This thesis explored the relationship between youth delinquency, family intervention treatment and recidivism through a meta-analysis of existing literature. Fifty individual effect size estimates were derived from thirty-five experimental research studies examining the impact of involving families in the treatment of young offenders. Initially, family intervention treatment was found to significantly reduce the recidivism of young offenders compared to non-familial responses to youth crime. Methodology, however, was found to be a crucial determinant of the reported effects of treatment; studies using less rigorous methods tended to produce significantly higher rates of success than studies using more rigorous methods. In terms of treatment characteristics, programs treating younger offenders and programs with voluntary participation displayed significantly lower levels of reported recidivism. The results suggested the need to develop more rigorous methods and reporting practices and to target younger offenders with voluntary family-based interventions.

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