OBJECTIVE: In recent years, the offense preventive effect of forensic therapy has been the subject of controversial debate. In this review, the current state of therapy evaluation research in forensics is discussed, with special consideration of methodological aspects. METHODS: Systematic research of literature on studies that analyse the risk-reducing effect of offender therapies. RESULTS: The study designs are very heterogeneous and results are thus difficult to compare. Furthermore, there are only a few empirical studies on the relapse prevention efficiency of forensic therapies. CONCLUSIONS: Due to the methodological diversity of the studies, a concluding evaluation of the efficiency of forensic psychotherapies is not possible. The conclusions drawn from meta-analyses must thus be interpreted with great care.
OBJECTIVE: In recent years, the offense preventive effect of forensic therapy has been the subject of controversial debate. In this review, the current state of therapy evaluation research in forensics is discussed, with special consideration of methodological aspects. METHODS: Systematic research of literature on studies that analyse the risk-reducing effect of offender therapies. RESULTS: The study designs are very heterogeneous and results are thus difficult to compare. Furthermore, there are only a few empirical studies on the relapse prevention efficiency of forensic therapies. CONCLUSIONS: Due to the methodological diversity of the studies, a concluding evaluation of the efficiency of forensic psychotherapies is not possible. The conclusions drawn from meta-analyses must thus be interpreted with great care.