Criminal Justice & the Prison Essay

Total Length: 791 words ( 3 double-spaced pages)

Total Sources: 4

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There are three basic types of research designs including: (1) experimental designs; (2) quasi-experimental designs; and (3) non-experimental designs. (Shadish, Cook and Campbell, 2002) the 'gold standard' is stated to be represented by "...experimental evaluations that make use of the random assignment of individuals to interventions and control groups..." (Mulhlhausen, 2009)

Mulhlhausen (2009) reports that randomized evaluations are of the nature that serve to "ensure that pre-progam differences between the intervention and control groups do not confound or obscure the true impact of the programs being evaluated." In addition, random assignment is stated to enable the evaluator in testing "for differences between the experimental and control groups that are due to the intervention and not to pre-intervention discrepancies between the groups. By drawing members of the interaction and comparison groups from the same source of eligible participants, these experimental evaluations are superior to other evaluations using weaker designs.
" (Mulhlhausen, 2009)

IV. Limitations of Current Program Assessment

Noted as limitations of current program assessment in prison are factors such as: (1) overstating of program effectiveness (Weisburd, Lum and Petrosino (2001); and (2) too little evaluation (James, 2009). Weisburd holds that there is "...a moral imperative upon researchers to conduct randomized experiments. The moral imperative is derived from the "obligation to provide valid answers to questions about the effectiveness of treatments, practices, and programs." (Weisburd, 2003)

Summary and Conclusion

Proper and scientifically rigorous evaluation of prison program treatment success is critically important in the initiative to reduce prison crowding and effectuate prison re-entry into society that is a positively implemented solution......

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