Translational Criminology Through an Evaluation Framework: Improving Research and Policy

This paper seeks to advance efforts to understand and extend translational criminology as a means by which to improve criminal justice research and policy, including laws, programs, and practices. To this end, it conceptualizes translational criminology as a collaborative activity, one that involves researchers and policymakers, practitioners, and communities, and is grounded in an evaluation research framework. Using this framework highlights that translational criminology can inform research, policy, and practice along five distinct dimensions: (1) Identifying the need for particular policies, (2) developing a strong theoretical and empirical foundation for them, (3) monitoring and improving implementation that aligns with the design of the policy and local context, (4) monitoring outcomes and assessing impacts, including potential harms, with a focus on identifying ways to increase effectiveness and minimize harms, and (5) creating accurate estimates of cost-efficiency and a foundation for informing assessment of whether policies should be terminated, continued, or expanded. Opportunities for translational criminology are substantial and hold the potential for advancing science and improving criminal justice policy creation and design, implementation, effectiveness, and cost-efficiency.