Interview About Gun Violence Prevention
“If it’s so easy to get guns, you can’t just pass a law at the State level. You have to change the demand for guns…” Continue reading Interview About Gun Violence Prevention
Category: Varied & Misc
Vital City — Balancing Deterrence and Prevention: The Role of Research
Public officials, community leaders and researchers must collaborate to measure the crime-reduction effects of community-centered prevention, but they must do so using professional evaluation methods to create a more balanced evidence base. The effort begins by understanding that securing coercive compliance through deterrence is not prevention. Continue reading Vital City — Balancing Deterrence and Prevention: The Role of Research
Data-Driven Justice?
When someone tells you “what the research says” about how to reduce crime and violence, try to remember they’re describing the research base as it was created by people and organizations with opinions, values, and self-interest. Continue reading Data-Driven Justice?
How Train Stations Help to Explain a Public Health Approach to Violence Prevention
Violence reduction strategies vary in their emphasis on individual characteristics versus structural incentives. Train stations do as well. Continue reading How Train Stations Help to Explain a Public Health Approach to Violence Prevention
How to Survive Your Research Partner
Good researchers want to know a lot about the program or policy they are evaluating before expressing a preference for a particular research design. If your research partner tries to convince you to support a particular evaluation design before you are sure they understand your situation and your information needs, you are probably working with someone in sales, not research. Get a new partner. Continue reading How to Survive Your Research Partner
No More Science Advisory Board at OJP
On December 5, 2018, the Department of Justice officially abolished its Science Advisory Board (SAB) for the Office of Justice Programs. Continue reading No More Science Advisory Board at OJP
Tips for a First-Time Flyer
Recently, I offered to help a young man who was about to take his first flight. I knew he would be traveling alone, so I thought I could prepare him for the experience since I’ve been flying commercial airlines for more than 40 years. Continue reading Tips for a First-Time Flyer
It’s Not About the Art; It’s About the Artist
We actually need young people who are bold, willing to challenge conventional thinking, and to break rules, but we also need them to respect others, to rely on logic rather than force, and to appreciate the corrosive effects of violence and exploitation. In short, our communities need powerful and creative young people who want to improve us and not simply to fight us. These should seem like obvious concepts to anyone working around the youth justice system, but it is often surprisingly difficult to implement them in practice. Continue reading It’s Not About the Art; It’s About the Artist
The Recidivism Trap
Rather than asking “what’s the recidivism rate?” we should ask an entirely different set of questions about justice interventions. Are we really helping people convicted of crimes to form better relationships with their families and their law-abiding friends? Are we helping them to advance their educational goals? Are they more likely to develop the skills and abilities required for stable employment? Are we helping them to respect others and to participate positively in the civic and cultural life of their communities? Continue reading The Recidivism Trap
NIJ Meeting Minutes
Dr. Jeffrey Butts said that evaluation should play a large role in policy and practice. Human development is not finished at some “magic birthday.” Prosecutors and judges need to know that extending the developmental frame beyond age 18 will not endanger them politically and public safety will not be harmed Continue reading NIJ Meeting Minutes
Tallahassee Democrat—Data Does Not Support State Attorneys’ Argument
No credible study ever located the source of the crime drop in the power of prosecutors to send youth to adult courts and adult prisons. There is just no compelling evidence to suggest that prosecutors may rightfully claim the credit for falling rates of violent youth crime. Not even in Florida. Continue reading Tallahassee Democrat—Data Does Not Support State Attorneys’ Argument
Gainesville Sun—Prosecutorial Power Unrelated to Drop in Crime
Despite a sustained effort to study these policies over the last two decades, researchers have not found that increasing prosecutorial power reduces crime, and the practice of putting young people in the adult criminal justice system is not only ineffective, it has many negative side effects. Continue reading Gainesville Sun—Prosecutorial Power Unrelated to Drop in Crime
Cursing the Darkness
Researching the effectiveness of social policies is like pointing a flashlight inside a dark room. You can can only see what passes through the beam of light. Continue reading Cursing the Darkness
Aiming Your Research for Effect
All researchers want their studies to have an impact on policy and practice, but few do. It’s often the researcher’s own fault — at least in part. Here are some basic strategies for increasing the chances that your research will have an effect. Continue reading Aiming Your Research for Effect
Adulthood Doesn’t Happen Overnight
Adolescence does not end with a single birthday and it lasts well beyond the point of legal adulthood. Our science-blind courts have yet to accept this fact. Continue reading Adulthood Doesn’t Happen Overnight
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