Action Research for Crime Control and Prevention (From New Criminal Justice: American Communities and the Changing World of Crime Control, P 97-102, 2010, John Klofas, Natalie Kroovand Hipple, and Edmund McGarrell, eds. - See NCJ-230360)

• NCJ Number: 230369
• Author(s): Lois Felson Mock
• Date Published: 2010
• Length: 6 pages
• Sale Source: Routledge
• Publication Format: Book Chapter
• Publication Type: Program/Project Description; Historical Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This chapter reviews the history of the National Institute of Justice's (NIJ's) involvement in action research and the lessons learned by the author in overseeing many of the NIJ action research projects, including being the chief proponent of preserving strong action research as a core component of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN).

Abstract

"Action research" refers to a particular approach to the research process in which researchers engage in an active partnership with one or more practitioner/operational agencies to solve problems. In the context of NIJ's work, this approach involves the collaboration between criminal justice researchers and criminal justice/law enforcement agencies in a data-driven, strategic problem-solving process in addressing crime and disorder problems in local communities. NIJ, as the research and evaluation arm of the U.S. Department of Justice, has been at the forefront of the development and support of this new type of criminal justice research, and it has had a pioneering role in the advancement of the strategic problem-solving approach within the criminal justice system. This chapter describes some of NIJ's efforts in developing and promoting action research. This chapter identifies the following benefits of action research: increased understanding of the target problem through data collection and analysis; improved problem-solving strategies that focus on identified problem elements; pooled agency resources that conserve costs and expand the range of practitioner capabilities and expertise; program refinement and system improvement; and more knowledgeable evaluation of interventions. NIJ's promotion of action research has resulted in increasingly successful, strategic problem-solving initiatives that have gained expanding support. Further, NIJ's effort has been instrumental in changing the traditional linear, "independent agency" criminal justice model to a more interactive, "multiagency" form for addressing local crime and disorder problems.