Victims Of Crime

The goal of this bystander-focused, classroom-delivered curriculum is to reduce rates of interpersonal violence among high school students. The program is rated Ineffective. The program had no statistically significant impact on various measures of interpersonal violence, victim empathy, and measures of proactive bystander behavior. There was a statistically significant decrease for the treatment group in bystander denial about the role students could play in preventing interpersonal violence.

This program involves 15 minutes of police patrol in high-crime hot spots to reduce crime. The program is rated Promising. There were statistically significant reductions in reports of violent crimes and robbery and other crimes against personal victims in hot spots on treatment days, compared with control days.

This is a framework of recommended practices for integrating police into the educational environment to enhance a safe school climate. The program is rated Ineffective. There were no statistically significant differences in treatment and control school students’ delinquency, victimization, exclusionary discipline, relationships with adults, perceptions of police, nor school bonding, connectedness, and safety. Treatment school students had statistically significant increases in rule clarity.

This program involves police use of video to improve evidence gathering and police and citizen behavior. The program is rated Ineffective. There were no statistically significant differences in restraining orders issued or assaults on police between body-worn video treatment days and control days (when no officers wore body-worn video). Treatment days had statistically significantly higher rates of use of force, citizen complaints against police, and criminal charges, compared with control days.

This is a focused deterrence police strategy that was designed to reduce gang- and group-related violence in Detroit, Mich. The program is rated Ineffective. There were no statistically significant differences found for weapons arrests or shooting victimizations for participants in two age groups (15–24 and 25–34). The program did show a statistically significant reduction in all arrests and violent arrests for individuals who attended the Detroit Ceasefire call-in meetings.

This was a sexual assault prevention program adapted for American Indian girls that sought to reduce sexual assault victimization and to improve sexual assault resistance skills and self-defense knowledge. The program is rated Promising. Girls who received the intervention reported statistically significantly lower rates of sexual assault and sexual harassment, compared with girls in the comparison group. However, there was no impact on reported rates of physical dating violence.

This is a program for young women in nonemergency health centers in Sweden. It involves routine inquiry about their experiences with violence victimization and offers empowerment strategies for victimized women. The program is rated Ineffective. There were no statistically significant differences between the intervention and control groups in self-reported measures of physical violence, sexual violence (touch or penetration), and emotional violence at the 12-month follow-up.

This secondary violence prevention program targets young men most likely to commit or be victim of gang or gun crime to reduce their incarceration and victimization from violent crime. The program is rated Promising. SSYI youths were statistically significantly less likely to be incarcerated compared with comparison group youths. SSYI–funded cities had statistically significant reductions in all measured city-level crime victimization rates, compared with comparison cities.

This is an anti-bullying program for adolescents in Spain, which is designed to decrease bullying and cyberbullying perpetration and victimization both in the classroom and virtual environments. The program is rated Promising. There was a statistically significant decrease in bullying and victimization and cyberbullying and cybervictimization for the treatment group, compared with the control group.

This is a focused-deterrence group violence reduction strategy (GVRS) designed to reduce or control gun violence in Oakland, Calif. The program is rated Effective. The intervention was shown to reduce total shootings, gang-involved shootings, suspected gang-involved shootings, and gang shooting victimizations in treatment block groups relative to matched comparison block groups. These differences were all statistically significant.

This is a schoolwide, multicomponent intervention to reduce and prevent aggression and bullying among students. The program is rated Promising. There was a statistically significant intervention effect on teachers’ ratings of students’ physical, verbal, and relational aggression and victimization. However, there was no statistically significant intervention effect on students’ self-reports of physical and relational aggression and victimization.

This program was designed to reduce non-appearance rates by notifying victims or witnesses by text message 2 or 3 days before they were scheduled to appear in court. The message acts as a “nudge” to remind and encourage witnesses or victims to attend court. The program is rated Ineffective. There were no statistically significant differences in non-appearance rates for participants who received a text message reminder, compared with participants who did not.

