Long-Term Effects of Short-Term Music Therapy for Prison Inmates: Six-Year Follow-Up of a Randomized Controlled Trial

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 w...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Assmus, Jörg (Author) ; Gold, Christian 1972- (Author) ; Due, Fredrik B. (Author) ; Thieu, Elin K. (Author) ; Hjørnevik, Kjetil (Author) ; Tuastad, Lars (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2021
In: International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology
Year: 2021, Volume: 65, Issue: 5, Pages: 543-557
Online Access: Volltext (kostenfrei)
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Keywords:
Relapse prevention
Recidivism
Randomized controlled trial
psychosocial interventions
Offenders
Music therapy
Description
Summary: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.
ISSN:1552-6933
DOI:10.1177/0306624X20909216