NCJ Number
102590
Date Published
1980
Length
372 pages
Annotation
Through a survey of contemporary criminal justice literature, this study examines ways to improve productivity measurement for a criminal justice agency or program.
Abstract
Among the evaluation and productivity measurement methods reviewed is the application of failure rate analysis, normally applied to machine breakdowns, to recidivism. Incapacitation and deterrence effect analysis methods are examined, as are works on violent behavior prediction, system modeling, patrol allocation modeling, inventory modeling, crime seriousness indexing, and the 'service package' concept. Definitional and data problems attending criminal justice evaluation are noted, and recommendations are intended to increase measurement capability. The report recommends the descriptive and quantitative modeling of the criminal justice system, using a total system concept that defines interagency and environmental reactions and relationships. Under such a model, evaluation will focus on how various criminal justice components are impacted by the activity being measured. The study also proposes weighting crime seriousness to establish the relative value of criminal justice activities applied to committed or prevented crimes. Agency or program effectiveness would then be measured as a summation of efforts applied to activities pertaining to the relative values of the respective crime types. 82-item bibliography. (Author abstract modified)