INFORMING PUBLIC POLICY - Essay Example

As the nature of the dis on criminal justice policy and the terms of debates have profoundly changed, many a new periodicals dealing with issues related to criminal justice research and policy framing have arrived in the scene. In this context, reading ‘Informing Public Policy’ by two eminent professors of criminal justice, Todd R. Clear and Natasha A. Frost would be an act of a deep contemplation over various complex issues that exist in the realm of academic journal publishing. In their editorial to the so called “gala” issue of Criminology & Public Policy (CPP), Clear and Frost (2007) reflect upon almost everything related to the journal and its status.

At first, the authors give us a ‘brief history’ of the journal and examine the role eminent personalities such as Jeremy Travis in conceiving a journal for breaching the gap between policy research and criminal justice policy. According to Clear and Frost (2007), the best thing about the journal was that it sought to “simultaneously maintain a high degree of academic credibility and inform public policy” (p.633). The journal upheld a dissemination strategy to avoid the confinement of policy-relevant research to the academic world.

The American Society of Criminology (ASC), under the presidency of Lawrence Sherman, made the journal its official publication. From 2004 onwards, the journal was fully supported by the ASC. Because of this collaboration, CPP reached out to many policy framers through the organizational network of ASC. Importantly, the journal had a pan-American reach. Certainly, its widespread distribution was the result of an excellent media dissemination strategy involving U.S. Newswire and Rubenstein Associates.

Criminology & Public Policy was a notable success in terms both circulation and quality. Among the newcomer journals, CPP holds its head high. The genre of ‘reaction essays’ was the major attraction of the journal, which was solicited from the writers by the editors themselves. The authors are of the view that engaging with the media is a difficult task and put forward the rather interesting statement about criminologists that they are “very reluctant to offer definitive policy recommendations and frequently include a host of caveats to any of the implications that they do raise” (p.636). They also give account of the difficulties pertaining to drawing concrete policy formulations from empirical researches.

This problem arises out of the very nature of criminological empirical research, i.e. empirical research is not total but built upon previous research findings. One of the striking feature of this editorial is its firm conviction that criminologists must engage with world and enhance their sphere of influence in order to effect changes at the concrete policy level. Moreover, Clear and Frost forcefully argues for criminologists taking notice of media’s role in the making of public perception public policy with due respect.

In addition to comprehending the experience of ‘Criminology & Public Policy’ both as an ideal and a successful experiment, Clear and Frost’s editorial provides a warm farewell to themselves and marks an optimistic welcome note to their successors. Routinely, it includes the details of and invitation to the ASC conference in Atlanta. ‘Informing Public Policy’ presents an excellent narrative history of a unique journal, which exerts a good deal of influence even beyond the boundaries of the academic world.

It is a good example of academic writing on contemporary history of particular issues. In this editorial, Clear and Frost are not only giving us a standard academic jotting over the matter but also sharing their incredible experiences and sharp observations. The strength of their writing is that the claims in it are substantiated by empirical facts from reliable sources. Furthermore, the paper contains a clarion call to criminologists to set the public agenda on crime and thereby, enhance the relevance of their research findings.

Of course, this paper is written from the vantage point of its authors being the editors of the journal. Hence, the work amounts to be a candid ethnographic account. However, it is difficult not to see that Clear and Frost are not enough critical while examining the case of CPP.REFERENCEClear, T., & Frost, N.(2007). Informing Public Policy. Criminology & Public Policy, 6, 4, 633-640.