NCJ Number
81305
Date Published
1981
Length
0 pages
Annotation
This text provides a detailed guide to the design, conduct, and use of evaluation studies in criminal justice, and it illustrates these principles by describing a large-scale evaluation of youth service bureaus.
Abstract
The text discusses issues involved in planning and carrying out an evaluation project. A brief review of the rationale for evaluation in criminal justice and related areas precedes a description of the specific events that led to the Model Evaluation Program, a national initiative. The text identifies the decisions that evaluators must face before actually fielding an evaluation. It examines research design issues, describes a model-testing approach, and discusses measurement concerns. The evaluation of the youth service bureaus shows how evaluation plans have actually been implemented. The text analyzes three types of assessment in depth -- implementation, systems impact, and individual impact. The book examines youth service bureau beginnings, operations, crime reduction and diversion issues, recidivism, and actual intervention activities. It describes the final steps in conducting evaluation research, including interpreting results, writing the report, and drawing appropriate conclusions. Finally the book offers critical reviews of the text's early chapters and of the youth service bureau evaluation provided by a member of the academic community and an evaluation researcher in the contract evaluation field. Both question some of the approaches and decisions regarding the youth service bureau evaluation. They note the importance of user involvement in the evaluation study. Tables, diagrams, a subject index, an author index, and a list of 101 references are provided.