Evaluations and the Advancement of Knowledge about Criminality: An Illustration from Evaluation of a Volunteer Program

Abstract

Rigorous evaluations of social action projects in general and crime or delinquency control projects in particular frequentl/ reveal little measurable effect of the projects or effects equal to some alternative program. While these evaluation efforts must continue simple to prevent the w aste of social resources, the nearly universal lack oJ'effect revealed suggests that we still need basic research on causes of problems to determine what variables social control efforts should seek to control. Sincefunds are more likely to be availablefor evaluation research thanfor basic research, this evaluation research itself must regularly be used to test theory. Certain steps are suggested by which tests of theory may be designed using evaluation research data, and this process is illustrated by a test of containment theory using data from the evaluation of a volunteer probation project. A wide/v applicable method oJ'computing Time Unit Qffense Experience Scores for evaluating crime and delinquency control programs is proposed.