Improving impact evaluations through randomised experiments : The challenge of the National Research Council report for European criminology

The National Research Council (NRC) report on Improving Evaluation of Anticrime Programs presents and discusses a wide array of techniques of evaluation. Although recognising the very high internal validity of randomised experiments, it considers, under certain conditions, quasi-experiments and observational studies as equally valid approaches. This conclusion is critically reviewed from a European perspective, where only a few randomised trials have been realised so far. It is argued that many critiques routinely addressed to randomised experiments, such as ethical concerns or low acceptance among practitioners, are either unfounded or can be adequately dealt with through imaginative adjustments. On the other hand, randomised controlled trials need to take the challenge of broadening the perspective, especially by looking at long-term effects that no other method can consider with comparable internal validity. Other recommendations include using innovative measures of re-offending, considering dynamic rather than static criteria of re-offending, and looking, beyond re-offending, at rehabilitation in other areas of life. Particular challenges are the possible placebo effects that evaluators in criminal justice have not yet found appropriate ways to deal with

Post-release reforms for short prison sentences: re-legitimising and widening the net of punishment

Transforming Rehabilitation (TR) promised a ‘revolution’ in the way offenders are managed, providing a renewed focus on short sentence prisoners. The TR reforms extends mandatory post-release supervision and tailored through-the-gate resettlement provisions to a group that has predominately faced a ‘history of neglect’ yet often present with the most acute needs within the criminal justice system. However, existing literature underlines that serving short sentences lack ‘utility’ and can be counter-productive to facilitating effective rehabilitation. This article explores the purposes of providing post release supervision for short sentences, firstly exploring a previous attempt to reform short sentences; (the now defunct) ‘Custody Plus’ within the 2003 Criminal Justice Act and then the Offender Rehabilitation Act 2014 within the TR reforms. This article contends that both post release reforms have sought to re-affirm and re-legitimise prison as the dominant form of punishment in society- or what Carlen refers to as ‘carceral clawback’. This article will also use Cohen’s analysis on social control to establish that post release supervision will serve to ‘widen the net’ extend the period of punishment and oversight and will only reinforce a form of enforced ‘state obligated rehabilitation’ that will undermine efforts made to resettle short sentence prisoners

Developing assessments for child exposure to intimate partner violence in Switzerland – A study of medico-legal reports in clinical settings

Purpose: Evidence to inform assessment of needs of children exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV) in health settings is limited. A Swiss hospital-based medico-legal consultation for adult victims of violence also detects children’s exposure to IPV and refers cases to the Pediatrics Child Abuse and Neglect Team. Based on a conceptual ecological framework, this study examined the nature and circumstances of children’s exposure to IPV described in accounts collected by nurses in consultations with adult IPV victims. Methods: From 2011-2014, 438 parents (88% female) of 668 children aged 0 to 18 sought medico-legal care from the Violence Medical Unit in Lausanne Switzerland, following assaults by intimate partners (85% male). As part of the consultation, nurses completed a semi-structured questionnaire with victimized parents, recording their answers in the patient file. Victims’ statements about the abuse, their personal, family and social contexts, and their children’s exposure to IPV were analyzed. Descriptive statistics and qualitative thematic content analyses were conducted to identify, from the victimized parents’ accounts, elements useful to understand the nature and circumstances of children’s exposure and involvement during violent events. Results: Parent statements on specific violent events described children being present in 75% of the cases. Children were said to be exposed to, and responded to, severe physical violence, serious threats and insults, in the context of repeated assaults and coercive control. Families, especially mothers, were often coping with additional socio-economic vulnerabilities. Conclusions: Implications for further developing assessments of children living with IPV, especially in health settings were identified

The East Asian crime drop?

The ‘crime drop’ refers to the substantial reductions in crime reported in many industrialised countries over at least the past quarter century. Asian countries are underrepresented in the crime drop literature. Little is therefore known about whether the same type and levels of crime reductions have been observed, and if prevailing explanations hold. In this study, we examine trends in burglary and car crime using police recorded crime data from Hong Kong, Japan and Taiwan. We show that Japan and Taiwan experienced crime drops similar to that reported elsewhere but occurring more recently in the early 2000s. Hong Kong appears anomalous, with a major crime decline emerging from the early 1980s. The study concludes that there is sufficient evidence to justify further research and sets out suggestions to that end