Criminal Justice Policy and Planning

by Welsh; Wayne

• ISBN13: 9781437735000
• ISBN10: 1437735002
• Edition: 4th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-03-20
• Publisher: Elsevier

Summary

Unlike other textbooks on the subject, Criminal Justice Policy and Planning presents a comprehensive and structured account of the process of administering planned change in the criminal justice system. Welsh and Harris detail a simple yet sophisticated seven-stage model, which offers students and practitioners a full account of program and policy development from beginning to end. The authors thoughtfully discuss the steps: analyzing a problem; setting goals and objectives; designing the program or policy; action planning; implementing and monitoring; evaluating outcomes; and reassessing and reviewing. Within these steps, students focus on performing essential procedures, such as conducting a systems analysis, specifying an impact model, identifying target populations, making cost projections, collecting monitoring data, and performing a meta-analysis, In reviewing these steps and procedures, students can develop a full appreciation for the challenges inherent in the process and understand the tools that they require to meet those challenges. To provide for a greater understanding of the material, the text uses a wide array of real-life case studies and examples of programs and policies. Examples include policies such as Restorative Justice, The Second Chance Act, Three Strikes Laws, and the Brady Act, and programs such as drug courts, boot camps, and halfway houses. By examining the successes and failures of these innovations, the authors demonstrate both the ability of rational planning to make successful improvements and the tendency of unplanned change to result in undesirable outcomes. The result is a powerful argument for the use of logic, deliberation and collaboration in criminal justice innovations. Chapters are enhanced with outlines, figures, tables, examples, discussion questions and case studies. Appendix includes a seven-stage checklist for program and policy planning.

Author Biography

Wayne N. Welsh is a professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at Temple University. His research has centered on applications of organizational theory to criminal justice and examinations of organizational change, and theories of violent behavior and intervention/prevention programs. Philip W. Harris is an associate professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at Temple University. His teaching and research have focused primarily on the areas of juvenile justice, juvenile correctional strategies, and organizational and system development.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xi
About the Authors	p. xiii
Introduction	p. 1
Analyzing the Problem	p. 31
Document the Need for Change	p. 31
Describe the History of the Problem	p. 36
Examine Potential Causes of the Problem	p. 42
Examine Previous Interventions	p. 44
Identify Relevant Stakeholders	p. 44
Conducting a Systems Analysis	p. 46
Identify Barriers to Change and Supports for Change	p. 53
Setting Goals and Objectives	p. 77
Identifying Goals and Values	p. 78
The Goals of Criminal Sanctions	p. 78
Normative Values	p. 80
Stating Specific Objectives for Each Goal	p. 82
Seeking Participation in Goal Setting	p. 84
Specifying an Impact Model	p. 85
Identifying Compatible and Incompatible Goals in the Larger System	p. 87
Identifying Needs and Opportunities for Interagency Collaboration	p. 89
The Benefits of Goal Conflict	p. 89
Loose Coupling and Criminal Justice Agencies	p. 90
Conclusion	p. 92
Designing the Program or Policy	p. 103
Choosing an Intervention Approach	p. 103
Designing a Program	p. 105
Designing a Policy	p. 108
Conclusion	p. 112
Action Planning	p. 123
Identify Resources Needed and Make Cost Projections	p. 124
Plan to Acquire or Reallocate Resources	p. 127
Specify Dates by Which Implementation Tasks Will Be Accomplished	p. 128
Develop Mechanisms of Self-Regulation	p. 131
Specify a Plan to Build and Maintain Support	p. 132
Conclusion	p. 133
Program/Policy Implementation and Monitoring	p. 145
Outline the Major Questions for Monitoring	p. 148
Instruments to Collect Monitoring Data	p. 150
Fiscal Monitoring	p. 154
Making Adjustments to the Resource Plan	p. 156
Designate Responsibility to Collect, Store, and Analyze Data	p. 156
Develop Information System Capacities	p. 157
Develop Mechanisms to Provide Feedback to Stakeholders	p. 158
Conclusion	p. 159
Evaluating Outcomes	p. 173
The Evidence-Based Paradigm	p. 174
Types of Evaluation	p. 175
Three Prerequisites for Evaluation	p. 178
Evaluability Assessment	p. 179
Logic Modeling	p. 179
Implementation Assessment	p. 181
Developing Outcome Measures	p. 181
Identifying Potential Confounding Factors	p. 182
Major Techniques for Minimizing Confounding Effects	p. 184
Specify the Research Design	p. 186
Time Series Analysis	p. 188
Identify Users and Uses of Evaluation Results	p. 189
Reassessment and Review	p. 201
Planning for Failure	p. 203
Planning for Success	p. 205
Learning and Adapting	p. 206
A Caution about Survival	p. 208
The Tasks of Implementing a New Innovation	p. 208
Planning Tasks for an Existing Program or Policy	p. 210
Conclusion	p. 211
Appendix: A Seven-Stage Checklist for Program/Policy Planning and Analysis	p. 217
Index	p. 221
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.