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Chapter contents. Evaluation
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CHAPTER CONTENTS
· Introduction 498
· Evaluation 498
· Thinking about Doing Evaluation 499
¡ Performance indicators 499
¡ Methods of data collection 501
· Doing Evaluation: Why and for Whom? 503
· Stories from the Field 504
¡ Politics – evaluation of the ‘Inside Out’ Prison Program 504
¡ Relationships – evaluation of a prisoner peer support programme 507
¡ Consequences – evaluation of the Post Release Options Program 510
· Summary and Review 514
· Study Questions and Activities for Students 515
· Suggestions for Further Reading 517
· References 517
GLOSSARY TERMS
evaluation performance indicators performance targets triangulation summative evaluation
impact evaluation formative evaluation continuous evaluation benchmarks
DOING CRIMINOLOGICAL EVALUATION RESEARCH
RoB WHITe
INTRODUCTION
This chapter will map out some initial considerations essential to the undertaking of criminological evaluation and discuss in greater depth three evaluation projects. These projects were carried out by different teams of evaluators under the lead of myself, and involved various players, agencies and institutions associated with the criminal justice system – prisoners, prison officers, prison managers, political leaders, non-government service providers, academics and practitioners. Each evaluation generated its own particular, and at times even peculiar, ‘story’, and it is the telling of these that is important from the point of view of acknowledging the real-world toing-and-froing that accompanies this kind of work. But first, we begin with a few preliminary comments about evaluation and the evaluation process.
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EVALUATION
Evaluation is basically about assessing what we are doing, valuing why we are doing it, and understanding how we can make improvements in the future. Any project, programme or strategy requires a consideration of the identified ‘problem’, an understanding of desirable ‘outcomes’ and a ‘theory and method’ of how certain interventions can achieve these outcomes. Evaluation research is about determining how an initiative is working, and what might be done to improve its chances of suc- cess or, indeed, to stop it altogether (Australian Institute of Criminology, 2003; Shannon and Schaefer, 2014; White, 2013; White and Coventry, 2000).
Criminological evaluation is important as it provides a key indicator as to how some aspect of the criminal justice system, crime prevention measure, or voluntary and third-sector programme or project is working (or not working). It also provides insight into whether and to what extent the goals of justice (and social justice) are being achieved through specific initiatives, social interventions or institutional practices.
The key questions evaluation seeks to address are:
· what works, for whom and under what conditions
· how does something work, and for how long
· what consequences, both intended and unintended, flow from the adoption of certain practices or strategies
· how do we wish to understand and measure social progress.
Ideally, evaluation should be both continuous (in the sense of monitoring the social processes associated with the conceptualization and implementation of specific ini- tiatives) and time-specific (in the sense of providing snapshots of impacts and outcomes at any point in time). The nature of evaluation, however, will be shaped
by the specific aims and objectives of an evaluation, the resources and skills available, and the anticipated social purposes for which it will be used (Bowen and Brown, 2012; Crow, 2000; Hough, 2010; Tilley, 2000; Wadsworth, 1991; Wilson and
Wright, 1993).
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