How effective is the “Reasoning and Rehabilitation” (R&R) program in changing cognitive and behavioral skills? A systematic review and meta-analysis

Interventions for individuals who commit offenses are of great importance to reduce criminal recidivism by targeting criminogenic factors. The first and most widely applied program is the Reasoning & Rehabilitation (R&R) program. Despite evidence that the R&R program (and its derivatives) is effective in reducing recidivism, questions remain regarding the benefits in a range of cognitive and behavioral outcomes, the long-term effects, and the difference between psychosocial outcomes for different individuals' characteristics (i.e., sex, age, mental disorders, intellectual disabilities). This systematic review and meta-analysis address these issues. A total of 28 studies were eligible for inclusion in the systematic review and 23 studies (N = 2528) for the meta-analysis. Results indicated that the R&R is effective in increasing (social) problem solving (SMD = 0.26, p = 0.009), empathy/social-perspective taking (SMD = 0.37, p < 0.001), and decreasing violence/aggression (SMD = 0.38, p = 0.003), anger/hostility (SMD = 0.25, p = 0.003), and impulsivity/inhibition (SMD = 0.27, p = 0.003) but not on criminal attitudes (SMD = 0.20, p = 0.07). Secondary, and some other primary outcomes, were not examined owing to the small number of studies that included these outcomes. We conclude that the R&R is effective at improving some psychosocial skills among individuals who commit offenses. However, questions still remain (i.e., the long-term effect on some outcomes, the effect on different types of offenders, and different comparison groups) because of the small number of studies.