This intervention was designed to prevent repeat and near-repeat burglaries. The program used a target-hardening, crime-prevention technique to reduce repeat victimization of the same households and neighbors within the same area. The program is rated Ineffective. The program found no statistically significant difference in both burglaries and time-to-repeat victimization between households in the treatment group, compared with households in the control group.

This crime prevention strategy applied hot spots policing techniques to bus stops in London, England. The program is rated Ineffective. Generally, there was no statistically significant difference in bus driver reports of crime for treatment bus stops relative to control bus stops. The program also had a reverse effect on victim reports of crime, which increased in treatment bus stops, compared with control bus stops. This finding was statistically significant.

This is a restorative justice program that uses face-to-face conferences to reduce posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) among burglary/robbery victims and reconviction rates among those who committed the offense. The program is rated Promising. Results showed a statistically significant reduction in victims’ clinical levels of PTSS, but no statistically significant effect on reconviction rates among those who committed the offense.

This program aims to improve police officers’ forensic evidence-collection techniques at burglary crime scenes to increase solved burglaries. The program also intends to improve police–victim and police–witness interactions at burglary crime scenes. The program is rated Promising. Results showed a statistically significant increase in solved burglary cases.

This program provided resources via telephone to women victimized by intimate partner violence (IPV). It provided referrals to community programs, helped participants overcome barriers to obtaining services, and provided social support. The program is rated Ineffective. Results showed no statistically significant differences between the treatment and comparison groups on IPV victimization, feeling vulnerable to someone, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder.

This program provides an alternative to juvenile court processing for youths with justice system contact who may or may not have a criminal record. The program is rated Promising. Although there was no statistically significant difference between the treatment and comparison groups on rates of official police contact, the average number of days to re-arrest was statistically significantly lower for the treatment group (441.7 days) than for the comparison group (254.1 days).

This is a universal, school-based social-emotional learning program aimed at reducing violence and encouraging academic success among middle school students. The program is rated Ineffective. While the program had a statistically significant impact on reducing physical aggression, there was no statistically significant impact on sexual-violence victimization and perpetration, peer victimization, bullying victimization and perpetration, cyberbullying, or homophobic name calling.

The program is a component of the San Juan County (N.M.) DWI First Offenders Program, which was designed to reduce driving while intoxicated (DWI) recidivism, alcohol consumption, and drinking and driving behavior by exposing them to testimonials from victims of drunk-driving accidents. The program is rated Ineffective. No statistically significant differences were found between VIP and no-VIP program participants on DWI recidivism over 2 years, and on various measures of drinking.

This program is designed to increase active-bystander behaviors and reduce dating and sexual violence in college and high school students. The program is rated Promising. Students who participated in the program had a statistically significantly greater number of observed and self-reported active-bystander behaviors than students who did not participate. However, there was no statistically significant impact on sexual violence victimization or sexual harassment.

This is a crisis-response program in which police connect female victims of intimate partner violence with a social service provider, via telephone, at the scene of a domestic violence dispute. The program is rated Promising. When compared with the control group, program participants reported experiencing less violence at follow up. Participants were also more likely to receive an order of protection, and to contact domestic violence services. These differences were statistically significant.

This is a 12-session program for adolescent females with a history of exposure to violence/abuse and involvement in the child welfare system. The goal of the program was to reduce re-victimization in teen dating situations. The program used a health-promotion approach to help girls develop healthy relationships. The program is rated Promising. The intervention had a statistically significant impact on reducing physical re-victimization, but not sexual re-victimization.

This is a program for adolescent females with a history of violence/abuse and involvement in the child welfare system. The goal of the program was to reduce re-victimization in teen dating situations. The program used mindfulness-based, cognitive interventions to build skills for responding to risky situations (including reasoning and problem solving). The program is rated Promising. The intervention was shown to statistically significantly reduce sexual and physical re-victimization.

The program aims to reduce precursors of teen pregnancy, including sexual risk behaviors, involvement in violence, and disconnection from school. The program is rated Ineffective. There was a statistically significant impact on consistency of condom use and relational aggression perpetration, but there was no statistically significant impact on physical violence victimization, relational violence victimization, stress management, interpersonal skills, or fight avoidance skills.

