Measuring the Impact of Juvenile Justice Interventions: What Works, What Helps and What Matters?

Abstract

This article considers the findings of three different research studies on one juvenile justice intervention. In 2015, Juvenile Justice New South Wales received three different research findings on the same programme, the Intensive Supervision Program (ISP). The Bureau of Crime Statistics Research (BOCSAR) provided a report on the reoffending rates of those young people who underwent the programme. A team of researchers from Western Sydney University produced a report in two parts: first, a qualitative study that told the story of the young people’s path towards desistance, and second, a related economic analysis plotting the possible economic benefits to society of this programme producing desistance in participants. It is a rare situation to have three such different research reports on the same programme so this article will consider the wider implications of this and how to best judge whether a criminal justice intervention is successful and worth pursuing.