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Six new user abstracts are now available on the issues of street lighting, personal assistance for people with impairments, financial assistance for disadvantaged families, youth gang involvement, family violence and drug related crime.
What is a User Abstract?
Download the user abstracts (title links) and access the full text reviews below.
See the light! Street lights prevent crime
There is an alternative to increased surveillance as a means of preventing crime in public space. The solution is closer than we think: improved street lighting. A new Cambell systematic review shows that improved street lighting reduces crimes by 21 percent.
Brandon C. Welsh & David P. Farrington: Effects of Improved Street Lighting on Crime (full text review)
Personal assistance offers people with impairments choice of service and greater quality of life
Six new Campbell systematic reviews examine research on the effect of personal assistance for people with impairments and elderly people. Several studies, including a large US randomised controlled trial, suggest that personal assistance increases the quality of life for elderly people as well as younger people with impairments.
Montgomery, P.; Mayo-Wilson, E.; Dennis, J. (full text reviews)
Mayo-Wilson E., Montgomery, P.; Dennis J.
- Personal assistance for adults (19-64) with both physical and intellectual impairments
- Personal assistance for adults (19-64) with physical impairments
- Personal assistance for children and adolescents (0-18) with both physical and intellectual impairments
- Personal assistance for children and adolescents (0-18) with intellectual impairments
- Personal assistance for children and adolescents (0-18) with physical impairments
Modest financial support does not seem to help poor children
A modest increase in monies provided to poor and socially disadvantaged families tied to work requirements does not seem to improve children's health or well-being. This is the conclusion of a review which has examined nine randomised trials with over 25,000 participants.
Lucas PJ, McIntosh K, Petticrew M, Roberts HM, Shiell A: Financial benefits for child health and well-being in low income or socially disadvantaged families in developed world countries (full text review)
Lack of research in preventing youth gang involvement
Gang-related crime is a major problem in cities worldwide. Nonetheless, research is lacking on how best to prevent young people from becoming involved in gang-related activities. Two systematic reviews supported by SFI Campbell have reviewed the research concerning two specific preventive interventions for children and young people. However, the researchers found no studies of sufficient solidity to draw any conclusions as to the effect of these interventions.
Fisher H, Montgomery P, Gardner FEM (full text reviews)
- Cognitive-behavioural interventions for preventing youth gang involvement for children and young people (7-16)
- Opportunities provision for preventing youth gang involvement for children and young people (7-16).
Follow-ups can bring family violence to the fore
Family violence can have serious and long-term consequences for all family members. Second responder programs are an attempt to prevent future incidents of family violence by providing follow-up interviews (second response) to victims immediately following incidents of violence. This Campbell review shows that these follow-ups do not reduce the incidents of violence, but that they do encourage more victims to report violence.
Davis RC, Weisburd D & Taylor B: Effects of second responder programs on repeat incidents of family abuse. A systematic review (full text review)
The fight against drug-related crime requires more than ordinary police work
The fight against street-level drug crime cannot be won by spending more resources on traditional, reactive style police work. Rather, partnerships between the police and "third parties" should be applied to analyse underlying problems, target hotspots and establish cooperative partnerships with e.g. housing associations, local businesses, and government regulators.
Mazerolle, L., Soole, D.W. and Rombouts, S.: Street-Level Drug Law Enforcement: a Meta-Analytic Review (full text review)