Full Description
Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) has over the last decade made an increasing mark in several fields, notably health and medicine, education and social welfare. In recent years it has begun to make its mark in criminal justice. As engagement with EBP has spread, it has begun to evolve from what might be regarded as a somewhat narrow doctrine and orthodoxy to something more complex and various. Often criminological research has been at odds with the assumptions, conventions and methodologies associated with first generation EBP. In that context EBP poses a challenge to the research community and existing evidence base and is, accordingly, hotly controversial.
This book is a welcome and timely contribution to current debates on evidence-based practice in policing. With a sharp conceptual focus, the chapters provide a critical examination of the recent history of EBP in academic, policy and practitioner communities, evaluate key dimensions of its application to policing, challenge established understandings and pave the way for a much needed change in how research 'evidence' is perceived, generated, transferred, implemented and evaluated.
Contents
Section 1: Evidence-Based Policing in Context Introduction: Evidence-based Practice and Policing: Background and Context 1. The Development of Evidence-Based Policing in the UK: Social Entrepreneurs and the Creation of Certainty 2. Research Synthesis, Systematic Reviewing and Evidence-based Policing 3. Street-level Theories of Change: Adapting the Medical Model of Evidence-based Practice for Policing 4. Evaluation Evidence for Evidence-Based Policing: Randomistas and Realists Section 2: Evidence-Based Policing and Police Practice 5. Evidence-Based Policing: Competing or Complementary Models? 6. Democracy, Accountability and Evidence-Based Policing: Who Calls the Shots? 7. Wicked Policing and Magical Thinking: Evidence for Policing Problems that Cannot be 'Solved' in an Age of 'Alternative Facts' Section 3: Steps Toward Applying Research Evidence to Policing 8. Changing the Narrative: Harnessing Culture as Evidence 9. Effecting Change in Policing Through Police/Academic Partnerships: The Challenges of (and for) Co-production Section 4: Conclusion 10. Evidence-Based Practice in Policing: Future Trends
