Abstract
This chapter provides a brief review of the literature on controlled, gang intervention evaluations. Thirty-eight studies were included, and all were carried out in North America (primarily the United States). The majority of studies (63 %) were treatment-oriented (versus prevention-oriented; 37 %) trials, with participants who were predominantly male (84 %), youths (87 %), and ethnic minority (81 %). Although many studies showed that intervention was effective at remediating antisocial behavior and gang involvement, a somewhat larger number found only limited or no intervention effects. When meta-analysis was used to assess treatment effects across 26 studies, results were similarly mixed. Random effects analysis showed that intervention effects for antisocial behavior were nonsignificant, d = .07, p = .20, whereas effects for gang involvement were small yet statistically significant, d = .29, p = .03. Methodological challenges and limitations are discussed, as well as research programs that serve as models for how to conduct gang intervention evaluations.
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References
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Huey, S.J., Lewine, G., Rubenson, M. (2016). A Brief Review and Meta-Analysis of Gang Intervention Trials in North America. In: Maxson, C., Esbensen, FA. (eds) Gang Transitions and Transformations in an International Context. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29602-9_12
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