Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Reduces Crime and Violence over Ten Years: Experimental Evidence

Christopher Blattman, Sebastian Chaskel, Julian C. Jamison and Margaret Sheridan

American Economic Review: Insights, 2023, vol. 5, issue 4, 527-45

Abstract: Several small, short-term, or nonexperimental studies show that cognitive behavioral–informed interventions reduce antisocial behaviors over one to two years, but persistence research is rare. We followed 999 high-risk men in Liberia ten years after randomization into eight weeks of low-cost, nonspecialist-led therapy; $200 cash; both; or neither. A decade later, antisocial behaviors (such as robbery and drug selling) fell 0.2 standard deviations from therapy alone—significantly greater than the one-year impacts. Meanwhile, men who received therapy plus cash were 0.25 standard deviations less anti-social—similar to one-year results. In both cases, impacts were concentrated in men exhibiting highest baseline risk.

JEL-codes: D91 K42 O15 O17 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.aeaweb.org/doi/10.1257/aeri.20220427 (application/pdf)
https://doi.org/10.3886/E184306V1 (text/html)
https://www.aeaweb.org/doi/10.1257/aeri.20220427.appx (application/pdf)
https://www.aeaweb.org/doi/10.1257/aeri.20220427.ds (application/zip)
Access to full text is restricted to AEA members and institutional subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aea:aerins:v:5:y:2023:i:4:p:527-45

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.aeaweb.org/journals/subscriptions

DOI: 10.1257/aeri.20220427

Access Statistics for this article

American Economic Review: Insights is currently edited by Amy Finkelstein

More articles in American Economic Review: Insights from American Economic Association Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Michael P. Albert ().