Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38375516›Full record

SynthesisFrontiers in psychiatry2023

Mandatory substance use treatment for justice-involved persons in Germany: a systematic review of reoffending, treatment and the recurrence of substance use outcomes.

Jack Tomlin, Esther Meise, Juliane Wegner, Birgit Völlm

Abstract readSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Frontiers in psychiatry, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Better than clairvoyance? Exploratory results on predictors of regular release, substance use and re-delinquency after forensic addiction treatment.Psychiatry, psychology, and law : an interdisciplinary journal of the Australian and New Zealand Association of Psychiatry, Psychology and Law · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Jack TomlinSchool of Law and Criminology, University of Greenwich, London, United Kingdom.
Esther MeiseDepartment of Forensic Psychiatry, University Medicine, Rostock, Germany.
Juliane WegnerInstitut für Medienforschung, University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany.
Birgit VöllmDepartment of Forensic Psychiatry, University Medicine, Rostock, Germany.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Many jurisdictions implement mandatory substance use treatment for justice-involved persons. Germany is one such country; however, debates about the appropriateness and effectiveness of this disposal abound. Very little attention has been paid in the international literature to patients receiving mandatory treatment in Germany. This systematic review synthesises research on patients receiving substance use treatment in forensic hospitals under §64 of the German Penal Code with regard to three primary outcomes: treatment completion, reoffending, and the recurrence of substance use. Forty-five publications reporting on 36 studies were reviewed; publication dates ranged from 1988 to 2023. On average, 47% of patients did not successfully complete treatment, compared to 45% who did. Average follow-up reconviction rates were higher than in mentally ill and general offender populations as reported elsewhere. Approximately half of all patients reused substances during treatment. Suggestions for future research, including a focus on strength- and recovery-based indicators, and harmonising routine outcomes measurements, are given.

Indexed as

forensic mental healthGermanymandatory treatmentreoffendingsubstance use disorder

Identifiers

PMID38375516
PMCPMC10876065

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.