Policing people with mental illness: experimental evaluation of online training to de-escalate mental health crises Abstract Objectives This study was conducted to complete a proof of concept for a brief online training designed to improve the policing of people with mental illness. The training, positioned within a stress inoculation framework, is scalable worldwide at minimal cost. Our primary intent was to effect improvements in law enforcement officers’ ability to effectively respond to and de-escalate mental health crises. Method Participants were randomly assigned to either DEFUSE, the online de-escalation training, or a delayed treatment control condition. DEFUSE was evaluated with the full array of measures also used to assess CIT, the most comprehensive mental health training available to law enforcement in the USA. Additionally, DEFUSE was evaluated using a randomized controlled trial design, including additional measures assessing performance competence, knowledge, and satisfaction with the training. Results Participants initially receiving DEFUSE showed significant improvement in performance competence, assessed from their responses to simulated mental health crises. Multivariate and univariate analyses indicated that DEFUSE produced significant beneficial effects on all CIT measures (empathy, stigma, self-efficacy, and behavioral self-report) with strong effect sizes; control participants obtained comparable benefits after DEFUSE training. Conclusions DEFUSE appears to be a promising tool for teaching law enforcement officers how to intervene in mental health crises. It provides consistent training at the convenience of the learner and is engaging, time and cost effective, and easily scalable worldwide. Furthermore, participants found it interesting and the skills easy to understand and remember. Future studies will evaluate DEFUSE with a larger law enforcement sample and consider the possibility of collecting longitudinal data on level of force and resolution, referral, and arrest.

The effectiveness of judicial instructions on eyewitness evidence in sensitizing jurors to suggestive identification procedures captured on video Abstract Objectives One of the legal safeguards designed to educate jurors about eyewitness evidence is judicial instructions. However, their effectiveness in sensitizing jurors to eyewitness accuracy and suggestive identification procedures captured on video is unknown. Methods Participants (N = 232) watched the video-recorded identification and testimony of one of 16 genuine eyewitnesses. We varied the suggestiveness of the identification procedure, whether they saw an accurate or inaccurate identification, and whether or not they received Victorian judicial instructions about eyewitness evidence. Results Participants were sensitive to eyewitness accuracy when identification procedures were non-suggestive, with participants more likely to believe accurate eyewitnesses than inaccurate eyewitnesses. This sensitivity to identification accuracy was impaired when participants saw an identification made under suggestive circumstances. Judicial instructions did not significantly affect participants’ judgments with one exception: when they led to confusion. Participants who saw an identification obtained under suggestive circumstances were more willing to believe the eyewitness when they read the judicial instructions compared to those in the control condition. Conclusions Suggestive identification procedures impaired participants’ sensitivity to eyewitness accuracy. The Victorian judicial instructions did not improve participants’ sensitivity. This is the first test of judicial instructions that used Bayesian analyses to establish the absence of an effect. Thus, judicial instructions might not improve sensitivity to eyewitness accuracy or be an effective remedy for the damaging effects of suggestive identification procedures.

Hot spots policing and crime reduction: an update of an ongoing systematic review and meta-analysis Abstract Objectives This updated systematic review assesses the effects of focused police crime prevention interventions at crime hot spots. The review also examined whether focused police actions at specific locations result in crime displacement or diffusion of crime control benefits. Methods Systematic review protocols and conventions of the Campbell Collaboration were followed to identify eligible hot spots policing studies, and meta-analytic techniques were used to assess the impact of hot spots policing on crime and investigate the influence of moderating variables. Results The search strategies identified 65 studies containing 78 tests of hot spots policing interventions. Meta-analyses revealed a small statistically significant mean effect size favoring the effects of hot spots policing in reducing crime outcomes at treatment places relative to control places. Crime displacement and diffusion effects were measured in 40 tests. Meta-analyses favored a small statistically significant diffusion of crime control benefits over displacement. Conclusion The extant evaluation research provides fairly robust evidence that hot spots policing is an effective crime prevention strategy. Focused police intervention at hot spot locations does not seem to result in the spatial displacement of crime into areas immediately surrounding targeted locations. Rather, crime control benefits seem to diffuse into proximate areas.

Advancing knowledge about replication in criminology Abstract This article summarizes key points made in a session at the American Society of Criminology meeting in Philadelphia in November 2017, entitled “The replication issue in science and its relevance for criminology”, organized by Friedrich Lösel and Robert F. Boruch. In turn, this session was inspired by Friedrich Lösel’s (2018) article in this journal, based on his 2015 Joan McCord Award Lecture of the Academy of Experimental Criminology. In the present article, Friedrich Lösel introduces the topic of replication in criminology and summarizes his main arguments. Then, six leading criminologists present short papers on this topic. Robert F. Boruch points out the instability in social systems, David P. Farrington argues that systematic reviews are important, and Denise C. Gottfredson calls attention to the heterogeneity in conclusions across different studies. Lorraine Mazerolle reviews attempts to replicate experiments in procedural justice, Lawrence W. Sherman draws attention to enthusiasm bias in criminal justice experiments, and David Weisburd discusses the logic of null hypothesis significance testing and multi-center trials. Finally, some developments since November 2017 in research on replication in criminology are discussed.

Testing filter term performance in PsycINFO to identify evidence syntheses in crime reduction, using the relative recall method Abstract Objectives To test filter term performance against an original search strategy to identify evidence syntheses with a crime reduction outcome in the PsycINFO database, with a view to maximising efficiency and/or effectiveness in the search phase of a systematic review. Methods A search strategy was developed to identify evidence syntheses with crime reduction outcomes. A ‘quasi-gold standard’ set of 255 relevant studies that were indexed in the PsycINFO database was derived from this initial work and was used to test various filter terms available in the database using the relative recall method. Precision and sensitivity statistics were generated for each search strategy. Results Seven search strategies were tested using three clusters of index terms, on (1) method filter terms, (2) topic filter terms and (3) method and topic filter terms. These were applied as filters for the original search strategy and, to facilitate comparison, against all records in PsycINFO. The most sensitive filter scored 74.1%, the most precise scored 44.1% and the best compromise between sensitivity and precision scored 53.7% sensitivity and 16.3% precision. Conclusions Filter term performance in PsycINFO can be used to inform search strategies used within criminology and allied fields for systematic reviews. The variety of filter terms tested here, in the absence and presence of a keyword search, caters for researchers with different information requirements. Using an evidence-based approach to systematic searching can yield considerable resource savings in conducting a systematic review.

What can we do to reduce disciplinary school exclusion? A systematic review and meta-analysis Abstract Objectives To systematically review and quantitatively synthesise the evidence for the impact of different types of school-based interventions on the reduction of school exclusion. Methods A systematic search of 27 databases including published and unpublished literature was carried out between September and December 2015. Eligible studies evaluated interventions intended to reduce the rates of exclusion, targeted children from ages four to 18 in mainstream schools, and reported results of interventions delivered from 1980 onwards. Only randomised controlled trials were included. Two independent reviewers determined study eligibility, extracted data, and rated the methodological quality of studies. Results Based on the 37 studies eligible for meta-analysis, under a random effects model, results showed that school-based interventions significantly reduced school exclusion during the first 6 months after implementation SMD = .30, 95% CI [.20, .41], p < .001. The impact at follow-up (i.e. 12 or more months) was reduced by half and it was not statistically significant. Heterogeneity was mainly explained by the role of the evaluator: independent evaluators reported lower effect sizes than researchers involved in the design and/or delivery of the intervention. Four approaches presented promising and significant results in reducing exclusion: enhancement of academic skills, counselling, mentoring/monitoring, and skills training for teachers. Conclusions Results suggest that school-based interventions can be effective in reducing school exclusion in the short term. Some specific types of interventions show more promising and stable results, but, based on the small number of studies involved in our calculations, we suggest that results are interpreted with caution.

On the potential of incorporating administrative register data into randomized experiments Abstract Objectives Administrative register data offer an opportunity to increase the range and nature of experimental evaluations. In addition to providing a range of offending and non-crime outcome data, the uniformity, longevity, and scope of registers support a broader conceptualization of policy assessments. Although found in several countries, the Scandinavian registers provide a unique opportunity to conduct innovative and impactful randomized studies. Here, and with a focus on Norway, these prospects are explored in detail. Methods We rely on official information and policies on national-level administrative data, as well as data retrieved from Norwegian registers, to explore the possibilities and difficulties in using these unique sources of information within an experimental framework. We provide a descriptive analysis of two groups of offenders in Norway to both support these assumptions and illustrate the potential value-added. Results Employing Norwegian register data in a between-group comparison illustrates that register data would be particularly useful for several key areas of an RCT, including as a source of pilot data, to expand the range of variables on which between-group equivalence can be demonstrated, to increase the length of the observation period, to expand the number and type of individual-level outcomes available for consideration, in addition to providing a foundation for more theoretical, universal policy assessments. Conclusions Overall, this overview suggests that there is a significant and underutilized potential for the use of administrative register data to develop experimental tests of criminal justice and social welfare programming. Value is added to RCTs by increasing the quality of data available and reducing costs, relative to primary data collection, associated with such efforts.

