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RESEARCH AS THE CORE TECHNOLOGY IN CRIME PREVENTION (FROM KOREAN CRIMINOLOGICAL REVIEW, P 5-30, 1992, KOREAN INSTITUTE OF CRIMINOLOGY, ED. -- SEE NCJ-141924)

NCJ Number
141925
Author(s)
A J Reiss Jr
Date Published
1992
Length
26 pages
Annotation
This paper describes the public health model of crime prevention, with its focus on determining populations at risk and research to determine how to alter those risks.
Abstract
Preventive interventions in this model do not depend upon research based on causal modeling but rather upon the conception of research as the core technology in producing desired changes in the behavior of populations at risk. This paper also develops the engineering and applied science model of intervention, with its focus on testing models based on research. Several examples are presented to illustrate the utility of this approach, including the role that research and development played in reducing injuries and fatalities from motor vehicle accidents. The paper also reviews various research strategies and technologies and their utility for crime prevention programs. Among those discussed are naturalistic and longitudinal research designs compared with those based on experimental and quasiexperimental strategies. The paper concludes with observations on how research is the core technology not only in producing the preventive interventions but in determining ways in which research designs models for the delivery of interventions. The importance of field trials compared with laboratory testing is emphasized. (Author abstract modified)