Criminal Justice assignment

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Chapter 11:

Toward violence Prevention

There Is No “Cure”

There is no “silver bullet” or “cure” for violence.

“Where do we go from here?” This isn’t an easy question to answer since there are as many different solutions to preventing violence as there are policy makers passing laws.

We as individuals and as communities can rethink our responses to the enduring problem of violence.

Costs of Violence

One estimate suggests that combined, murder, rape, assault, and robbery costs the United States over $42 billion annually in medical expenses, law enforcement, courts, and correctional facility expenses and lost earnings.
This translates into $137 dollars for every single American.
This doesn’t include intangibles, such as pain, suffering, and a loss of life quality.

Costs of Violence

72% of Americans fear becoming a victim of violent crime when traveling.
61% fear being attacked when out alone at night in their communities.
60% acknowledge fear even when they are at home.
Because of violence, in other words, we are less social and communal, and we do not see the world as a safe and just place.

How Do We Know What Works?

There are literally hundreds of programs marketed by private businesses or delivered by government agencies that claim to reduce particular kinds of violence.
In order to determine whether a program or policy has a causal effect on an intended outcome (e.g., reducing violence), a randomized control trial (RCT), otherwise known as a true experimental design, is needed.

Criminal Justice Response to Violence

There are a total of 222 programs listed as violence prevention on CrimeSolutions.gov.
Only 54 programs have proven to be effective when using the search terms “preventing violence.”
The majority of these programs are not directly related to violence prevention but are instead directed to those factors that are related to violence, like substance abuse.

Problem-Solving Policing

Problem-solving or problem-oriented policing generally focuses law enforcement efforts on proactively solving “problems” related to crime rather than reactively responding to calls for service after a crime has already occurred.
The goal of such an orientation for law enforcement agencies is to identify and resolve underlying problems related to crime.

SARA

Scanning, which involves police identifying and prioritizing problems that may be causing crime and disorder.
Analysis, which involves policy analyzing the problem to determine appropriate responses.
Response, where the police implement interventions to solve the problem(s).
Assessment, which involves determining whether the intervention actually worked.

Prison Re-entry

In 2014, there were approximately 6,851,000 people under some form of federal, state, and local correctional supervision in the United States including those on probation or parole or in prison.
In state prisons, about half of all inmates are serving time for a violent crime.
It is extremely difficult for those released from prison with a criminal record to find suitable housing and jobs that pay a living wage.

Serious Violent Offender Re-entry Initiative Program Model

Source: Lattimore, P., & Visher, C. (2010). The multisite evaluation of SVORI: Summary and synthesis. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice.

Violence as a Public Health Problem

Deterrence models and continued criminal justice interventions are not effective at reducing violence.
Mandatory minimum sentencing has caused prison overcrowding.
SVORI study findings indicate that correctional reentry programs impose only modest effects on recidivism outcomes.
The public health approach differs from the criminal justice perspective:
Examines factors related to violence
Epidemiological approach to understanding the causes of violence and reducing harm
Primary prevention and population outreach

Fundamentals of a Public Health Approach

1. Rely on community-based methods to identify root causes and sources of the problem. 2. Generate data to identify patterns of risk and protective factors. 3. Identify and monitor trends in the frequency and nature of risk factors. 4. Implement multilevel community interventions grounded in empirical data designed to reduce or eliminate risk factors or strengthen protective factors. 5. Evaluate and monitor the effectiveness of intervention strategies, and revise tactics accordingly. 6. Educate the public about the problems and issues as well as what has been shown to be effective for intervention

The Public Health Model of Violence Prevention

Source: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Public Health Approach to Violent Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/overview/publichealthapproach.html.

Fundamental Violence Prevention Measures

Reducing inequality
Decrease/eliminate violent images in media and entertainment
Secondary prevention
Identify high-risk youth without protective factors
Example: provide after-school activities
Tertiary prevention
Intervene in the lives of those already affected

Conclusions

There are few promising violence-reduction strategies that are implemented by the criminal justice system.
The criminal justice system is important for holding offenders accountable.
The public health perspective, however, can enhance and broaden our ability to deal with the causes of violence in the first place.
Advocate for a synthesis between the two platforms/approaches to violence control.

Open-Access Student Resources

· SAGE journal articles

· Multimedia resources

and more at study.sagepub.com/alvarez3e

Alvarez/Bachman, Violence: The Enduring Problem, 3rd Edition