Evidence-Based Crime Policies: Better Solutions for Crime (original) (raw)
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Towards rational and evidence-based crime policy
Journal of Criminal Justice, 2007
Rational crime policy constitutes a basic goal for society. If, however, evidence-based, cost-efficient crime prevention is the standard, there is little indication that current policies-including programs, laws, and court decisions-are rational. To support that assessment, this article uses an evaluation research perspective to highlight five prominent problems with extant crime policies:
Http Dx Doi Org 10 1080 15564880802612615, 2009
In 2006, long-term forecasts indicated that Washington faced the need to construct several new prisons in the following two decades. Since new prisons are costly, the Washington legislature directed the Washington State Institute for Public Policy to project whether there are "evidence-based" options that can reduce the future need for prison beds, save money for state and local taxpayers, and contribute to lower crime rates. The institute conducted a systematic review of all research evidence that could be located to determine what works, if anything, to reduce crime. We found and analyzed 545 comparison-group evaluations of adult corrections, juvenile corrections, and prevention programs. We then estimated the benefits and costs of many of these evidence-based options and found that some evidence-based programs produce favorable returns on investment. This paper presents our findings and describes our meta-analytic and economic methods.
Federal Sentencing Reporter, 2007
In 2006, long-term forecasts indicated that Washington faced the need to construct several new prisons in the following two decades. Since new prisons are costly, the Washington legislature directed the Washington State Institute for Public Policy to project whether there are "evidence-based" options that can reduce the future need for prison beds, save money for state and local taxpayers, and contribute to lower crime rates. The institute conducted a systematic review of all research evidence that could be located to determine what works, if anything, to reduce crime. We found and analyzed 545 comparison-group evaluations of adult corrections, juvenile corrections, and prevention programs. We then estimated the benefits and costs of many of these evidence-based options and found that some evidence-based programs produce favorable returns on investment. This paper presents our findings and describes our meta-analytic and economic methods.
Reducing Crime and Criminal Justice Costs
Justice Research and Policy, 2012
a series of public policy reforms put into place since the mid-1990s has helped move Washington state toward an "evidence-based" juvenile justice system. the central concept behind these reforms is to identify and implement strategies shown through rigorous research to reduce crime cost-effectively. using a benefit-cost model developed by the Washington state institute for Public Policy, this article describes the conceptual methods behind the institute's approach to demonstrating cost-effectiveness of programs that reduce crime within the policy context of Washington's juvenile justice system. evidence-based reforms have been a gradual, intentional process, requiring the continued efforts of statewide stakeholders.
INTRODUCTION: International Transferability of the Practice of Evidence-Based Crime Policies
European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research, 2005
In the UK and also in North America and elsewhere in Europe at the moment, there is considerable discussion of something called 'evidencebased public policy'," so states the renowned British scholar Ann Oakley in her book Experiments in Knowing (2000, p.307). Five years later, Oakley's observation rings true even more. For instance, last year's Paris (May 2004) Societies of Criminology 1st Key Issues Conference-with its central theme of 'What Works'-heavily emphasized impact evaluation studies, meta-analysis and systematic reviews, with the 'golden standard' of the Controlled Randomized Trial. This Paris conference was attended by individuals from all continents (albeit there was the usual overrepresentation of Europe and North America). One of the underlying themes of this conference was the degree to which 'best practices' are transferable across nations. It was this international conference that sparked the idea for the present thematic issue. The current flourishing movement which attempts to identify 'best practices' of crime reduction programs and initiatives in different local and national settings, is in essence, the same enterprise as that which informed the social policy experiments that burgeoned in the USA from the 1960s to the 1980s (Oakley 2000, p.307). Evidence-based policy demands practice to be informed by evidence; it stresses the provision of research results that are both useful and useable (Solesbury 2001). In that sense, evidence-based policy is not really anything new. What is novel, however, is its newfound popularity in some policy circles, as well as the focused attention it gets from the research community and recently established international organizations of social scientists and policy makers such as the Campbell Collaboration (see Petrosino et al. 2001). It is only fairly recent that evidence-based policy and practice has become part and parcel of the criminal justice vocabulary, primarily in the UK and the US. Just a few years ago, Solesbury claimed that "evidence-based policy seems to be principally a British commitment" (2001, p.6). The British Home Office implemented, from 1999 to 2002, the 'Crime Reduction Programme', including a review of the evidence relating to crime prevention, and few major public initiatives these days are mounted in the UK without a sustained attempt to evaluate them (Pawson 2001a, p.3). The USA, also, is experiencing an unprecedented focus on scientific evaluation of crime prevention programs (see the Chemers
Improving evaluation of anti-crime programs: Summary of a National Research Council report★
Journal of Experimental Criminology, 2006
This article summarizes a report of the National Research Council: Improving Evaluation of Anti-crime Programs. It is based on a workshop, held in September 2003, in which participants presented and discussed examples of evaluation-related studies that represent the methods and challenges associated with research at three levels: interventions directed toward individuals; interventions in neighborhoods, schools, prisons, or communities; and interventions at a broad policy level. The article, and the report on which it is based, is organized around five questions that require thoughtful analysis in the development of any evaluation plan: What questions should the evaluation address? When is it appropriate to conduct an impact evaluation? How should an impact evaluation be designed? How should the evaluation be implemented? What organizational infrastructure and procedures support high quality evaluation? The authors highlight major considerations in developing and implementing evaluation plans for criminal justice programs and make recommendations for improvement of government funded evaluation studies.