Question
Topic: Evaluation and Crime Prevention
Thread Prompt: Chapters 1 and 2 of your text discuss trends in crime over the past 3 decades and crime prevention through history. Chapter 3 begins by introducing the evaluation of crime prevention. Discuss the types of crime prevention evaluation your text outlines. Which of these methods has the most evidence supporting it?
The name of this class is Delinquency and Crime Prevention. https://learn.liberty.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-17049710-dt-content-rid-150776641_1/courses/CJUS323_D01_201720/Presentations/CJUS%20323%20LMS/Presentation%201%20%28LMS%29/res/index.html
Sample paper
Evaluation and Crime Prevention
Law enforcement agencies record crime statistics in order to evaluate patterns in crime levels in the society. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is one of the agencies that records and provides official crime statistics in the country, through the Uniform Crime Reports (Lab, 2016). This report documents Part I crimes, which constitute murder, rape, burglary, robbery, auto theft, arson, property crimes, larceny, and violent crimes. The FBI does not include other forms of crime. The statistics indicate that violent crime rate have drastically fallen since reaching peak in 1993 (Lab, 2016). From 2000 to 2010, violent crime rate reduced steadily. However, there was a small spike in 2006. The level of violent crime rate in 2013 matched those in the period between 1968 and 1973. Property crime is also on a decline. This form of crime reached its peak in the 1980s (Lab, 2016). The current crime rates are higher comparing to crime rates in the 1960s.
Victimization statistics covers crimes that are not included in the official crime statistics list. Victimization surveys indicate that the rates have been on a decline over the last decade. The highest property victimization levels were recorded in 1980 (Lab, 2016). Since then, property victimization rates have been declining. On the other hand, victimization resulting from violent crime has fairly declined since 1994. In the period between 1970 and 1980, violent crime rates decreased significantly. This trend reversed from 1981 when violent crime rates rose steadily up to 1994. With regard to fear of crime, statistics indicate that about 40% to 50% of the population express some form of fear of a particular crime occurring (Lab, 2016).
Crime prevention is not a new idea, but one that has been around since ages. In the earlier days, the individual or family was responsible for crime prevention. Revenge was a common way of settling grudges among individuals. In about 1900 B.C., the Code of Hammurabi was established (Lab, 2016). This code advocated for vengeance as the ultimate way of settling scores among individuals. The Code of Hammurabi is popular for advocating the concept of “an eye for an eye”. Policing is a relatively new issue that emerged in France and Roman Empire. This was mainly in the cities and often dealt with issues involving the ruling authority. In 1066, the first citizen policing emerged (Lab, 2016). This was referred to as “obligatory policing”. In this system, men combined in groups that were responsible for maintaining discipline among the members. “Watch and Ward” followed this system, which involved men taking shifts to watch over a designated area. In 1285, the Statutes of Winchester gave the “watchers” the right to bear arms (Lab, 2016). Over the years, crime prevention has undergone various evolutions until the formation of formal police forces.
The text discusses three types of evaluations that include impact evaluation, process evaluation, and cost-benefit evaluation (Lab, 2016). Crime evaluation examines the efficacy of a particular intervention in deterring crime. Impact evaluations examine the efficacy of an intervention, program or policy in reducing crime rate. The aim is to examine the extent to which a particular intervention delivers desired results such as low recidivism levels. Process evaluation examines how a particular program may be effectively implemented. (Lab, 2016). The focus here is not on the end results, but the means and processes of reaching the end results. Lastly, a cost-benefit evaluation helps in analyzing the costs of a particular program Vis a Vis the benefits attributed to the program. Process evaluation has the most evidence supporting it.
Reference
Lab, S. P. (2016). Crime prevention: Approaches, practices, and evaluations (9th ed.). New York, NY: Routledge
