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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
Time: 12:20 am
Time: 12:20 am
Results for experimental methods
5 results foundAuthor: Horne, Christine Title: Using Laboratory Experiments to Study Law and Crime Summary: The 19th and 20th centuries produced breakthroughs in physics, chemistry, and the biological sciences. Laboratory research played an important role in the rapid advances made in these fields. Laboratory research can also contribute progress in the social sciences and, in particular, to law and criminology. To make this argument, we begin by discussing what laboratory experiments can and cannot do. We then identify three issues in the criminological and legal literature: why violence is higher in the southern United States than in the North, the relation between the severity of punishment and crime, and the expressive effects of law. We describe the relevant data from laboratory experiments and discuss how these data complement those gained through other methods. Details: Zurich, Switzerland: Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, 2010. 33p. Source: Internet Resource: CCSS Working Paper Series 10-010: Accessed February 9, 2011 at: http://web.sg.ethz.ch/wps/pdf/CCSS-10-010.pdf Year: 2010 Country: International URL: http://web.sg.ethz.ch/wps/pdf/CCSS-10-010.pdf Shelf Number: 120732 Keywords: Experimental MethodsPunishmentSentencingViolence |
Author: Drago, Francesco Title: The Deterrent Effects of Prison: Evidence from a Natural Experiment Summary: In this paper we test for the theory of deterrence. We exploit the natural experiment provided by the Collective Clemency Bill passed by the Italian Parliament in July 2006. As a consequence of the provisions of the bill, expected punishment to former inmates recommitting a crime can be considered as good as randomly assigned. Based on a unique data set on post-release behaviour of former inmates, we find that an additional month in expected sentence reduces the propensity to recommit a crime by 1.24 percent: this corroborates the general deterrence hypothesis. However, this effect depends on the time previously served in prison: the behavioural response to an additional month of expected sentence decreases with the length of the prison spell. This second result can be hardly reconciled with the specific deterrence hypothesis according to which a stronger past experience of punishment should increase the sensitivity to future expected sanctions. Details: Bonn, Germany: Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), 2007. 31p. Source: Discussion Paper Series, IZA DP No. 2912: Internet Resource: Accessed February 21, 2012 at http://ftp.iza.org/dp2912.pdf Year: 2007 Country: Italy URL: http://ftp.iza.org/dp2912.pdf Shelf Number: 124214 Keywords: Deterrence (Italy)Experimental MethodsRecidivism |
Author: Aoki, Yu Title: Does schooling reduce juvenile delinquency? Evidence from a natural experiment in Japan Summary: Individual returns to schooling have been examined intensively but social returns to schooling have received less attention. If schooling yields not only individual returns but also social returns – such as a reduction in crime – then the rationale for policies which encourage individual investments in schooling is strengthened. In this paper, we explore the effect of schooling on juvenile delinquency. To address endogeneity of schooling, we use exogenous variation in schooling caused by a policy intervention in specific municipalities after the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, which occurred in the Midwestern part of Japan in 1995. Using the Instrumental Variable estimator, our results indicate that higher school attainment significantly reduces both violent and property crimes comitted by youth. The negative impact of schooling supports a theoretical prediction that more education reduces crimes through a higher opportunity cost of committing crimes. Details: Bonn, Germany: Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), 2011. 22p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 13, 2012 at http://www.eea-esem.com/files/papers/EEA-ESEM/2011/2865/Aoki2011.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Japan URL: http://www.eea-esem.com/files/papers/EEA-ESEM/2011/2865/Aoki2011.pdf Shelf Number: 124526 Keywords: Education (Japan)Experimental MethodsJuvenile Delinquency (Japan)Schools (Japan) |
