Brief interventions for reducing violence: a rapid review of evaluations and recommendations

Abstract

BackgroundInterpersonal violence among young men is a major public health problem in Scotland, UK. Treatment for violent injury might represent a teachable moment to provide a brief intervention for reducing violence. To inform development of such an intervention, a review was undertaken to examine existing models of brief intervention, and to assess evidence of their effect. MethodsWe searched three databases (Web of Knowledge, PubMed, and PsycINFO) for articles published in English before March 11, 2013, using the following criteria: violence (Violen* OR Agress* OR Assault* OR Homicide OR Murder OR GBH OR Grievous Bodily Harm OR ABH OR Actual Bodily Harm), intervention (Interven* OR Program* OR Initiative), intervention length (Brief OR Rapid OR Short), and sex of participants (Male* OR man OR boy* OR men). After removal of duplicates, 553 articles were retrieved. Titles and abstracts were independently appraised with prespecified inclusion and exclusion criteria by three authors resulting in 50 full texts. Articles were most commonly excluded for describing interventions that were group-based or part of a long-term programme. Full texts were reviewed by the first author, identifying eight distinct brief interventions for reducing violence. FindingsThe key findings of the review included: the use of brief motivational interviewing for engaging with at-risk participants; the value of social norms approaches for correcting peer norm misperceptions; the benefit of working with victims of violence in medical settings (particularly oral and maxillofacial surgeries); the importance of addressing alcohol in violent encounters; the advantages of computer-therapist hybrid models of delivery; and the need for adequate follow-up evaluation as part of a randomised controlled trial. InterpretationThe review was a valuable exercise in assessing the existence of brief interventions for reducing violence and summarising their key characteristics. It was, however, constrained by the potentially overly restrictive search criteria, which limited the number of included interventions and follow-up data for some interventions, thereby preventing assessment of effectiveness. Nonetheless, brief interventions are potentially useful in the prevention of interpersonal violence among young men. The findings of the review will inform the development of a brief intervention for reducing violence with young men in Scotland who have sustained injuries through interpersonal violence. FundingViolence Reduction Unit (Police Scotland).