Crime and Justice

Publications on Crime/Justice

A central goal of U.S. social welfare policy is to ensure that all children have the opportunity to reach their full potential as productive adults. Yet it is increasingly clear that where children live plays a central role in determining their life chances. This paper provides an overview of The Urban Institute's Program on Neighborhoods and Youth Development, which is dedicated to understanding the relationships between neighborhood-level factors and the well-being and development of children and youth and identifying and evaluating place-based, community-wide strategies to help children grow up to reach their full potential as adults.

In Holding Police Accountable, twelve of today’s leading scholars on police work examine seminal research on the use of force and how it can inform today’s research. The volume celebrates the late James J. Fyfe, the preeminent scholar on police use of force. In 1978 Fyfe found that administrative controls—training, guidelines, and regulation—reduced deadly shootings by officers without adversely affecting law enforcement or crime rates. The finding not only had profound impact on firearms policy, but compelled police departments to cooperate with independent researchers. Here, the scholars pick up the torch to work toward effective yet fair policing that will better protect all Americans.

The application of radio frequency identification device (RFID) technology to prevent inmate misconduct in a women's prison in Cleveland, Ohio was evaluated. An interrupted time series design was employed to analyze administrative data. Interviews were conducted with 89 inmates and 21 correctional and investigative staff. A process evaluation found that the advanced applications of the RFID system theorized to prevent inmate misconduct were not initiated. The resulting study evaluates RFID when employed at its most basic level as a perimeter control device and aid in investigations and finds that rates of inmate misconduct did not change significantly over the evaluation period.

A research and information center on crime prevention and public safety in Washington, D.C., is being created at the Urban Institute with an $800,000 grant from the Executive Office of the Mayor.