Cognitive-behavioural interventions for preventing gang involvement in children and young people

Research indicates that youth who join gangs are more likely to be involved in delinquency and crime, particularly serious and violent offences, compared to non-gang youth and non-gang delinquent youth. Research also has found that both delinquent youth and youth who join gangs often show a range of negative thoughts, feelings and beliefs compared to non-delinquent peers. Cognitive-behavioural interventions, designed to address these deficits, have had a positive impact on a variety of behavioural and psychological disorders among children and youth. This systematic review was designed to assess the effectiveness of such cognitive-behavioural interventions for preventing youth gang involvement. A three-part search strategy found no randomised controlled trials or quasi-randomised controlled trials of the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioural interventions for gang prevention; four excluded studies examining the impact of Gang Resistance Education and Training (GREAT) were of too poor a quality to be included in analysis. The only possible conclusions from this review, therefore, are the urgent need for additional primary evaluations of cognitive-behavioural interventions for gang prevention and the importance of high standards required of the research conducted to provide meaningful findings that can guide future programmes and policies.