An Impact Evaluation of Life Saving Efforts under the Border Safety Initiative - Book Report/Review Example

An Impact Evaluation of Life Saving Efforts under the Border Safety Initiative Guerette, Rob T. (2007). “Immigration Policy, Border Security and Migrant Deaths: An Impact Evaluation of Life Saving Efforts under the Border Safety Initiative The research design for the study can be categorized as qualitative in the way it uses three areas of analysis in order to come to an understanding of the impact of BSI operations on the deaths of immigrants. The approach used is analytical with the first area of analysis being an aggregate assessment of the rate of causalities of migrant’s trend before and after the BSI implementation. The second area was a comparison of BORSTAR agents with that of regular line agents when it came to saving the lives of migrants. Lastly, the 2003 LRP was analyzed to judge how effective it was in the reduction of migrant deaths. The data used to conduct the analysis was mostly numerical in nature and was gathered from a number of sources. For the analysis of the BSI impact, the data was gathered from the state and national vital registration systems along with statistics used from the BSI Incident Tracking System. The main reason for the use of vital registration system data was because it gives a baseline for the comparison of trends in numbers of migrant deaths for an elongated duration. The sampling procedure was based on gathering data focusing on the gender of the deceased migrants or those who were rescued. It also looked at their age as well as the number of accompanying migrants. The source from which data focusing on these variables was collected was from the BSI Incident Tracking System. The dependent variable of the study was the frequency of individual migrant deaths. The total duration for the inquiry of this variable was from 1984 to 2003. For the analysis of this variable data was gathered from two different collection processes - the BSI Incident Tracking System and the vital registration systems. The aggregate assessment of this study showed that there were two general peaks for the death of migrants, one in 1988 and the other one in 2003. Before the BSI in 1998 was implemented the death of migrants was declining. The death rate reduced in 1999 but increased in 2003. Showing that due to the implementation of the BSI there was no reduction in the death of migrants. The first limitation of the study affects the validity of its findings. This was due to the absence of an extended systematically recorded series of the death rate of migrants imposes a limit on the data gathered and makes it difficult to completely understand the impact of the BSI. Making it heavily reliant on two separate sources of data and limiting the reliability of dismissing the effectiveness of the BSI. This is because the absence of decline in the overall analysis might be a result of poor data recording than the failure of the program itself. The second limitation is the caution that has to be exercised when interpreting the findings from the LRP analyses. This impacts the validity in the way the number of migrant deaths seems lesser when disaggregated by month. And due to these smaller numbers the findings might only be suggestive. Lastly, another weakness of the study is the fact that identifying Border Patrol efforts as the only reason for the lives saved tends to be an unreliable conclusion because numerous other groups that are active in life saving campaigns that are carried out across the border. Article 2 Kovandzic, T., Sloan, J., and Vieraitis, L. (2004). “’Striking Out’ as Crime Reduction Policy: The Impact of ‘Three Strikes’ Laws on Crime Rates in U.S. Cities.” The research design on which the study is based is one of the strongest quasi-experimental designs that are used to assess the effect of the criminal justice policy. The use of the MTS that is carried out in this study is one of the strongest applications when there are no other thorough experimental controls possible or pragmatic. The main advantage of this research design is the fact that it allows the researcher to analyze the three strikes laws as part of a natural experiment. The type of data used was numerical and statistical in nature. The changes in the crime rates in specific cities were observed before and after the implementation of the three strike laws. The overall and state specific data was observed based on the effects of these laws on the UCR index crimes by making use of the time series design (MTS). The data was cross sectional in nature and was gathered for the years 1980 till 2000 for 188 U.S cities that had a population of 100,000 in 1990 and for which the appropriate UCR data was available. The dependent variables for the study were the rate of homicide, rate of robbery, assault, rape, and burglary and vehicle theft, per population of a hundred thousand. The crime data that was used was taken from the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports from the years 1981 to 2001; these reports crime counts for an area only if the Individual law enforcement agency accountable for that jurisdiction writes a 12 month report. Cities from which data problems were experienced were dropped from the study. The analysis showed that the rate of crime in the three city groups moved in