Two interventions offered in the Netherlands to groups who are at risk of aggression and/or violence have proven to be effective. These are the results of an international stock-taking study conducted by the Trimbos Institute.
A large number of interventions is ‘promising’; however, for most of the interventions applied it is not possible to draw any conclusions about their effectivity. A number of the applied interventions may not be effective.
Insufficient research into effects
The research shows that there are still too few high-quality effect studies being conducted in order to evaluate the effectivity of many interventions in this field. Many interventions aimed at children or young people growing up in deprived areas or unsafe child-raising environments are ‘promising’ and can be developed further. The use of mentors has also proven to be an effective strategy for the prevention of aggression and violence. However, at the moment too few mentoring programmes are being used in the Netherlands. More research into the circumstances contributing to the positive or negative effects of group interventions is recommended.
Increase in violent crime
Over the past decade, the amount of registered violent crime has risen sharply, from 91,738 in 2000 to 111,888 in 2007. In order to reduce the amount of violent incidents, the Dutch ministry for Security and Justice has set up the policy program ‘Violence in the (semi) public domain’ (‘Geweld in het (semi) publieke domein’). An important component of this program focuses on measures meant to prevent violence in groups deemed to be at risk. For successful prevention it is necessary to gain an insight into which interventions do and don’t work.
More information:
Paula Speetjens
