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Criminology Class, Fall 1999

California State University, Dominguez Hills
University of Wisconsin, Parkside
Latest update: September 6, 1999
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Jeanne's Notes on Exercise 5: Measuring Crime Prevention Effectiveness
Sample E-Mail Answers to Exercise 5: Measuring Crime Prevention Effectiveness

Lecture Notes on Exercise 5:Measuring Crime Prevention Effectiveness

Curran and Takata, Teaching Series
Copyright: September 1999. "Fair Use" encouraged.

  1. Jocelyn Pollock defines two approaches to measurement and knowledge of p.2 of Criminal Women: (1)positivism, or the scientific method of collecting data on the basis of a theory, testing the hypotheses, and drawing "objective" conclusions. (2)post-modernism, which suggests that there can be no truly "objective" position, since we are always reflected in the theories we hypothesize and the data we collect.

    Find a sentence in Sherman's Thinking About Crime Prevention" that tells you the overall approach of the University of Maryland in this study of what works in crime prevention, "positivism" or "postmodernism"? Cut and paste the sentence. Then tell us briefly which details led you to this conclusion.

    Here's one sentence you might have chosen:

    "The logical starting point for assessing the current and potential impact of federal programs is the scientific evidence for the effectiveness of crime prevention practices in each institutional setting."

    The term, "scientific evidence" suggests that the approach taken was a positivistic, not a critical or postmodern one.

    Sample E-Mails

    None up yet on September 10, 1999.