The project's first discussion paper presents an overview of the need to complement and expand the traditional criminal justice measures of crimes rates and recidivism. The project's first discussion paper presents an overview of the need to complement and expand the traditional criminal justice measures of crime rates and recidivism. The paper discusses a recasting of the goals of the criminal justice system into four primary purposes: doing justice, promoting secure communities, restoring crime victims, and promoting noncriminal options. A second discussion paper addresses a number of performance measures intended to evaluate prison operations more effectively. The author identifies practical criteria for corrections administrators to use in measuring their performance. An extensive set of measures for evaluating institutions is offered across eight dimensions of performance: security, safety, order, care, activity, justice, conditions, and management. The Bureau of Justice Statistics participated in an international conference entitled "Understanding Crime: Experiences of Crime and Crime Control," organized by the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute. The Bureau of Justice Statistics sponsored a special panel at the annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology in New Orleans November 4-7, 1992. The panel members presented recent findings from the Bureau of Justice Statistics statistical series and participated in a discussion of related methodological issues.
Bureau of Justice Statistics National Update: January 1993
NCJ Number
139669
Date Published
February 1993
Annotation
The Bureau of Justice Statistics is sponsoring a project with Princeton University and conducting a series of working group meetings of national experts to re-examine the goals and objectives of the criminal justice system and the traditional measures used to assess performance.
Abstract
Date Published: February 1, 1993