Contesting Evidence through a Comparative Research Program OR Understanding and Implementing Criminal Justice Reform in an Era of Dumb on Crime

Abstract

This paper examines the development of evidence-based policies and the complexity associated with its definition. Using correctional education programs on the one hand, and the D.A.R.E program on the other, we demonstrate why evidence based on numeric analysis is inherently limited and limiting. By juxtaposing efforts to reform the justice system in the US, and the recent policies of the Federal government in Canada, we propose a research program to capture not only numeric indices of success and failure, but the costs and consequences for those caught up in an era of dumb in crime.