Police‐initiated diversion for youth to prevent future delinquent behavior: a systematic review

Abstract

This Campbell systematic review examines the effects police‐initiated diversion programs on delinquent behavior, compared to traditional system processing. The review summarizes evidence from nineteen high‐quality studies, including 13 randomized controlled trials and six quasi‐experimental studies. This review includes studies that evaluated the effects of police‐led diversionary practices compared to traditional processing for youth under 18 years of age. We identified a total of 14 manuscripts representing 19 evaluations. Of these 19 evaluations, 13 used randomized controlled designs (random assignment to conditions) and 6 used quasi‐experimental designs (no random assignment to conditions). Many of these designs included two or more diversionary conditions compared to a common control (traditional processing) producing 31 treatment‐comparison contrasts for analysis. These studies were conducted between 1973 and 2011, inclusively. Most were conducted in the USA (11) with the remaining conducted in Canada (4), Australia (2), and the UK (2). The general pattern of evidence is positive, suggesting that police‐led diversion reduces the future delinquent behavior of low‐risk youth relative to traditional processing. Assuming a 50 percent reoffending rate for the traditional processing condition, the results suggest a reoffending rate of roughly 44 percent for the diverted youth. This overall benefit of diversion holds for the random assignment studies judged to be free from any obvious risks of bias. No meaningful differences were found across types of diversionary programs. Furthermore, we found no evidence to suggest these findings suffer from publication selection bias. Plain language summary Police‐led diversion of low‐risk youth reduces their future contact with the justice systemPolice‐led diversion of low‐risk youth who come into contact with the justice system is more effective in reducing a youth's future contact with the justice system compared to traditional processing. What is this review about?Youth misconduct and misbehavior is a normal part of adolescence and that misbehavior sometimes crosses the line from disruptive or problematic to delinquent. Nationally representative surveys of youth in the USA have indicated that minor delinquent behavior is normative, particularly for boys. The normative nature of minor delinquent behavior raises the question of how police should respond to minor delinquent behavior in a way that is corrective, but also avoids involving the youth in the criminal justice system beyond what will be effective in reducing future misbehavior.Police diversion schemes are a collection of strategies police can apply as an alternative to court processing of youth. Diversion as an option is popular among law enforcement officers, as it provides an option between ignoring youth engaged in minor wrongdoing and formally charging such youth with a crime. Police‐led diversion has the potential to reduce reoffending by limiting the exposure of low‐risk youth to potentially harmful effects of...

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“…For example, extensive evidence shows that boot camps are expensive but not an effective approach for responding to youth crime issues (Wilson, MacKenzie and Mitchell 2005). It has also been shown (Wilson, Brennan and Olaghere 2018) that diversion interventions such as the use of police‐led restorative justice and referral to other services are less costly and are effective at reducing the likelihood of reoffending.…”

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“…For example, extensive evidence shows that boot camps are expensive but not an effective approach for responding to youth crime issues (Wilson et al 2005). It has also been shown (Wilson et al 2018) that diversion interventions such as the use of police-led restorative justice and referral to other services are less costly, and are effective at reducing the likelihood of reoffending.…”

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“…For instance, police-led diversion programs reduce the incarceration rate and divert low-level offenders away from the criminal justice system at the point of arrest (Tallon et al, 2016). Police-led diversion programs are effective for reducing future criminal justice system involvement among low-risk youth (Wilson et al, 2018). Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) is a policing strategy that seeks to improve public safety and disorder, and reduce criminal justice system involvement of low-level offenders by referring individuals to social service agencies and providers (LEAD National Support Bureau, n.d.).…”