摘要：This Campbell systematic review assesses the effectiveness of drug courts in reducing criminal or drug‐use behaviour recidivism. The review summarises findings from 154 studies, all of which report evidence from adult drug courts, drunk driving (DWI) drug courts, and juvenile courts. All but eight of the studies are of drug courts in the USA. There is a large, significant mean average effect from both adult and DWI drug courts. Overall, recidivism rates were just over one third (38%) for programme participants, compared to half (50%) for comparable non‐participants. This effect endures for at least three years. There is a smaller effect from juvenile drug courts. Program participation reduces recidivism from 50% to 44%. The effects of drug court participation are highly variable. Programs with fewer high‐risk offenders are more effective in reducing reoffending rates. This finding may help explain why juvenile courts are less effective, as they deal with a greater proportion of high‐risk offenders. Variation in intensity of programs is not related to effectiveness. Courts that required more than the standard number of phases or drug tests were no more effective than other courts. The highest quality evidence from three experimental evaluations confirms the impact from adult courts on recidivism, though there was some inconsistency in durability of the effects over time. For DWI drug courts three of the four experimental evaluations produced similar results as the adult drug courts, but one high quality study found negative effects.
