A Systematic Review of the Effectiveness of Criminal and Juvenile Justice Policies for Preventing Violence

Youth violence is largely a place-based issue.  Physical, social, demographic, and organizational characteristics of local communities exert a powerful influence on the epidemiology of violence. Policies and interventions focused on addressing such characteristics have the potential to prevent youth violence. However, the efficacy of policy approaches on violent crime rates among youth remains unclear.

Previous reviews of policy strategies have focused on the effects of justice policies on general crime indicators, or on specific forms of violence (e.g., sexual violence), but not on youth violence perpetration or victimization specifically. To fill this gap, we conducted a systematic review to examine the effects of criminal and juvenile justice policies on youth violence. We focus on policies that have the potential to exert primary prevention effects, rather than policies that are oriented toward reducing recidivism or targeting specific types of violence (e.g., sexual violence).

We conducted a systematic literature search to identify studies that rigorously evaluated the effects of a juvenile or criminal justice policy (i.e., law, regulation, administrative actions, and/or incentives applied to large populations and settings) on youth violence perpetration and victimization. Eligible studies needed to have a theoretical justification for the primary prevention of youth violence; utilize an experimental or quasi-experimental design with a comparison arm; and report a violence-related outcome for youth ages 7-24. We used a standardized coding protocol to capture important features of the policies and assess study quality (i.e., sampling, measurement, research design, analytic strategies). We examined impacts on justice (e.g., arrests for violent crimes, violent incident reports), behavioral (e.g., fighting, school disciplinary actions), health (e.g., injuries, homicide), and empirically supported risk factors for violence (e.g., delinquency, drug offenses). Of 9,129 screened studies, 31 met inclusion criteria.

We will present a summary of the findings, reviewing the effectiveness of focused strategies such as Problem-Oriented Policing, Hot Spots Policing, and curfew laws, indicating when ineffective strategies were identified. The results of the review provide opportunities for examining current policy, and informing directions for research and evidence-based policy initiatives.