Research

 

You will find a complete range of our monographs, muti-authored and edited works including peer-reviewed, original scholarly research across the social sciences and aligned disciplines. We publish long and short form research and you can browse the complete Bristol University Press and Policy Press archive.

Policy Press also publishes policy reviews and polemic work which aim to challenge policy and practice in certain fields. These books have a practitioner in mind and are practical, accessible in style, as well as being academically sound and referenced.
 

Books: Research

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  • Evidence Use and Evaluation x
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Using the National Socialist Order ([NSO], previously known as the Atomwaffen Division), as a case study, it is argued that the academic and policy literature regarding the NSO tends to inflate the actual threat posed. Significantly, prevention and countering actions by this group seem to lack an evidence-based approach. This chapter addresses a gap in the literature on the NSO by engaging critically with the group’s literature and that of individuals influencing its activities, highlighting key indicators that evidence a reluctance for terrorist violence. Research conducted on the publication Siege by James Mason and NSO propaganda highlights how it propels neo-Nazis towards violent action; however, little evaluation has been conducted foregrounding the indications within both which steer the NSO’s membership away from violent activism. Drawing on Beck’s ‘risk society’ and Busher et al’s ‘internal brakes’ this study illustrates the tension between inflated perceptions of risk and actual threat.

Open access
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This chapter summarises and discusses current UK law which places a duty on groups of professionals to be able to spot, report and monitor the signs of radicalisation. Professionals from policing, education, healthcare and charity sectors were interviewed and discuss their experiences of radicalisation. From their understanding of the language of radicalisation to whether they feel confident with the duty placed upon them. Themes such as a reliance upon gut feeling, a lack of clarity of language and a reliance upon policing staff are discussed. Recommendations for policy are then offered to help improve practitioner confidence.

Open access
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Preventing crime and, failing that, alleviating the harm caused by crime, is one of the original and central tasks of the state. Crime preventive are measures and conditions that reduce the likelihood of crime being committed and/or reduce the harmful effects of crime. The measures can be divided into three types: (1) measures aimed at increasing external and internal prosocial control and decreasing antisocial control; (2) measures that reduce opportunities for crime and increase opportunities for a prosocial life; (3) measures to eliminate or reduce the harm caused by crime and provide justice for victims. Crime prevention can be implemented at primary (targeted at all), secondary (targeted at risk individuals, places, and so on) and tertiary (recidivism prevention) levels. Currently, there is limited knowledge about the efficacy of crime prevention measures. Greater effort should be made to determine whether such measures produce the intended results.

Open access

In this chapter, the authors propose an epistemological framework for the practice of crime prevention that is fully embraced by the evidence-based paradigm and framed by the field of problem-solving criminology. The chapter discusses how in the 1990s, the basis for evidence-based practice in criminology was created when scholars started to debate the importance of evaluating crime prevention interventions and claimed the necessity to know what worked, what did not, and what was promising. Determining the success of programmes, actions and strategies to prevent crime was deemed essential for rational policy and practice. Slowly but steadily, evaluation procedures were integrated into practice, in general, during the implementation period or when the preventive activities ended. Evaluators were given the responsibility to propose theories of change and logic models that would explain how interventions worked and, therefore, orient the evaluation. However, this way of action would reveal shortcomings in the application of evidence. On occasions, evaluability was compromised by the flaws of the interventions’ design and implementation. The alternative presented in the chapter is a solution for such problems.

Open access

This chapter focuses on the process of planning, designing and conducting an evidence-based evaluation. It explains why evaluation should be considered an integral part of the systematic process of designing a prevention initiative and how to derive its goals and methodology from the inherent standard elements of a long-term comprehensive preventive programme. Particular attention is paid to the issue of connections between programme objectives, indicators measuring its progress and evaluation, as an integral part of the programme’s logical model. It also explains the importance of grounding the evaluation of prevention initiatives in research evidence and focuses on the main types of evaluation such as formative, process and results’ evaluation. At the same time, it explains the difference between social research and programme evaluation.

Open access
Evidence-Based Policy and Practice

EPUB and EPDF available open access under CC-BY-NC-ND licence.

How can we use evidence to improve deradicalisation and violence prevention outcomes?

Based on work developed during the implementation of the cross-European INDEED project, this is an essential reference book for practitioners, researchers and policy makers. It sets out the three pillars of best evidence-based practice – scientific evidence, professional judgement and consideration of clients’ preferences, values and beliefs. Demonstrating both successful and unsuccessful approaches with case studies from the field, the book offers practical strategies for prevention teams designing and evaluating their programmes.

Open access

A systematic literature review was conducted of the existing empirical evidence pertaining to radicalisation across different settings. Findings suggest an emphasis on factors commonly included in risk assessments, such as attitudes, justifications and aversive events. However, radicalisation of forensic populations appears understudied and at times overlapping significantly with general violence literature. It is recommended to shift focus from the presence of influences to an understanding of their relevance regarding extremist violence.

Open access
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This chapter aims to underline the importance of (re)creating the value of restorative dialogues substantiated by evidence of their positive impact on enhanced restorative conversations before, during and after political violence. A restorative response entails policies and measures to constructively prevent and counteract individual and collective violence, through inclusive listening and active accountability, based on free will. This approach necessitates societal involvement, particularly the engagement of young generations as the main stakeholders. Drawing on restorative justice (RJ) and victimology literature, this work offers a descriptive and analytical contribution, supported by some evidence and concrete examples on the qualitative evaluation of some RJ projects conducted by the Restorative Justice Theory & Practice Lab of the Basque Institute of Criminology of the University of the Basque Country (Spain). This includes personal experiences and joint learning drawn from the ongoing Encounter of the Encounters project.

Open access