National Institute of Justice Funding of Experimental Studies of Violence Against Women: A Critical Look at Implementation Issues and Policy Implications

• NCJ Number: 232839
• Journal: Journal of Experimental Criminology Volume: 6 Issue: 4 Dated: December 2010 Pages: 377-395
• Author(s): Robert C. Davis; Bernard Auchter
• Date Published: December 2010
• Length: 19 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This paper examines the National Institute of Justice's (NIJ) history of funding evaluation research on criminal justice programs in the United States, particularly research designed to reduce or mitigate violence against women.

Abstract

The authors of this study take a critical look at NIJ's history of funding evaluation research on criminal justice programs in the United States. They discuss types of implementation problems encountered in program evaluations; how successful experimental studies of violence against women have been in coping with implementation issues; and present findings from experimental studies of violence against women. The authors of this article suggest that NIJ should encourage dissemination and discussion of the results of experimental research, as well as other studies, to practitioners. It should also continually assess the effectiveness of particular policies and programs. When policies or programs are found to be ineffective, then NIJ should seek solutions and alternatives from the field and support evaluation studies that assess if those alternatives produce better results. Tables and references