Photo by Dariusz Sankowski on Unsplash
David Myers
University of New Haven
The Oxford Handbook of Evidence-Based Crime and Justice Policy (Welsh, Zane, and Mears, 2024a; https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-oxford-handbook-of-evidence-based-crime-and-justice-policy-9780197618110?) offers thorough discussion and critical review of evidence-based crime and justice policy, while demonstrating how research can guide criminal justice policy and practice in a variety of critical areas. The book brings together leading scholars and researchers in the field of evidence-based criminal justice to showcase the strengths of using research to guide policy and to discuss current challenges and issues.
This handbook is likely the most authoritative and scholarly source on research and experience in evidence-based policy as it applies to crime and justice in the United States and across the Western world. It is divided into five parts: concepts, methods, and critical perspectives in evidence-based crime and justice policy; juvenile justice; criminal justice; alternatives to system responses; and promoting greater use of evidence-based policy. A corresponding journal article (Welsh, Zane, and Mears, 2024b; Evidence-based policy in a new era of crime and violence prevention and social justice – ScienceDirect) uses the book to answer three questions that are fundamental to evidence-based crime and justice policy today: (a) How is research contributing to and guiding evidence-based policy? (b) What are the productive and new ways to think about evidence-based policy? and (c) What are the strategies for promoting greater use of evidence-based policy?
Both of the following resources should be useful to researchers and practitioners who are interested in comprehensive coverage of evidence-based crime policy and want to expand their knowledge and understanding of programs and practices that are supported by research:
Welsh, B. C., Zane, S. N., & Mears, D. P. (2024a). The Oxford handbook of evidence-based crime and justice policy. New York: Oxford University Press.
Welsh, B. C., Zane, S. N., & Mears, D. P. (2024b). Evidence-based policy in a new era of crime and violence prevention and social justice. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 77, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2024.101940.