAPROF-SO Total and Personal domain scores were significantly predictive of sexual recidivism after an average follow-up period of 12.24 years (AUC = .81), and to a lesser extent, violent and general recidivism. SAPROF-SO Total and Personal scores additionally provided significant incremental validity over Static-99R scores in the prediction of sexual recidivism. Results support the predictive validity of protective factors for reduced sexual recidivism and invite future research examining how to integrate the SAPROF-SO alongside contemporary sexual recidivism risk assessment tools.

Predictors of Maternal Recidivism in the Child Protection System.

Child maltreatment recidivism is typically measured and studied at the individual level. Conditions that give rise to child abuse and neglect, however, typically affect multiple children in a given family. In the current study, we estimated maltreatment recidivism at the maternal level and examined its risk as a function of maternal sociodemographic characteristics that may change over time. Using linked administrative records, we identified a subset of first-time mothers in California whose first child was reported to the child protection system (CPS) between birth and age 5 and who then gave birth to another child (n = 14,715). Following the firstborn child's CPS reporting, nearly half of these mothers (43.3%) were re-reported concerning the non-firstborn children during the first 5 years of the child's life. Risk factors consistently documented across births were associated with a heightened risk of maternal CPS recidivism. Our study advances an understanding of the full extent of maltreatment recidivism by broadening the focus from individual children.

Motivational Interview Techniques and the Effectiveness of Intervention Programs With Perpetrators of Intimate Partner Violence: A Systematic Review.

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is widely recognized as a severe public health issue. Perpetrators' Intervention Programs (PIPs) have been essential to prevent recidivism, and the incorporation of Motivational Interview Techniques (MIT) has shown to be an added value in this area. Objective: The present systematic review aims to analyze the incorporation of MIT (i.e., pre-treatment, isolated treatment, and conjoined with PIPs) in interventions with IPV perpetrators and its potential impact on their behavior and attitudes regarding motivation for change and treatment compliance. Method: The following research equation was used: "Intimate Partner Violence" AND ("Perpetrator" OR "Batterer" OR "Offender") AND ("Motivation" OR "Motivational Interview") AND ("Intervention" OR "Intervention Program" OR "Batterer Intervention Program") AND ("Effectiveness OR "Program Effectiveness"); in four separate databases: PubMed, PsycINFO, Science Direct, and EBSCO. Studies in English, Portuguese, and Spanish were included, and 15 were identified according to the defined inclusion criteria. Results: Studies demonstrated that MIT increases attendance rates, treatment adherence, motivation for change, and behavioral and attitudinal outcomes. More specifically, MIT showed greater effectiveness among participants with low readiness to change and in the early stages of change. Conclusion: This systematic review corroborates the importance of incorporating MIT in PIPs to improve intervention efficacy.

Ramping Up Detention of Young Serious Offenders: A Safer Future?

When youth commit serious violent or sexual offenses, this often generates a call for more severe punishments and longer detention sentences. An important question is whether (long) detention sentences are effective in decreasing recidivism among serious young offenders. To estimate recidivism rates in serious young offenders and elucidate the link between sentencing (in terms of custodial vs. non-custodial and length of imprisonment) and recidivism, three multilevel meta-analyses were conducted. With a systematic literature search, 27 studies and four datasets were traced, involving N = 2,308 participants, yielding 90 effect sizes for overall recidivism, 24 for specifically violent recidivism, and 23 for the association between length of imprisonment and recidivism. The average weighted overall recidivism rate was 44.47% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 37.59-51.46%) over an average period of 8.68 years. The rate of violent recidivism was estimated at 30.49% (95% CI: 20.92-40.52%), over an average period of 11.45 years. Recidivism rates were higher when recidivism was defined as an arrest for any new offense rather than for a specific offense and in studies conducted in the United States versus European studies. Violent recidivism rates were higher in studies with longer follow-up periods. Based on the limited available studies, no difference in recidivism rates following custodial and non-custodial sentences were found, nor an association between length of imprisonment and recidivism. To increase rehabilitation chances for youth offenders, further research is warranted to better understand the impact of sentencing and to ascertain what is needed to make custodial and non-custodial sentences more effective.

Reconsidering the effectiveness of mentoring for prevention of juvenile criminal recidivism: A brief comment on systematic review and meta-analysis of noninstitutional psychosocial interventions to prevent juvenile criminal recidivism (Olsson et al., 2021).

Interventions implemented outside of the juvenile justice system are widely utilized with youth offenders to decrease the likelihood of future offending and justice system involvement, both of which are well-documented as being costly to youth and society at large. Olsson et al. (2021) conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of these types of interventions for youth aged 12-17 and failed to find any of the interventions examined to be more effective than control treatments in reducing future criminality. This commentary further examines the evidence for one of these interventions, mentoring, based on an expanded search of the literature that identified several additional studies of mentoring for recidivism prevention that meet the eligibility criteria utilized by Olsson et al. A meta-analysis of these studies and those identified by Olsson et al. finds mentoring to be more effective than control treatments (typically services as usual within the juvenile justice system): risk difference between groups of 0.09 (random effect model; 95% confidence interval [.03-.15]). This reanalysis thus indicates greater promise for mentoring as a tool in reducing juvenile crime and juvenile justice system involvement than was suggested by the results of Olsson et al. Importantly, it also underscores the potential for the results of meta-analyses to be sensitive to not only unidentified studies with null or negative results (the so-called "file-drawer problem") but also missed studies with positive findings. Recommendations for literature search procedures in systematic reviews and sensitivity analyses in meta-analyses are provided with this concern in mind. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

The devil is in the details: Unpackaging the systematic in systematic reviews: Short reply to reconsidering the effectiveness of mentoring for prevention of juvenile criminal recidivism.

