Abstract
For most interventions to reduce criminal recidivism, long-term effects are uncertain. Music therapy has shown effects on possible precursors of recidivism, but direct evidence on long-term effects is lacking. In an exploratory parallel randomized controlled trial, 66 inmates in a Norwegian prison were allocated to music therapy or standard care and followed up over a median of 6 years, using state registry data. Median time to relapse was 5 years, with no differences between the interventions. The imprisonment of most participants was too short to provide a sufficient number of therapy sessions. Sufficiently powered studies are needed to examine the long-term effects of appropriate doses of therapy.
Highlights
Criminal recidivism refers to relapse into criminal behaviour and is a worldwide problem
It is not surprising that no significant effects of short-term music therapy on long-term recidivism were found in this follow-up study
We found that 25% of all participants had a serious recidivism event during the first 2 years after release
Summary
Criminal recidivism refers to relapse into criminal behaviour and is a worldwide problem. Recidivism rates of prisoners have been reported to be as high as International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology 65(5). 50%; they vary considerably between countries, and depending on sample characteristics/types of offences and definitions of recidivism (Fazel & Wolf, 2015). Two-year conviction rates were the most commonly reported outcome across 11 countries. Such reconviction rates ranged from 20% in Norway through around 30% in other Scandinavian countries to around 50% in many other countries across Europe and North America (Fazel & Wolf, 2015). Prisoners are at high risk of mental health problems (Fazel & Danesh, 2002)
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