This is a cognitive therapeutic program that is intended to assist female victims of sexual assault with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The overall goal is to restructure unbalanced thoughts directly related to the trauma. The program is rated Effective. Women in the treatment group demonstrated reduced symptoms of both PTSD and depression, compared with women in the control group. These differences were statistically significant.

The program uses specially trained nurses to provide comprehensive psychological, medical, and forensic services to recent sexual assault victims in either hospital- or community-based clinic settings. The program is rated Promising. Across multiple sites, the results showed that sexual assault cases that were prosecuted following implementation of SANE had a statistically significant greater likelihood of resulting in a guilty plea or conviction.

This is a preventative, school-based program for students in 4th, 5th, and 6th grades (ages 9–12) that sought to reduce rates of bullying and victimization within elementary schools. The program is rated Effective. Evaluation results suggest that the program statistically significantly reduced bullying and victimization rates at schools that implemented the program compared with a control group of schools that did not.

This is a community-based, schoolwide intervention aimed at children in grades 1 through 3 that targets socially competent behaviors and risks for peer victimization. The program was rated Promising. The program was shown to have statistically significant, positive effects on physical and relational victimization and social competence, but not on social responsibility or physical aggression.

This is a school-based education program designed to teach students the warning signs of dating violence. The program is rated Ineffective. There were no statistically significant impacts on perceptions of helpfulness in others, likelihood of seeking help, perpetration, victimization, and abusive or fearful dating experiences. However, there was a statistically significant increase in knowledge of dating violence in treatment group students.

This is a school-based intervention program focused on reducing instances of bullying and victimization, while increasing the safety of students in grades 3–5. The program is rated Promising. In all outcomes, the treatment schools showed statistically significant reductions in bullying, victimization, and witnessed aggression, as well as statistically significant increases in perceptions of safety at school.

This is a rape prevention program for college students, designed to teach about the prevalence of sexual assault, distinguish between rape myths and facts, identify risky situations, and teach techniques to use in a risky situation. The program was rated Ineffective. The program had a statistically significant effect on self-efficacy and self-protective dating behaviors, but did not impact sexual victimization, sexual aggression, attitudes toward women, rape empathy, or sexual communication.

A health education program for 7th and 8th graders designed to delay sexual behavior and promote healthy dating relationships. The program is rated Promising. The program was shown to statistically significantly reduce emotional and physical dating violence victimization. However, the program did not have a statistically significant effect on physical perpetration of dating violence.

This program aims to improve homicide clearance rates by increasing investigative time through the transfer of four crime scene specialists to the homicide unit. The program is rated Ineffective. There were no statistically significant differences between treatment and comparison squads in case and victim clearance by arrest. There were also no statistically significant difference between squads in case and victim clearance by quick action and whodunit arrests, or quality of scene reports.

This is a restorative justice program that provides juveniles who have been convicted of an offense and their victims the opportunity to meet face to face in the presence of a mediator to discuss the offense. The program is rated Promising. Individuals in the program were statistically significantly more likely to complete their restitution obligation. There was a statistically significant impact on victim satisfaction with the justice system, but there was no statistically significant impact on

This is a restorative justice program that uses conferencing to repair the harm. The program is rated Promising. Participants had a statistically significant lower likelihood of committing violent offenses, and a greater likelihood of reporting a belief in the law, negative attitude toward reoffending, and greater effort to not drive drunk, compared with the control group. There were mixed findings in the rate of drunk driving, and no difference in property crimes, shoplifting, or recidivism.

This was an antibullying program for all students involved: victims, passive bystanders, and bullies. The program is rated Promising. Elementary, middle, and high school treatment groups experienced statistically significant greater proportions of students reporting no participation in bullying-related roles at the posttests. The elementary student treatment group saw statistically significant reductions in bullying and victimization but no statistically significant change in bystander behavior.