Replies to a comment made by DuBois (see record 2022-98051-005). The systematic review is an important tool for decision makers, intervention researchers, and practitioners to gain a clear and comprehensive overview of the available evidence on a given topic. We would, in this short reply, like to raise the two additional issues of critical appraisal and research synthesis. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Recidivism prevention for impaired driving: Longitudinal 5-year outcomes from Quebec's severity-based intervention assignment program.

INTRODUCTION: Driving while impaired by alcohol (DWI) is a persistent problem. Tailoring intervention modality to client risk and needs (i.e., risk/needs) is posited to both reduce recidivism more efficiently than uniform approaches and circumvent overtreatment or undertreatment. DWI drivers in Quebec must participate in a severity-based intervention assignment program to be relicensed, but like most tailoring programs it has yet to undergo systematic scrutiny. The current longitudinal cohort study tests two main hypotheses underpinning this approach: 1) drivers classified at higher recidivism risk based on their arrest characteristics (DWIR) show poorer outcomes over up to 5-years postassessment compared to drivers classified at lower risk (DWIF); and 2) for both DWIR and DWIF groups, assignment of drivers with greater risk/needs to intensive intervention (II) will be advantageous for reducing recidivism risk compared to assignment into brief intervention (BI) for those with lower risk/needs. METHODS: Drivers who entered the program from 2012 to 2016 were followed to the end of 2018 (N = 37,612). Survival analysis examined the predictive validity of the initial classification into DWIR or DWIF groups for documented recidivism over a follow-up of up to 5 years. Logistic regression discontinuity evaluated the relative outcomes of drivers who were assigned to either BI or II. The study explored interaction effects between classification and intervention assignment with age and sex. RESULTS: In line with the hypothesis, the average hazard of recidivism was 58 % greater in DWIR drivers compared to DWIF drivers. In both DWIF and DWIR drivers, assignment of drivers with greater risk/needs to II was associated with reduced recidivism compared to assignment of drivers with lower risk/needs to BI, with 57 % and 35 % decreased probability of recidivism, respectively. Younger age was more strongly associated with recidivism risk in DWIF drivers than in DWIR drivers. CONCLUSIONS: The current study found that Quebec's severity-based intervention assignment approach accurately identifies DWI drivers who: i) by their arrest characteristics pose a greater risk for recidivism, which may require expeditious exposure to preventative countermeasures; and ii) as a function of their greater risk/needs, benefit from assignment to more intensive intervention to mitigate their recidivism risk.

The Impact of Juvenile Drug Treatment Courts on Substance Use, Mental Health, and Recidivism: Results from a Multisite Experimental Evaluation.

Juvenile Drug Treatment Courts (JDTC) emerged in the mid-1990s as a potential solution to concern about substance use among youth in the juvenile justice system (JJS). Despite substantial research, findings on the JDTC effectiveness for reducing recidivism and substance use remain inconsistent, hampered by methodological problems. In 2016, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention published research-based JDTC Guidelines for best practices, and funded technical assistance for implementation and a multisite national outcomes study among JDTCs implementing the Guidelines. Ten sites were originally selected for this study, with a JDTC and Traditional Juvenile Court (TJC) participating. In two sites, moderate- to high-risk youth were randomized to JDTC or TJC, and in eight sites, a regression discontinuity design assigned moderate- to high-risk youth to JDTC, and other youth to TJC. Findings from four sites with sufficient cases and follow-up rates indicated that JDTCs reduced cannabis use, increased access to mental health services, and reduced recidivism. However, the effects were small to moderate, with positive impacts mainly observed among high-risk youth. The impacts of JDTCs may have been attenuated because Guidelines implementation was inconsistent across courts, and some TJCs implemented elements of the Guidelines, blurring the distinction between JDTCs and TJCs.

Community Behavioral Health Service Use and Criminal Recidivism of People With Mental, Substance Use, and Co-occurring Disorders.

OBJECTIVE: This study assessed the relationship between community behavioral health service (CBHS) use and criminal recidivism in a broad sample of potential beneficiaries and by diagnostic group. METHODS: Among a cohort of people on probation with any mental and/or substance use disorder (N=772), the study estimated the effect of CBHS use on rearrest with Cox proportional hazards models. RESULTS: Service use significantly predicted reduced recidivism among people with any mental disorder (hazard rate=0.36, p=0.008), but not among those with any substance use disorder or co-occurring disorders. CONCLUSIONS: CBHS use in a given week predicted a 64% reduced recidivism risk during the following week among people with any mental disorder. However, CBHS use had no clear relationship with recidivism among people with co-occurring disorders or any substance use disorder. CBHS use may reduce recidivism, depending on recipient and service characteristics.