Individual Factors

This chapter focuses on how cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analyses can be used to optimally inform the general public and, more importantly, policymakers in policy decisions regarding treatment interventions. Cost-effectiveness analysis can be seen as a special case of cost-benefit analysis. In cost-benefit analysis, costs and benefits are both measured in monetary units. For instance, we can calculate the costs of a crime prevention or treatment programme and at the same time estimate the effects in terms of money saved. In health care, cost-effectiveness analyses are a well-established decision-making tool in reimbursement policy. By using the cost-benefit approach, the authors argued that effective prevention and treatment programmes are not costs to the taxpayer but rather an investment, as the cost-benefit ratio is positive. To apply cost-effectiveness research to crime prevention and treatment programmes in youth, one has to adopt some scientific basics.