NCJ Number
185537
Date Published
January 2000
Length
31 pages
Annotation
This introductory chapter identifies and interprets the common
themes running through the 10 papers included in this volume and
indicates other themes not included; this volume explores the
current knowledge, trends, and future directions in the
measurement and analysis of crime and the criminal justice
system, the consequences of such measurement and analyses for
justice processes and the research enterprise, and the context in
which both crime and justice operate.
Abstract
The first two chapters highlight dilemmas and difficulties with
self-report surveys, with one covering the measurement of
delinquency and crime and the other discussing the measurement of
crime and victimization. The third chapter continues the
discussion of the measurement of crime on a larger scale by
examining the problems and progress in cross-national
comparisons. Chapter 4 maintains the focus on crime but shifts
attention from measurement to the problems in analyzing crime
data that are spatially and temporally clustered. A chapter on
cost-benefit analysis applied to criminal justice completes the
set of chapters by asking more generally about how to assess
policy impacts against the impacts of the social problem. The
next three chapters revisit many of the issues covered in earlier
chapters but elaborate on measurement and analytical problems and
solutions in specific areas. The final two chapters cover
measurement and analytic issues that dominate key areas in the
criminal justice system. One chapter focuses on police
organizations, and the other chapter examines standards and
measures of court performance. 1 exhibit and 59 references
Date Published: January 1, 2000