tandem over the past twenty years. In the early 1980s crime rate declined, in mid-1980’s it began to rise and then decreased rapidly through the 1990s. This shows a pattern of forces that drove crime rates up and down nationwide. Also it was seen that crime rates in the three city groupings although did decline throughout the 1990s, the crime rates in the three strikes cities reduced faster than the rest. Incapacitation was found to be the key force behind the three strike laws this was seen in the way crime dropped slowly over time rather than abruptly. An overall finding was that the three strikes laws had a great effect on crimes rates in the way it reduced crime through incapacitation. A limitation as far as the reliability of this study is concerned is based on the limited examination of the effect of crime along with other social implications of the three strikes laws, with a dire need to develop an advanced research methodology for this topic. Another limitation has to do with the fact that researchers need to use qualitative methods in order to explore these laws in action and their application in various jurisdictions because of the presence of a limited amount of information being present from other areas outside of California. A more comprehensive analysis, like the publicity of law or the off enders point of view should be incorporated in the matters of each state in order to have more accurate information about what measures are effective and which one’s aren’t in the reduction of crime. Lastly the study does not take into account the gathering of a more wholesome picture by the use of valuable information by researching on prosecutors to understand how frequently and in what ways the law is used. This is mainly because even though the three strikes laws make use of in part to limit judicial discretion, there is ample room for other possible sentences that fall within the guidelines. Article 3 D’Alessio, S; Stolzenberg, L., and Terry, W. Clinton III (1999). “Eyes on the Street”: The Impact of Tennessee’s Emergency Cellular Telephone Program on Alcohol related Fatal Crashes.” In this study, the data used was longitudinal covering over a period of 132 months from the year 1987 to 1997. The research design used was multiple time series design which was used to look at the impact of an emergency cellular telephone program that was implemented in the State of Tennessee on alcohol related fatal crash rates. The baseline for comparison was preexisting trends. The data was collected from the federally sponsored Fatality Analysis Reporting Systems. This database has information on a majority of fatal crashes that take place on public roads in the US. The analytic strategy used aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the Star THP program that looks at the reduction of alcohol related crashes. The dependent variables that were used in the analysis were firstly, the highway alcohol related fatal crash rate. This was operationalized as part of the monthly percentage of all fatal crashes that took place on the interstates, highways and country roads which consisted of a single vehicle and took place between 8 pm to 8 am. The second dependent variable was the non-highway alcohol related fatal crash rate. This was measured as part of the monthly percentage of all lethal crashes that took place on municipal roads, involving a single vehicle between 8 pm and 8 am. The findings by analyzing the monthly percentage of alcohol related fatal crashes on various highways and non-highways shows that the use of the Star THP program caused a reduction in the percentage of fatal crashes caused by drunk drivers. Before the implementation of the program about 35 percent of the lethal crashes were between the hours of 8 am and 8 pm and were caused due to alcohol. However after the program was implemented this percentage dropped to 31. However no effect was seen from the use of emergency cellular telephone program on the crashes on roads by the use of this program. In fact the percentage seemed to have increased on municipal roads. A key impact on the validity of this study is the fact that it focused only on one state, which makes it rather difficult to draw inferences about the generalizability of the findings of the study and reducing the confidence that can be placed on the findings. Another concern is the fact that perhaps if more vehicles in these crashes were equipped with cellular telephones the findings of this study might have been different. Lastly the fact that it is critical to match the findings of this study with future research which is frequently conducted in order to determine how reliable the findings are at different times and locations. References Guerette, Rob T. (2007). “Immigration Policy, Border Security and Migrant Deaths: An Impact Evaluation of Life Saving Efforts under the Border Safety Initiative.” Criminology & Public Policy, 6(2): 201-22 Kovandzic, T., Sloan, J., and Vieraitis, L. (2004). “’Striking Out’ as Crime Reduction Policy: The Impact of ‘Three Strikes’ Laws on Crime Rates in U.S. Cities.” Justice Quarterly, 21(2): 207-239. D’Alessio, S; Stolzenberg, L., and Terry, W. Clinton III (1999). “Eyes on the Street”: The Impact of Tennessee’s Emergency Cellular Telephone Program on Alcoholrelated Fatal Crashes.” Crime and Delinquency, 45(4): 453- 466. Read More