Crime and Public Policy

Book excerpt: Crime in the United States has fluctuated considerably over the past thirty years, as have the policy approaches to deal with it. During this time, criminologists and other scholars have helped to shed light on the roles of incarceration, prevention, drugs, guns, policing, and numerous other aspects to crime control. Yet the latest research is rarely heard in public discussions and is often missing from the desks of policymakers. This book summarizes the latest scientific information on the causes of crime and the evidence about what does and does not work to control it. As with previous editions, each essay reviews the existing literature, discusses the methodological rigor of the studies, identifies what policies and programs the studies suggest, and then points to policies now implemented that fail to reflect the evidence. The chapters cover the principle institutions of the criminal justice system (juvenile justice, police, prisons, probation and parole, sentencing), how broader aspects of social life inhibit or encourage crime (biology, schools, families, communities), and topics currently generating a great deal of attention (criminal activities of gangs, sex offenders, prisoner reentry, changing crime rates).