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Measuring Sentencing Outcomes Through Experiments (From Sentencing & Corrections Workshop: Prepared Papers, 1996)

NCJ Number
163789
Author(s)
D L MacKenzie
Date Published
1996
Length
17 pages
Annotation
Debate continues within the criminal justice research and policy communities about the effectiveness of various approaches to reducing crime and ensuring public safety.
Abstract
There is a critical need for correctional research using rigorous research designs, since experiments involving the random assignment of individuals to treatment and control groups permit the clearest interpretation of cause and effect relationships. Close cooperation between researchers and practitioners and the coordination of demonstration projects and research are also important. Research findings can be maximized by increasing the level of interaction among researchers. For example, multisite projects contribute to the external validity of a study by increasing its generalizability. A further advantage of research collaboration involves the design of data collection instruments. Research should focus on changing offenders, factors related to criminal activities, the impact of prisons, and conditions of confinement. Performance standards for correctional agencies need to be developed, along with appropriate models for evaluating the environment of correctional institutions. Major challenges facing the field of corrections concern system planning and the development of new approaches to sentencing and corrections. 20 references