Youth gang prevention programmes in Sweden and Denmark: A systematic review

Youth involvement in violent and gang-related crime has become an issue of growing concern across the Nordic countries. This study responds to the need for more contextualised knowledge about the effectiveness and functioning of interventions implemented to prevent such crime. This systematic review of evaluated programmes that directly or indirectly aim to prevent youth gang crime in Sweden and Denmark includes 80 studies: 45 process evaluations, 17 outcome evaluations, and 18 evaluations of both process and outcome. The outcome evaluations reveal limited evidence of crime-reducing effects of the interventions, although some programmes show promising results. The process evaluations show that individualised, comprehensive, and committed support with strong societal and multi-professional anchoring is important in preventing youth involvement in gangs. Overall, the findings of this review highlight the need for more robust evaluation designs and evidence-based strategies to effectively address youth gang crime in the Nordic context. The lack of evaluations of penal sanctions and recent legal reforms in Sweden and Denmark is particularly concerning, given their seriousness and impact.