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Connecting the dots: Crime rates and criminal justice evaluation research

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Abstract

The National Research Council’s report on evaluating anticrime programs contains sensible suggestions for improving evaluation research in criminal justice but neglects the important role of substantive theory in linking evaluations of anticrime initiatives to variation in crime rates across time and place. A working knowledge of crime rates is essential for designing and evaluating anticrime programs. This essay calls for the development of a policy evaluation infrastructure that would support the continuous monitoring of crime rates, generate knowledge of crime-producing conditions, and link evaluation research findings to one another and to expected policy outcomes, notably crime reduction.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Criminology & Criminal Justice, University of Missouri-St. Louis, One University Blvd., St. Louis, MO, 63121-4401, USA

    Richard Rosenfeld

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  1. Richard Rosenfeld
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Correspondence to Richard Rosenfeld.

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Research reported in this article was supported under a grant from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ 2002-RG-CX-K005). The points of view and conclusions are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect those of the funding agency or the US Department of Justice.

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Rosenfeld, R. Connecting the dots: Crime rates and criminal justice evaluation research. J Exp Criminol 2, 309–319 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-006-9010-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-006-9010-0

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