American Criminal Justice Policy: An Evaluation Approach to Increasing Accountability and Effectiveness

by Daniel P. Mears

• ISBN13: 9780521762465
• ISBN10: 0521762464
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-04-12
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

American Criminal Justice Policy examines many of the most prominent criminal justice policies on the American landscape and finds that they fall well short of achieving the accountability and effectiveness that policymakers have advocated and that the public expects. The policies include mass incarceration, sex offender laws, supermax prisons, faith-based prisoner reentry programs, transfer of juveniles to adult court, domestic violence mandatory arrest laws, drug courts, gun laws, community policing, private prisons, and others. Optimistically, Daniel P. Mears argues that this situation can be changed through systematic incorporation of evaluation research into policy development, monitoring, and assessment. To this end, the book provides a clear and accessible discussion of five types of evaluation - needs, theory, implementation or process, outcome and impact, and cost-efficiency. It identifies how these can be used both to hold the criminal justice system accountable and to increase the effectiveness of crime control and crime prevention efforts.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Introduction	p. 1
The Problem	p. 1
The Goals of This Book	p. 3
Organization of This Book	p. 4
Irrational Criminal Justice Policy	p. 7
The Evaluation Hierarchy and the Irrationality of Criminal Justice Policy	p. 8
The Policy Context and the Stakes Involved	p. 12
Influences on Criminal Justice Policy	p. 20
Conclusion	p. 33
Discussion Questions	p. 34
A Solution for Improving Criminal Justice Policy: Evaluation Research	p. 35
History of Evaluation Research	p. 35
Evaluation Research Defined	p. 36
The Evaluation Hierarchy	p. 37
Evaluation as a Way to Increase Accountability and Evidence-Based Policy	p. 41
Evaluation Research versus Performance Monitoring	p. 43
Benefits of Evaluation Research	p. 44
The Art of Conducting Evaluation Research	p. 47
Conclusion	p. 49
Discussion Questions	p. 50
Needs Evaluations	p. 51
What Is a Needs Evaluations?	p. 52
Why Are Needs Evaluations Important?	p. 67
Case Studies: Mass Incarceration and Sex Crime Laws	p. 69
Are Current Criminal Justice Policies Needed?	p. 87
Conclusion	p. 91
Discussion Questions	p. 92
Theory Evaluations	p. 93
What Is a Theory Evaluation?	p. 94
Why Are Theory Evaluations Important?	p. 110
Case Studies: Supermax Prisons and Faith-Based Reentry Programs	p. 111
Are Current Criminal Justice Policies Well Grounded in Theory?	p. 121
Conclusion	p. 129
Discussion Questions	p. 130
Implementation Evaluations	p. 131
What Is an Implementation Evaluation?	p. 132
Why Are Implementation Evaluations Important?	p. 145
Case Studies: Juvenile Transfer and Domestic Violence Mandatory Arrest Laws	p. 147
Are Current Criminal Justice Policies Implemented Well?	p. 157
Conclusion	p. 164
Discussion Questions	p. 165
Outcome Evaluations and Impact Evaluations	p. 167
What Are Outcome and Impact Evaluations?	p. 169
How to Conduct an Impact Evaluation	p. 174
Experiments Are Not the Only or Best Option	p. 187
Factors That Can Impede the Credibility and Usefulness of Impact Evaluations	p. 189
Why Are Outcome and Impact Evaluations Important?	p. 195
Case Studies: Drug Courts and Gun Laws	p. 196
Are Current Criminal Justice Policies Effective?	p. 202
Conclusion	p. 205
Discussion Questions	p. 206
Cost-Efficiency Evaluations	p. 207
What Is a Cost-Efficiency Evaluation?	p. 208
Why Are Cost-Efficiency Evaluations Important?	p. 225
Case Studies: Community Policing and Private Prisons	p. 226
Are Current Criminal Justice Policies Cost Efficient?	p. 232
Conclusion	p. 235
Discussion Questions	p. 236
Conclusion	p. 238
The Need for More and Better Criminal Justice Evaluation Research	p. 238
Using Evaluation Research to Improve Criminal Justice Policy	p. 240
Discussion Questions	p. 258
Notes	p. 261
References	p. 289
Index	p. 319
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