How effective is community-based therapy of criminals? The effectiveness of community-related measures to prevent re-offending in criminals and mentally ill lawbreakers.

OBJECTIVE: Due to the passing of new laws and pressure caused by rising costs in public financing, forensic psychiatry and prisons must develop alternatives to conventional treatment in a closed setting. This paper gives an overview of the relevant research results on the therapy of offenders or mentally ill lawbreakers, elucidates the effects of community-based approaches and takes these as a basis for practical recommendations. METHODS: Survey of the relevant literature. RESULTS: Following a time of therapeutic pessimism, the last decades have demonstrated the general effectiveness of treating offenders and lawbreakers. Adequate therapy has resulted in an up to 30% reduction of relevant re-offences. The positive effect in treating offenders was confirmed especially for community-related approaches. Additional research is necessary to further improve effectiveness. The requirements for a successful community-based therapy for offenders derived from the literature are summarised. CONCLUSIONS: There is still limited information on the differential effects of successful ambulant measures after serving one's sentence in a prison or forensic psychiatric security facility. The current legal situation in the Federal Republic of Germany is conductive to gain the knowledge required for achieving more effective therapy of offenders after discharge, which would contribute to better protection of the public.