Implementation Fidelity in a Loosely Coupled System: The Challenges of Maintaining Consistent ‘Problem Theory’ and ‘Programme Theory’ in a Multi-force Training Pilot

• In Event: Can Training Improve Stop and Search Practice? Evaluating a Training Pilot RCT in England and Wales

Abstract

This paper considers the organisational and institutional structures involved in the design and delivery of the training pilot, drawing on findings from the process evaluation including observations of training sessions and interviews with trainers, trained officers, training designers and national stakeholders in the design process. The paper examines the differences in delivery across forces, and considers key (dis)connections within the communications processes between and within police organizations. The paper also examines the range of impressions amongst officers, trainers and national stakeholders on what the training was meant to – or could – achieve, and how this was to be done. More generally, the paper considers clarity in problem theory and programme theory as inherently complex in police training interventions and illuminates the challenges of translating high-level goals into training-room activities. This is particularly the case where multiple forces are involved, each undertaking their own process of translation and interpretation of the training goals and methods. Following an examination of the findings, the implications of these findings for the ways in which police institutions can seek to improve implementation fidelity are explored.

Authors

• Chris Giacomantonio, RAND Europe

• Yael Litmanovitz, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem