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. 2023 Feb;29(1):91-100.
doi: 10.1136/ip-2022-044756. Epub 2022 Dec 5.

Costs attributable to criminal justice involvement in injuries: a systematic review

Gabrielle F Miller  1 , Sarah Beth Barnett  2 , Avital Rachelle Wulz  2 , Feijun Luo  2 , Curtis Florence  2
Affiliations

Costs attributable to criminal justice involvement in injuries: a systematic review

Gabrielle F Miller et al. Inj Prev. 2023 Feb.

Erratum in

Abstract

Context: Costs related to criminal justice are an important component of the economic burden of injuries; such costs could include police involvement, judicial and corrections costs, among others. If the literature has sufficient information on the criminal justice costs related to injury, it could be added to existing estimates of the economic burden of injury.

Objective: To examine research on injury-related criminal justice costs, and what extent cost information is available by type of injury.

Data sources: Medline, PsycINFO, Sociological Abstracts ProQuest, EconLit and National Criminal Justice Reference Service were searched from 1998 to 2021.

Data extraction: Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses was followed for data reporting.

Results: Overall, 29 studies reported criminal justice costs and the costs of crime vary considerably.

Conclusions: This study illustrates possible touchpoints for cost inputs and outputs in the criminal justice pathway, providing a useful conceptualisation for better estimating criminal justice costs of injury in the future. However, better understanding of all criminal justice costs for injury-related crimes may provide justification for prevention efforts and potentially for groups who are disproportionately affected. Future research may focus on criminal justice cost estimates from injuries by demographics to better understand the impact these costs have on particular populations.

Keywords: Costs; Prisoners; Systematic Review.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
A Conceptual Model of the Criminal Justice System aAn individual may be released at any point throughout this process. Additionally, an individual may encounter phases at different times or simultaneously (eg, someone may be sentenced to prison and substance abuse treatment while incarcerated. bRecidivism refers to going back to jail or prison after being released within a given time (usually 3 to 5 years).
Figure 2:
Figure 2:
PRISMA flow diagram with identification, screening, and exclusions
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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