U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

Restorative justice

Less Prison, More Police, Less Crime: How Criminology Can Save the States from Bankruptcy

April 2010
Series
Research for the Real World

Professor Lawrence Sherman explains how policing can prevent far more crimes than prison per dollar spent. His analysis of the cost-effectiveness of prison compared to policing suggests that states can cut their total budgets for justice and reduce crime by reallocating their spending on crime: less prison, more police.

See the YouTube Terms of Service and Google Privacy Policy

Alternative Sentencing Policies for Drug Offenders

June 2009

The panel presentations from the 2009 NIJ Conference are based on an NIJ-sponsored evaluation of the effectiveness of Kansas Senate Bill 123, which mandates community-based drug abuse treatment for drug possession by nonviolent offenders in lieu of prison. 

Transcript
Alternative Sentencing Policies for Drug Offenders
Audio file
1 of 5: Alternative Sentencing Policies for Drug Offenders, Linda Truitt, National Institute of Justice , 2 of 5: Alternative Sentencing Policies for Drug Offenders, Roger Werholtz, Secretary of Corrections, Kansas Department of Corrections , 3 of 5: Alternative Sentencing Policies for Drug Offenders, Don Stemen, Assistant Professor, Department of Criminal Justice, Loyola University Chicago , 4 of 5: Alternative Sentencing Policies for Drug Offenders, Andres F. Rengifo, Assistant Professor, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Missouri-St. Louis , 5 of 5: Alternative Sentencing Policies for Drug Offenders, Question and Answer Session

What Is Research and Evaluation Evidence and How Can We Use It?

June 2010

This NIJ Conference Panel will explore the development and use of evidence-based policies, programs and technologies to improve effectiveness and efficiencies related to government. Through casual observation, practices and programs may appear to be effective, but under closer scrutiny the results may look much different.

Transcript
What Is Research and Evaluation Evidence and How Can We Use It?
Audio file
Phelan Wyrick, Senior Social Science Analyst, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice , Stephanie Shipman, Assistant Director, Center for Evaluation Methods and Issues, Applied Research and Methods, U.S. Government Accountability Office , Ed McGarrell, Director and Professor, School of Criminal Justice, Michigan State University , Phelan Wyrick — Part II

Domestic Violence Research 15 Years After VAWA

June 2010

Since the passage of the Violence Against Women Act, a majority of the more than 250 research and evaluation studies funded by NIJ examined domestic violence issues. This research has been collected in the Compendium of Research on Violence Against Women, which includes an abstract of each grant and the results of completed studies.

Transcript
Domestic Violence Research 15 Years After VAWA
Audio file
1 of 4: Domestic Violence Research 15 Years After VAWA , Bernard Auchter, National Institute of Justice , 2 of 4: Domestic Violence Research 15 Years After VAWA , Claire M. Renzetti, Endowed Chair, Center for Research on Violence Against Women and Professor of Sociology, University of Kentucky , 3 of 4: Domestic Violence Research 15 Years After VAWA , Connie Beck, Associate Professor, Psychology, Policy and Law Program, Department of Psychology, University of Arizona, Tucson (mp3, 170 MB) , 4 of 4: Domestic Violence Research 15 Years After VAWA , Barbara Hart, Director of Law and Policy, Muskie School of Public Service, University of Southern Maine, Portland