This is a restorative justice diversion program for young people who have been convicted of an offense for the first time. It was designed to break their cycle of offending before they commit more offenses. The program is rated Promising. Program youth showed a statistically significant reduction in number of rearrests, compared with control youth, at the 2-year follow up. However, there were no statistically significant differences between the groups in time to rearrest.

This dual intervention aims to reduce peer violence and sexual harassment in middle schoolers by emphasizing consequences and increasing surveillance of unsafe areas. The program is rated Promising. The intervention group had statistically significant reductions in sexual victimization and in violence victimization and perpetration compared with those in the control group. There were no statistically significant effects on sexual harassment perpetration, or knowledge, attitudes, or intentions.

This program provides specialized and coordinated services to victims of sexual assault during their first contact with the health care system. The program is rated Promising. Treatment group patients had a statistically significant greater number of referrals to victim services and greater likelihood of consenting to evidence collection, pregnancy tests, and STD treatment, compared with control group patients treated in the standard emergency room.

The program model enlists second responders to make home visits to try to help victims find long-term solutions to help repeat incident victims of family violence including intimate partner abuse, abuse within families or households, and elder abuse. The program is rated Ineffective. Overall, the evidence found no statistically significant differences between the treatment and control groups on prevalence of and frequency of new domestic incidents and time to failure.

This is a cognitive–behavioral treatment program for assault survivors who have posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The program is rated Effective. Women in the treatment group experienced statistically significant reductions in the severity of PTSD, depression, and anxiety symptoms and a statistically significant improvement in social functioning, compared with women in the control group, at follow up.

This program consists of a specialized police unit, which was designed to prevent recidivism among people convicted of domestic violence offenses and to assist victims of domestic violence through the process of prosecution and recovery. The program is rated Promising. The treatment group assigned to the Domestic Violence Unit had a statistically significant lower likelihood of recidivating, compared with the control group, who were assigned to standard patrol.

This program upgrades street lighting on residential roads and footpaths to decrease crime and fear of crime. This program is rated Effective. In the experimental area, there were statistically significant reductions in the incidence and prevalence rates of crime and in the percentage of respondents who knew a victim, compared with the control area.

This is a program designed to reduce crime by improving street lighting in residential areas. This program is rated Effective. There were statistically significant reductions in prevalence, incidence, and fear of crime in the experimental area compared with the control area. In addition, a statistically significant higher percentage of residents in the control area reported knowing someone who had been the victim of a crime compared with residents in the experimental area.

This intervention is designed to reduce distress associated with forensic rape examinations and reduce the victims’ risk of developing psychopathology and substance use after an assault. The program is rated No Effects. At the 6-month follow up, there were no statistically significant differences between the treatment and nontreatment groups in alcohol, marijuana, or hard drug use, or in symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety, or depression.

This school-based program delivered to elementary school students to reduce bullying and victimization was designed for national use in the Finnish comprehensive schools. This program is rated Promising. There were statistically significant reductions for self-reported bullying and victimization and peer-reported victimization for KiVa schools compared with control schools; however, there were no significant differences between treatment and comparison schools on peer-reported bullying.

This interactive classroom curriculum is designed to reduce youth dating violence by addressing bullying, unsafe sexual behavior, and substance use. The program is rated No Effects. The program had small, statistically significant effects on decreasing dating violence and sexual harassment/assault victimization. However, there were no significant effects on sexual harassment/assault perpetration, peer violence perpetration or victimization, sexual activity, substance use, or prosocial attitudes.

This is a prevention program for middle and high school students, which is designed to stop or prevent dating violence perpetration and victimization. This program is rated Effective. The intervention group showed statistically significant reductions in psychological, physical, and sexual abuse perpetration, and physical abuse victimization, compared with the control group at the 4-year follow up; however, there were no significant differences between groups on sexual abuse victimization.

This restorative justice program requires persons convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol to attend panels at which they listen to victims give short presentations describing the pain and loss they have suffered due to a drunk driver. The program is rated Promising. After 5 years, there was a statistically significant decrease in rearrests for participants, compared with those who did not attend.