Advances in Crime Prevention Evaluation: Developing a Fully Fledged Cost-Benefit Analysis

• In Event: Macro-Level Issues in Crime Prevention Strategies

Abstract

In the field of crime prevention, the search for effectiveness has received a great deal of attention in recent scientific research, as well as in crime prevention politics and practices. This positive evolution has a downside in that other important aspects of crime prevention evaluation are often overlooked, or are hardly ever subjected to criminological scientific research. In order to avoid choosing for prevention measures where benefits are cancelled out by unexpected or unknown side-effects, we highlight key components that are needed to develop a fully fledged cost-benefit analysis. We also discuss methodological issues regarding the measurement of the various elements included in this analysis.

Author

• Dieter Burssens, National Institute of Criminalistics and Criminology, Belgium