Making Sense of Crime Prevention Evaluation Research and Communicating it for the Public Good

• Author: Brandon C. Welsh
• Date: 01 August 2016
• Published date: 01 August 2016
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12234

EDITORIAL INTRODUCTION

CRIME PREVENTION REGISTRIES

Making Sense of Crime Prevention

Evaluation Research and Communicating

it for the Public Good

Brandon C. Welsh

Northeastern University

Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement

“Enough is enough! Enough is enough!” We are all familiar with this refrain in

one context or another. So, it should come as no surprise that it holds special

meaning to the prevention of delinquency and crime. In fact, these were the

words of Peter Greenwood at our panel, titled “Never TooEarly: The Effectiveness of Early

Prevention,” at the 2006 American Societyof Criminology annual meeting. He was opening

his presentation on the findings of his latest book, Changing Lives: Delinquency Prevention

as Crime-Control Policy (Greenwood, 2006). This loud, moving exhortation—punctuated

with strong thumps of one of his fists on the lectern—had everything to do with our need

as a society to use the best available research evidence on the effectiveness of delinquency

prevention programs and to translate this evidence into policy and practice. It also came

with a sense of urgency—to break through the political intransigence and rhetoric and help

bring about population-level impacts (Dodge and Mandel, 2012). It is about making a real

difference and making it happen now.

Importantly, we must not overlookthe need for research to help us make sense of what

works in preventing crime as well as to understand better the processes of implementing

and sustaining effective action at the national, state, and local levels. Indeed, the latter point

is a firm reminder of Petersilia’s (2008: 350) call for “developing a science around program

implementation.” This focus on research was also a crucial part of Greenwood’s message

(see also Greenwood and Welsh, 2012; Welsh and Greenwood, 2015), and he and other

prevention scientists have been at the forefront of moving this forward.

The good news is that we now can take stock of and evaluate some of the systems that

are playing a role in shaping an evidence-based approach for the prevention of crime. A

Direct correspondence to Brandon C. Welsh, School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Northeastern

University, Churchill Hall, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115 (e-mail: b.welsh@northeastern.edu).

DOI:10.1111/1745-9133.12234 C2016 American Society of Criminology 611

Criminology & Public Policy rVolume 15 rIssue 3