Using meta-analysis, we report on an investigation of the evaluator's influence in the treatment setting on criminal recidivism outcomes. Many evaluators and users of evaluation of social interventions worry that mixing of the roles of program developer and program evaluator may bias results reported in intervention studies in a positive direction. We first review the results of prior investigations of this issue across 50 prior meta-analyses, finding 12 that tested the impact of investigator influence in the treatment setting. Eleven of these reported that effect size increased positively, sometimes substantially so, when evaluators were influential or involved in the treatment setting. We followed this with a meta-analysis of 300 randomized field trials in individually focused crime reduction, also finding intervention studies in which evaluators who were greatly influential in the treatment setting report consistently and substantially larger effect sizes than other types of evaluators. We discuss two major views Y the Fcynical_ and Fhigh fidelity_ theories Y on why this is consistently the case, and conclude with a further agenda for research.
Objective: A meta-analysis was undertaken to synthesize research results about the effectiveness of mainstream service programs for minority juvenile delinquents relative to White delinquents. The analysis addresses the question of whether mainstream interventions that are not culturally tailored for minority youth have positive outcomes on their subsequent antisocial behavior, academic performance, peer relations, behavior problems, and other outcomes. In addition, outcomes were compared with those for White samples receiving the same interventions to identify any differences in the responsiveness of minority and majority youth. Method: 305 studies were selected from a large meta-analytic database in which the participant samples were either predominantly (60% or more) minority or White youth. Effect sizes and more than 150 study descriptors were coded from these studies and analyzed using standard meta-analytic techniques. Results: The results showed positive overall intervention effects with ethnic minority respondents on their delinquent behavior, school participation, peer relations, academic achievement, behavior problems, psychological adjustment, and attitudes. Overall, service programs were equally effective for minority and White delinquents. Although there were slight differences in effectiveness for different service types between minority and majority youth, none of these differences was statistically significant. Conclusions: The use of mainstream service programs for ethnic minority juvenile delinquents without cultural tailoring is supported by these findings.
Evidence-based policy has much to recommend it, but it also faces significant challenges. These challenges reside not only in the dilemmas faced by policy makers but also in the quality of the evaluation evidence. Some of these problems are most effectively addressed by rigorous syntheses of the literature known as systematic reviews. Other problems remain, including the range of quality in systematic reviews and their general failure to be updated in light of new evidence or disseminated beyond the research community. Based on the precedent established in health care by the international Cochrane Collaboration, the newly formed Campbell Collaboration will prepare, maintain, and make accessible systematic reviews of research on the effects of social and educational interventions. Through mechanisms such as rigorous quality control, electronic publication, and worldwide coverage of the literature, the Campbell Collaboration seeks to meet challenges posed by evidence-based policy. Downloaded from 15 DONALD Campbell (1969) was an influential psychologist who wrote persuasively about the need for governments to take evaluation evidence into account in decisions about social programs. He also recognized, however, the limitations of the evidence-based approach and the fact that government officials would be faced with a number of political dilemmas that confined their use of research. The limits of evidence-based policy and practice, however, reside not only in the political pressures faced by decision makers when implementing laws and administrative directives or determining budgets; they also reside in problems with the research evidence.Questions such as, What works to reduce crime in communities? are not easily answered. The studies that bear on these questions are often scattered across different fields and written in different languages, are sometimes disseminated in obscure or inaccessible outlets, and can be of such questionable quality that interpretation is risky at best. How can policy and practice be informed, if not persuaded, by such a fragmented knowledge base comprising evaluative studies that range in quality? Which study, or set of studies, if any at all, ought to be used to influence policy? What methods ought to be used to appraise and analyze a set of separate studies bearing on the same question? And how can the findings be disseminated in such a way that the very people Donald Campbell cared about-the decision makers in government and elsewhere-receive findings from these analyses that they trust were not the product of advocacy? Donald Campbell unfortunately did not live long enough to bear witness to the creation of the international collaboration named in his honor that ambitiously attempts to address some of the challenges posed by evidence-based policy. The Campbell Collaboration was created to prepare, update, and disseminate systematic reviews of evidence on what works relevant to social and educational intervention (see http:// campbell.gse.upenn.edu). The target audience will include de...
In response to the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) within five U.S. cities, the CSEC Community Intervention Project (CCIP) was created to enhance collaboration among nongovernmental organization (NGO) representatives, law enforcement officials and prosecutors in Chicago, Atlantic City, Denver, Washington, D.C., and San Diego. A total of 211 participants were surveyed during a 3-day CCIP training institute held in each city. Evaluation data suggest that participants were positively influenced in their knowledge, skills, and attitudes regarding CSEC. Our findings inform NGO representatives, law enforcement officials, and prosecutors of the importance of professional training and the benefits of cross-disciplinary collaboration in addressing CSEC.
There has been an increasing focus on the process of translating research into practice in all fields of health and social services. This focus has shed considerable light on the potential for social workers to play a pivotal role in conducting translational research and facilitating research translation. This article examines new opportunities, directions, and methods for engaging in translational research and research translation; provides examples of social worker leadership in specific translational research studies, methods development, training programs, and National Institutes of Health-funded Clinical and Translational Science Institutes; and describes a strategy for research that meets the specific needs and draws upon the specific strengths of our profession.
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