Author: Banerjee, Abhijit Title: Can Institutions be Reformed From Within? Evidence from a Randomized Experiment with the Rajasthan Police Summary: Institutions in developing countries, particularly those inherited from the colonial period, are often thought to be subject to strong inertia. This study presents the results of a unique randomized trial testing whether these institutions can be reformed through incremental administrative change. The police department of the state of Rajasthan, India collaborated with researchers at US and Indian universities to design and implement four interventions to improve police performance and the public’s perception of the police in 162 police stations (covering over one-fifth of the State’s police stations and personnel): (1) placing community observers in police stations; (2) a freeze on transfers of police staff; (3) in‐service training to update skills; and (4) weekly duty rotation with a guaranteed day off per week. These reforms were evaluated using data collected through two rounds of surveys including police interviews, decoy visits to police stations, and a large-scale public opinion and crime victimization survey—the first of its kind in India. The results illustrate that two of the reform interventions, the freeze on transfers and the training, improved police effectiveness and public and crime victims’ satisfaction. The decoy visits also led to an improvement in police performance. The other reforms showed no robust effects. This may be due to constraints on local implementation: The three successful interventions did not require the sustained cooperation of the communities or the local authorities (the station heads) and they were robustly implemented throughout the project. In contrast, the two unsuccessful interventions, which required local implementation, were not systematically implemented. Details: Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research, 2012. 53p. Source: NBER Working Paper 17912: Internet Resource: Accessed March 24, 2012 at http://www.nber.org/papers/w17912.pdf?new_window=1 Year: 2012 Country: India URL: http://www.nber.org/papers/w17912.pdf?new_window=1 Shelf Number: 124731 Keywords: Experimental MethodsPolice Behavior (India)Police Reform (India) |
Author: Taylor, Bruce Title: Shifting Boundaries: Final Report on an Experimental Evaluation of a Youth Dating Violence Prevention Program in New York City Middle Schools Summary: The purpose of this multi‐level experiment was to provide high‐quality scientific evidence concerning the effectiveness of targeting a young, universal primary prevention audience with classroom‐based curricula and school‐level interventions. We randomly assigned a schoolbased intervention to 30 public middle schools in New York City, and within these schools we identified 117 sixth‐ and seventh‐grade classes (over 2,500 students) to randomly receive our interventions called Shifting Boundaries. The classroom intervention was delivered through a six‐session curriculum that emphasized the consequences for perpetrators of DV/H, state laws and penalties for DV/H, the construction of gender roles, and healthy relationships. The building‐based intervention included the use of temporary school‐based restraining orders, higher levels of faculty and security presence in areas identified through student mapping of safe/unsafe “hot spots,” and the use of posters to increase awareness and reporting of DV/H to school personnel. Our study included quantitative and qualitative data. Our quantitative surveys were implemented at baseline, immediately after the intervention and six months post‐intervention and included the following measures: Knowledge, attitudes, behavioral intentions, intentions to intervene as a bystander, peer and dating partner physical and sexual violence (experienced as a victim and/or perpetrator), sexual harassment (experienced as a victim and/or perpetrator), and other background items. Our qualitative focus groups were conducted with interventionists and students to provide rich contextual to assess intervention implementation and student change associated with the interventions. Participating students ranged in age from 10 to 15, with 53% female. Our sample was 34% Hispanic, 31% African American, 16% Asian, 13% white and 6% “other.” About 40% of our sample had prior experience with a violence prevention educational program. About half reported being in at least one dating relationship. About 20% of our sample reported having been the victim of dating violence and 66% victims of peer violence. Overall, the “building only” intervention and the “both” interventions were effective at reducing DV/H. The success of the “building only” intervention is particularly important because it can be implemented with very few extra costs to schools. However, classroom sessions alone were not effective. Finally, our focus groups confirmed that the interventions were implemented as planned and straightforward to implement, teachers liked and were supportive of the interventions, and the positive survey results related to the interventions effectiveness were confirmed. Details: Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice, 2011. 322p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 20, 2012 at https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/236175.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United States URL: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/236175.pdf Shelf Number: 126377 Keywords: Crime Prevention ProgramsDating ViolenceEvaluative StudiesExperimental MethodsJuvenile Victims |