The Purpose of Public Policy Address problems that impact public safety health and the welfare Valuable only if effective of society Important to be evaluated before implemented The Purpose of Criminal Justice Policy Protect members of society from others who may cause them harm Maintain social order Reduce recidivism Mainstream CJ Public Policies Improve reintegration success Truth in sentencing guidelines Three strike laws Sex offender registries DARE programs Scared straight programs Supermax prisons Private prisons Faith based reentry programs Are CJ Policies Effective policies To date there is little empirical support for many mainstream More irrational than rational policies Consequences o Waste of resources o Persistence of problems o Potential danger to members of society The Need for Evaluation Research Systematic way of evaluating a policy Accounts for information factors that may impact policy effectiveness Failure to prepare is preparing to fail John Wooden Evaluation Hierarchy Cost efficiency Top Outcome and impact Implementation Theory Needs Bottom Example Cost efficient night Did my strategy get me what I wanted Am I following through with my strategy Has this strategy worked before I need a night out Evaluation Hierarchy Policymakers risk wasting resources if one level of the hierarchy is Seems to be a common practice in criminal justice policy making not sufficiently satisfied Hundreds of evaluation studies across different sites report little to no deterrent effect on drug use Reviews suggest no effect and sometimes an increase in juvenile Ineffective CJ Policies DARE Scared straight offending Factors that Influence CJ Policy Politics Social Climate Public Opinion Political Influences Policymakers want to do what will get them reelected Sometimes this means backing unevaluated criminal justice policies o Running on the Get Tough platform has been successful Social Climate Well covered stories Public Opinion Murder of Meghan Kanka Meghan s Law Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings Many policies are created by policymakers who feel a public What the public wants however is often misinterpreted by Another problem is that most of the public is misinformed when it demand to do so policymakers comes to understanding the criminal justice system Evaluation Research Systematically investigate the effectiveness of programs under certain political and social conditions that are designated to improve the welfare of society a policy in order to assess how effective it may be Overall objective is to empirically assess every essential element of Evaluation Hierarchy Systematic way of evaluating the important elements of a policy Similar to building a house higher levels rely on lower levels Doing so improves accountability effectiveness and efficiency Increases transparency between evaluation research and policymakers Needs Evaluation Is there a need for the policy If not what is the reason for creating a given policy This builds the foundation for a policy Theory Evaluation According to prior research what important factors may cause an If need exists then the next step is to logically evaluate how a created policy will have an impact on crime increase in crime Example General Strain Theory GST According to Robert Agnew s General Strain Theory 2002 crime is most likely the result from anger which is caused by the failure to achieve positive goals the loss of positive stimuli and or the introduction of negative stimuli Community Crime Rates and reduce crime o What can buffer the influence of strain on community members Employment opportunities Health care services Mental Health programs Direct Effect Employment Less Crime Indirect Effect Employment Sustainable Income Less Need to Commit Crime Implementation Evaluation Evaluate how well a policy is implemented Important to uncover aspects of a policy that may be difficult to implement o Example attracting employers to low income neighborhoods Created alternative solutions to implementation issues Helps hold the government and other agencies accountable Impact Evaluation Evaluate whether the policy produces expected outcomes Does the policy impact the problem the way it is designed to Would a change take place without the policy o What factors account for variation Cost Efficiency Evaluation Is the amount of resources spent on a given policy worth the expected returns Important to have a reliable estimate of how much you re getting out of your money returns This may become tricky when you cannot assign a value for certain Importance of Policy Evaluation As gov t funds have dwindled over time there has been a demand that funded policies show premise evidence Is there really a need for the policy Is the policy based on theoretical evidence Has the policy been implemented well Has the policy impacted the problem Is the policy cost efficient Benefits of an Evaluation Framework Invalidate quick fix policymaking Could help promote more rational criminal justice policies Break the barrier between tough and soft on crime approaches Create a line of communication between researchers and policymakers Influences on Evaluation Research Evaluation efforts Policymakers Lobbyists Interest Groups National Rifle Association NRA The Christian Coalition National Organization for Women Corrections Corporation of America CCA Political Interest Groups o Gun policies o Faith based reentry programs o Domestic Violence Intervention Programs o Private vs Public prisons o Sentencing guidelines Consequences of Political Interests On CJ Policy Encourage policymakers to support certain policies that have not been Continue to endorse certain Get Tough policies that have been evaluated shown to not be effective Consequences of Social Climate on CJ Policy Increase the severity of current policies rather than consider more nuanced approaches which may be more effective Lead to Silver Bullet solutions Policymakers risk reelection if the public demand is not satisfied Political career vs best policy for crime problem Lack of CJ Policy Evaluation Research Criminology is still a relatively new science Most criminology research examines the potential causes of crime rather than the solutions to it o Micro level criminologists Individual level Biosocial Neighborhood effects o Macro level criminologists Lack of CJ Policy Evaluation Research Lack of gov t funding Little increase in funding since the 1980 s For every US citizen federal funders spend 32 on health