Factors associated with successful reintegration for male offenders: a systematic narrative review with implicit causal model

Abstract

ObjectivesThis systematic review explored factors associated with successful reintegration into the community for male offenders and investigated which factors may be causally related to reintegration.MethodsDatabase searches were conducted in November 2021; a narrative synthesis and associated causal model with directed acyclic graph (DAG) was used to analyse the factors of reintegration.ResultsThirty-four studies met the inclusion criteria. Risk-Need-Responsivity–based interventions had the strongest evidence for reducing post-release offending. Fourteen good-quality studies met the inclusion criteria. The DAG shows six exposure variables (prison visits, witnessing victimisation, recovery perception, risk assessment, in-prison treatment, and pre-prison health) which link to several post-release outcomes (criminal justice outcomes, drug use, mental health, housing, and reintegration barriers) and confounding variables (demographics, offending history, prior reintegration barriers, substance misuse and attitudes).ConclusionsThe review identified factors that may be causally related to reintegration for male offenders and warrant further empirical investigation.