Adapting a Therapy Approach to Prevent Crime

Urban crime and violence pose significant challenges around the world.

Young men, in particular, are at a higher risk of engaging in criminal activitieswith a high proportion of crimes often committed by a relatively small number of young men.

Unlike traditional approaches to crime that focus on punitive measures and policing, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a proactive, targeted, evidence-based, and cost-effective approach for changing behavior.

CBT programs have been shown to reduce criminal activity by helping individuals improve coping mechanisms, impulse control, and decision-making skills. The partner started implementing the CBT-driven Sustainable Transformation of Youth in Liberia (STYL) program in 2012.

A randomized controlled trial found that STYLs approach (targeted CBT plus a cash transfer) significantly reduced high-risk mens likelihood of committing crimes and engaging in antisocial behaviors, including a 40 percent reduction in engagement in theft and robbery in the first year after the programs completion.

A follow-up study found that these effects were sustained ten years later; for example, the program cut participants' likelihood of committing theft or robbery in half. This grant will test and scale the STYL program in Nigeria.

The implementing partner will pilot STYL with high-risk young men in Lagos to assess the applicability of STYL to other contexts and will test adaptation strategies for scalability while working to ensure implementation fidelity of the STYL program as it scales.