Costs and Benefits of Preventing Crime / Edition 1

by Brandon Welsh

Overview

What are the cost savings from preventing a typical burglary, robbery, assault, or even a criminal career? Who benefits from these savings? How often do the benefits from preventing crime or criminal behavior exceed the resources spent on preventing or controlling crime? Is it more cost-effective to invest in early childhood programs or juvenile boot camps to reduce criminal offending? These are some of the important questions that face policymakers in crime and justice today. Answering them is no easy task. Nevertheless, it is important to provide answers in order to ensure that the dollars devoted to crime reduction are spent as efficiently as possible. The principle aim of Costs and Benefits of Preventing Crime is to report on and assess the present state of knowledge on the monetary costs and benefits of crime prevention programs. Remarkably, this crucial topic has rarely been studied up to the present time. This book examines key methodological issues, reports on the most up-to-date research findings, discusses international policy perspectives, and presents an agenda for future research and policy development on the economic analysis of crime prevention. Throughout, it addresses the important question of how governments should be allocating scarce resources to make crime prevention policy and practice more effective and to produce the greatest economic benefits to society. The book brings together research and perspectives from across North America, Europe, and Australia.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813397801
Publisher:	Westview Press
Publication date:	12/19/2000
Series:	Crime and Society Series
Edition description:	REV
Pages:	306
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)
Lexile:	1460L (what's this?)

About the Author

Brandon C. Welsh, PhD is an assistant professor at the Department of Criminal Justice, University of Massachusetts, Lowell. David P. Farrington, Ph.D., F.B.A., is professor of Psychological Criminology at the Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge and Jerry Lee Research Professor of Criminology at the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Maryland. Lawrence W. Sherman Ph.D., is Albert M. Greenfield Professor of Human Relations in the Department of Sociology and Director of the Jerry Lee Center of Criminology and Fels Center of Government, University of Pennsylvania.

Table of Contents

Foreword , Preface , Introduction , Assessing the Economic Costs and Benefits of Crime Prevention , Methods and Perspectives of Economic Analysis , The Crime Victim's Perspective in Cost-Benefit Analysis , Quantitative Exploration of the Pandora's Box of Treatment and Supervision , Economic Analysis Findings , A Review of Research on the Monetary Value of Preventing Crime , Estimating the Costs and Benefits of Early Childhood Interventions , The Comparative Costs and Benefits of Programs to Reduce Crime , International Policy Perspectives , Evaluation of the United Kingdom's Crime Reduction Programme , Economic Analysis of Crime Prevention , Recent Evolution of Governmental Crime Prevention Strategies and Implications for Evaluation and Economic Analysis , Future Directions , Measuring Economic Benefits of Developmental Prevention Programs , Improving Confidence in What Works and Saves Money in Preventing Crime

Editorial Reviews

The principal aim of this volume is to report on and assess the present state of knowledge on the monetary costs and benefits of crime prevention programs. Featuring the work of criminologists, economists, and experts in crime prevention, the book examines the key methodological issues, reports on research findings, discusses international policy perspectives, presents an agenda for future research, and recommends policy changes. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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