The first delinquency prevention experiment: a socio-historical review of the origins of the Cambridge-Somerville Youth Study’s research design Abstract Objectives Begun in 1939, the Cambridge-Somerville Youth Study (CSYS) is recognized as the first delinquency prevention experiment and the earliest example of a longitudinal–experimental study with criminological outcomes. This paper aims to develop a historical understanding of the origins of the study’s research design. Methods The present study is guided by the socio-historical approach and informed by past historical research in criminology. It draws upon a wide array of archival records and published works from the late nineteenth century to the present day. Results Richard Clarke Cabot designed and directed the CSYS. Major influences on the study’s research design can be traced to Cabot’s medical practice and research, his advocacy for social work practice and research, and his professional relationship with the Gluecks. The beginnings of experimentation in the social sciences during the early twentieth century may have also played a role. Joan McCord’s early involvement in the study proved instrumental to its longitudinal component. Conclusions The rigorous and innovative research design of the CSYS marks an important chapter in the history of experimental criminology, and its influence continues to this day. New experimental studies on the prevention of crime and delinquency must continue to strive to advance scientific knowledge and improve public policy.

Procedural justice perceptions, legitimacy beliefs, and compliance with the law: a meta-analysis Abstract Objectives The purpose of this study was to compare procedural justice and legitimacy as correlates and predictors of compliance with the law. Methods A literature review produced 64 studies, 95 samples, and 196 effect sizes from studies published or conducted sometime between 1990 and February 2018 in which procedural justice was correlated with legitimacy and/or compliance, or legitimacy was correlated with compliance. Fifty samples included all 3 correlations, 3 samples included 2 correlations, and the remaining 42 samples included a single correlation. Two random effects meta-analyses were performed. Results Pooled univariate effects for all three correlations achieved significance. Although there was a high degree of heterogeneity in the results and modest evidence of publication bias in one of the subsamples, sensitivity testing indicated that no one study had an undue influence over the results. Using a generalized least squares (GLS) multivariate approach, a path analysis revealed a significant a path from procedural justice to legitimacy, a significant b path from legitimacy to compliance, and a significant c’ path from procedural justice to compliance, but only the a and b paths were significant when the analysis was restricted to studies with longitudinal data. Conclusions The current findings suggest that legitimacy beliefs are instrumental in promoting compliance with the law and that while procedural justice perceptions also appear to predict compliance, the effect was relatively weak in this meta-analysis and could not be reliably established in longitudinal datasets.

A conceptual replication of the Strategic Training Initiative in Community Supervision (STICS) Abstract Objectives This study was an attempt to replicate the findings from an earlier experimental evaluation of a probation officer training program by Bonta et al. (Criminal Justice and Behavior, 38: 1127–1148, 2011). An experimental design was used with an improvement in the random assignment of clients and was tested with a sample of probation officers from a new jurisdiction. Methods Probation officers from the Canadian province of Alberta were randomly assigned to training or probation-as-usual. Officer behavior was measured by audio recordings of supervision sessions and recidivism was defined as a new conviction within 2 years of the initial recording. Attrition resulted in 27 probation officers submitting audio recordings of supervision sessions over a 6-month period (15 in the experimental group and 12 in the control). There were 160 recordings of 81 probationers submitted. Results The audio recordings showed inconsistent changes in officer behavior and no differences in recidivism between the clients of the experimental and control probation officers. However, the use of cognitive techniques by the probation officers was associated with a longer time to recidivism. In addition, by 10 months, more than half of the trained officers stopped their involvement in ongoing professional development activities. Conclusion Although the study failed to replicate the major findings reported by Bonta et al., it did highlight the importance of cognitive techniques in officer training. The results are interpreted with respect to the replication literature and the difficulties inherent in direct and conceptual replications especially in real-world settings.