Evaluation in criminal justice is vital to improving program effectiveness, increasing efficiency, and improving public safety. This article helps demystify the evaluation process and offers practical advice for practitioners endeavoring to evaluate a program. Processes for internal evaluation and external evaluation partnerships are described. Criminal justice practitioners are encouraged to understand the research process and conduct evaluations of their programs and practices. ILLINOIS CRIMINAL JUSTICE INFORMATION AUTHORITY CENTER FOR JUSTICE RESEARCH AND EVALUATION
See Full PDF See Full PDFJournal of Experimental Criminology
Download Free PDF View PDF
Annual Conference of the American Evaluation …
Download Free PDF View PDF
Journal of Experimental Criminology
Download Free PDF View PDF
Criminal Justice Review
Download Free PDF View PDF
Within the 'what works' literature, recidivism is typically embraced as the sole or primary outcome measure of success for offender intervention programs. Often, no account is taken of other important measures for evaluating program success. As such, our understanding of what works is based largely on programs that have demonstrated effectiveness with respect to reduced recidivism rates. Focusing specifically on tertiary prevention approaches for juvenile offenders, this article argues that there are significant limitations in using rates of recidivism as the primary outcome measure of program success. Firstly, this article explores the importance generally of incorporating a comprehensive evaluative framework into program design. Secondly, the limitations of relying upon recidivism as the sole or primary outcome measure in program evaluation are outlined. Thirdly, this article briefly describes the Risk-Needs-Responsivity (RNR) model and the Good Lives Model (GLM) as examples of models that can be used to inform the selection of appropriate outcome measures for program evaluation. This article then offers three examples of recent outcome evaluation studies which sought to determine the effectiveness of post-sentencing tertiary intervention programs for juvenile offenders using a broad range of indicators of success. Finally, the article suggests alternative outcome measures that might be usefully incorporated in future program design, as well as the monitoring and evaluation of existing programs. II THE IMPORTANCE OF EVALUATION FRAMEWORKS The term 'evaluation' covers a range of distinct processes and activities. Evaluations can occur during any stage in the life of a program. As Manning 1 noted, various types of evaluations may be conducted either on their own or in combination to examine different aspects of a program's success. These different forms of evaluation include: context evaluation, which determines the suitability of a program for its intended population (ie, how the program is likely to function in a particular socio-political, physical and economic climate); formative evaluation, which determines the needs a program should fulfil and includes evaluation of preliminary results and possibly pilot testing; process evaluation, which determines whether the program was implemented in accordance with its design; program performance evaluation, which is similar to process evaluation, as this occurs at the decision-making stage and is concerned with assessing the proper implementation of policies and whether these policies are achieving desired goals;
Download Free PDF View PDF
