NCJ Number
79545
Date Published
1980
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This methodological review assesses Arthur Young and Company's Evaluation of the Cabrini-Green High Impact Program, a program which aimed at increasing the perceived and actual security of public housing residents.
Abstract
The components implemented under the High Impact Program included a broad range of physical, social, and management activities. The evaluation design was a quasi-experimental approach which used a nonequivalent control group. Data collected included baseline and followup data (two followup surveys) on the two Chicago sites: the experimental site--the Cabrini-Green Housing Development--and the control site--Stateway Gardens. A separate evaluation of the Architectural Security Program (ASP) included the collection of baseline and followup data (two followup surveys) on the four experimental Cabrini-Green buildings in the development that did not undergo any design changes. The evaluation also included a process evaluation of program implementation, analysis of materials and architectural design used in the ASP program, and program descriptions of the High Impact Program. The data presented in the evaluation report clearly showed that the High Impact Program had some effect on verified crime rates, victimization rates, fear of crime measures, and residents' attitudes toward the quality of their lives at Cabrini-Green. The research design, however, did not permit the determination of the discrete impacts of the several strategies (independent variables) on the dependent variables. Further, the evaluation's decision rules for determining 'significant' were not based on accepted statistical principles. A more basic concern is the validity of the pre-post nature of the design, since the predata period was during program implementation rather than before it. Extensive reanalysis is needed to assess each finding.