1. ICT, Research and Teaching for Criminal Justice Practitioners
Dr Joel Miller
School of Criminal Justice
Rutgers-Newark

2. Introduction

3. Questions
What research methods are important to teach to CJ practitioners / future CJ practitioners?
How does the teaching of these methods prepare students for the practice of CJ?
How does ICT support or impact the teaching of these methods?

4. Outline Evidence-based criminal justice policy-making
Teaching practitioners to use evidence in policy-making
Technology and teaching
3 examples
Conclusions

5. Evidence-based criminal justice policy-making

6. Evidence-based policy-making (EBP)
Shift towards evidence-based policing-making (especially from 1990s)
Reflects broader shifts in public policy-making
Inspired, in part, by federal assessment of “what works” in addressing crime and offending (Sherman et al., 1997)
Influenced by innovations in criminal justice strategies for addressing crime and offending behavior

7. Problem-oriented policing
Key principles
Shift from traditional policing philosophy
Police officers to focus on key problems of concern
Address underlying problem causes
Systematic analysis of data to understand problems
Use of data to evaluate and refine response
SARA model
Goldstein (1990)

8. Risk-Need-Responsivity (RNR) model
Corrections systems (e.g. prison, parole, probation) to target effective methods of rehabilitation
Measure the risk posed by system clients of recidivism, and respond proportionately (uses actuarial methods)
Measure criminogenic needs of system clients (e.g. criminal peers, antisocial attitudes, antisocial
Target services at key criminogenic needs with effective services (e.g. cognitive behavioral programs)
Bonta and Andrews (2007)

9. Technology and EBP
Shifts in technology have supported evidence-based approach  
Computerization of criminal justice system records (i.e. electronic administrative data)
Data relates to case management, services, crime and recidivism
Facilitates generate, sharing and analysis of data
Other advances:
Analytical software – notably Geographical Information Systems (GIS)
Online survey tools

10. Teaching practitioners to use evidence in policy-making

11. Teaching practitioners
Research and statistical skills
Bivariate and multivariate data analysis
Data collection and measurement
Evaluation methods
Planning skills
Interpreting prior evaluation literature
Designing mechanisms,
Use of logic models
A “problem-solving” approach
Influenced by “Action Research” model (Lewin1946)
Practitioners or policy-makers as participants/partners in research to develop policies/practices

12. Steps in problem-solving
Specification of problem/issue
Research/data analysis to describe and understand problem
Review of prior interventions
Design of intervention of policy or practice
Implementation
Evaluation
Refinement, in response to evaluation evidence

13. Examples of problems
Particular types of crime, delinquency or disorder
Policies or actions of justice officials
Offender recidivism
Street crime
Domestic violence
Graffiti
etc.
Jail overcrowding
Racial profiling by police
Serving mental health needs among jail inmates
etc.

14. Technology and teaching

15. Technology and teaching
Technologies for use in teaching echo those that support EBP in criminal justice previously described
(computerization of records, analytic software, online data collection tools)
Three examples:
Using criminal justice data from online archives
Use of GIS using available data
Online surveys

16. Example 1: Online crime/criminal justice data archives

18. Student projects using data from online archives
Patterns and predictors of recidivism among probationers
Prison suicide
Patterns of motor vehicle theft
Patterns of drug abuse
School bullying and cyberbullying

19. Example 2: Mapping with GIS

20. Mapping with GIS Environmental features of a Brazilian favela
Miller and De Souza (2012)

21. Mapping with GIS Homicides in a Brazilian favela, 2000-2006
Miller and De Souza (2012)

22. Mapping with GIS Crime hotspots in Newark, 2008
Miller, Caplan and Ostermann (2016)

23. Example 3: Collecting data with web-based survey tools

24. Online survey tools

25. Online survey tools Compliance with risk assessment
(community corrections staff)

26. Conclusions

27. Conclusions
Evidence increasingly important in CJ policy-making and practice
Educating current/future practitioners may best emphasize a problem solving / “action research” approach (rather than traditional academic model)
Technological innovations that support evidence-based policy-making also support teaching methods, including
Electronic data on crime and justice issues
Analytic software, such as GIS
Web-based data collection tools

28. ICT, Research and Teaching for Criminal Justice Practitioners
Dr Joel Miller
School of Criminal Justice
Rutgers-Newark