Evaluatie geëvalueerd: de interne evaluatie van de preventieprojecten uit het Gentse Veiligheids- en Samenlevingscontract 1997 beoordeeld

Abstract

This article focuses on the quality of the evaluation procedure which was developed to assess local crime prevention initiatives in the context of the Security and Society contracts. This procedure consists of compelling crime prevention workers to fill out a preprinted project file in which they have to define project goals, means, target population, etc. In a first step a number of evaluative essentials are identified. In a second step, using the files from the Security and Society contract 1997 from Ghent (Belgium), both the evaluative potential of the project file and the concrete evaluation practices as recorded in the project file are assessed by comparing them with these theoretical essentials. This article shows that the project file as an instrument for self evaluation has considerable merits, However, to be able to use these files to discriminate between effective and ineffective projects for the prevention of crime, a more critical and scrupulous evaluation by prevention workers or others is indispensable.