NCJ Number
114003
Date Published
1987
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This paper describes how the RAND Corporation, a private, nonprofit research organization, uses its research to influence the development of public policy, particularly in the area of criminal justice.
Abstract
The paper describes the management structure of RAND and its six domestic research programs: Civil Technology, Criminal Justice, Education, Health Policy, Labor and Population, and Regulatory Policy. In planning its research efforts in these six categories, RAND chooses issues of long-term importance, identifies work that interests and simulates its research staff, and undertakes projects in subject areas in which it has expertise. Additionally, RAND must acquire financial support for its particular projects, and often sponsors set the direction and tone of the research. RAND researchers must know and understand the people and organizations they are trying to influence; they must understand that facts do not speak for themselves. Those who would influence policy-making bodies must have a good sense of timing, and they must stay in touch with the changing agendas of foundations and government agencies. The paper concludes with predictions of important criminal justice issues during the next 10 years, such as an emphasis on how hormones and chemicals contribute to criminality and how institutions such as the family can intervene to alleviate chronic problem behavior.