Faulty logic

“It works like this!”

Interventions that should work in theory often do not work in practice.

An explanation of how or why something may work does not mean it does work, or that it is safe. And even if an intervention works in a way that it is likely to be helpful, it is not possible to predict how helpful or safe it will be.

For example, programs like Scared Straight, which was intended to deter juvenile crime and seemed to “make sense” by showing youth what prison is like and thus “scaring” kids away from crime, actually led to more offending behaviour.

BEWARE if a claim about the effects of a treatment is based only on an explanation of how it works.

REMEMBER: Interventions that should work in theory often do not work in practice.