NCJ Number
82145
Date Published
1981
Length
76 pages
Annotation
An Australian criminologist describes the current criminal justice research being conducted in California and compares the research efforts in California with those in Australia.
Abstract
California was chosen for the study because of its worldwide reputation for criminal justice innovation and because its population of about 23 million provides a more realistic basis for comparison with Australia, which has a population of 14.7 million, than does the United States as a whole. Information was gathered through visits and interviews with researchers in three types of settings: (1) the universities and their associated institutes and centers, (2) private organizations such as the Rand Corporation and the National Council for Crime and Delinquency, and (3) government agencies such as the California Youth Authority and the Department of Corrections. Among the subjects of current research are police use of deadly force, democratic control systems in prison settings, fraud in automobile repairs, genetic and biological factors underlying criminality, the development of criminal careers, and methods of conducting sound evaluation studies without the randomization of subjects to experimental and control groups. The research in the United States tends to be more sophisticated and better funded than that in Australia. Nevertheless, few new and creative methodologies were being used in the research examined. A program in Orange County, Calif., providing juvenile diversion, assistance to victims and witnesses, and community restitution is described. Research efforts in some other parts of the United States are also summarized. Appendixes present the author's personal observations about his travels, two papers on correctional standards and issues in criminological research, and the names and addresses of the persons interviewed.