Timed Recidivism. In search for critical periods to supplement interventions.

Sammanfattning: Assessing risk had always been the key focus when it comes to recidivism. Using risk assessment instruments, it is possible to predict the outcome of recidivism dichotomously. These measures, however, can only predict between 70-80 percent of validity, and they specify only levels of risk (low-medium-high), but not time. Therefore, the aim of this study is to define time of recidivism to supplement risk assessment with a possible new actuarial approach and fill out gaps in the existing literature. To do so a systematic literature review was conducted with a controlled search on exact time points. All the fourteen studies resulted in the final model were: published in the past 20 years, had some connection to time and were quantitative. The results highlighted the importance of the first year, especially the first half of the year as the most critical period regarding recidivism. Three different time periods were identified: (1) the end of the first month; (2) between the second and the third; (3) at the end of the 6th. Consequently, it might be beneficial to target these critical periods with more intense supervision/intervention in order to decrease the likelihood of recidivism.