Experimental Research in Criminal Justice Settings: Is There a Role for Scholarly Societies?

Abstract

In 1997, the American Society of Criminology received a request for a friend-of-the-court brief in support of an experimental evaluation of a court-mandated counseling program for domestic offenders. The experiment was opposed by the prosecuting attorney in the jurisdiction where it was to take place. In this article, it is argued that scholarly societies have an obligation to uphold and promulgate the principle that random assignment to treatment options is the best scientific method for determining the effectiveness of options such as those proposed in this case.