A systematic review of crime/violence and substance use prevention programs

Crime/violence is a ubiquitous problem in the United States, resulting in a number of negative outcomes. Given the negative impacts of crime on communities, Thrive in the 05 is a crime/violence prevention initiative striving to decrease crime/violence through a targeted place-based approach. There is a strong connection between crime/violence and substance use and Thrive in the 05 community members elected to implement a crime/violence prevention program that also targeted substance use. The purpose of the current systematic review was to review evaluations and descriptions of crime/violence interventions that also address substance use in order to inform the intervention selected by Thrive in the 05. Following AMSTAR guidelines, the authors systematically searched 12 databases and found 73 articles that fit the inclusion criteria. Forty articles evaluated crime/violence and substance use prevention programs implemented in the community, schools, justice system, or health care system and 19 articles described programs implemented in these milieus. The majority of studies were implemented in schools, highlighting the need for additional programs targeting high risk adults. There is a need for researchers to collect multiple sources of data and engage in more randomized controlled trials. Finally, community-based prevention efforts should collect data from law enforcement personnel.