Public Administration Scholarship and the Politics of Coproducing Academic–Practitioner Research

Developing greater cooperation between researchers and practitioners is a long‐standing concern in social science. Academics and practitioners working together to coproduce research offers a number of potential gains for public administration scholarship, but it also raises some dilemmas. The benefits include bringing local knowledge to bear on the field, making better informed policy, and putting research to better use. However, coproduction of research also involves managing ambiguous loyalties, reconciling different interests, and negotiating competing goals. The authors reflect on their experience of coproducing a research project in the United Kingdom and discuss the challenges that coproducers of research confront. They situate the discussion within a consideration of traditions of public administration scholarship and debates about the role of the academy to understand better the politics of their joint practice. Thinking about the politics of coproduction is timely and enables the authors to become more attuned to the benefits and constraints of this mode of research..     

ID‐Check: Online Concealed Information Test Reveals True Identity

The Internet has already changed people's lives considerably and is likely to drastically change forensic research. We developed a web‐based test to reveal concealed autobiographical information. Initial studies identified a number of conditions that affect diagnostic efficiency. By combining these moderators, this study investigated the full potential of the online ID‐check. Participants (n = 101) tried to hide their identity and claimed a false identity in a reaction time‐based Concealed Information Test. Half of the participants were presented with personal details (e.g., first name, last name, birthday), whereas the others only saw irrelevant details. Results showed that participants′ true identity could be detected with high accuracy (AUC = 0.98; overall accuracy: 86–94%). Online memory detection can reliably and validly detect whether someone is hiding their true identity. This suggests that online memory detection might become a valuable tool for forensic applications.     

Describing intimate partner stalking over time: an effort to inform victim-centered service provision

Stalking has increasingly been the subject of legislation and research in the past 20 years. Within intimate partner violence, the context where it is most likely to occur, stalking predicts both greater danger and greater distress for the victim. However, research shows that practitioners are often unsure how to address stalking, and that the remedies available may not be effective. This longitudinal exploration of stalking focused on the experience of victims of intimate partner stalking and was conducted by Safe Horizon, an organization providing assistance to victims of violence and abuse in New York City. The sample of 82 women was interviewed monthly over 7 months, and the data were analyzed using growth curve models. We found that stalking decreased over time at a marginally significant level, and that change in stalking varied among participants. Perceived safety followed a similar pattern, increasing but not significantly, while stalking-related distress decreased significantly. The slopes of these variables were correlated, such that as stalking frequency decreased, perceived safety increased and distress decreased. Help-seeking was greater from court sources than victim services over the course of the study, but neither help source was related to a significant decrease in the stalking trajectory. According to victim report, orders of protection (OP) were helpful at some points and not at others. Implications of these results for offering victim-centered services are discussed.     

Development and Predictive Ability of a Behavior-Based Typology of Men Who Batter

This study explores the existence and predictive ability of a behavior-based typology of men who were adjudicated for a domestic violence crime in an urban criminal justice system. Data from 671 men who completed a 2-hour biopsychosocial assessment were analyzed using cluster analysis. Findings indicate a typology of low level criminality (25.6%), dysphoric volatile behavior (42.2%), and dysphoric general violence (32.2%) similar to previous typologies, but with some unique characteristics. The behavior-based typology predicted both program completion and subsequent rearrest. This study provides preliminary support for the development of typological assessment in criminal justice and BIP settings for early identification of men who may need additional interventions.     

Truancy Intervention Reduces Crime: Results from a Randomized Field Trial

Educational attainment is a fundamental cornerstone to success throughout the life-course. As a result, ensuring that young people remain in school and are not truant is critical. Although the importance of truancy as a risk factor for many adverse outcomes, including crime, has been well-documented, much less methodologically rigorous work has been undertaken to evaluate potentially promising prevention and intervention strategies. This paper uses a randomized field trial method to test how a partnership between police and schools targeting truancy impacts offending in a sample of high-risk truanting young people. We find that the truancy intervention reduces offending and we discuss the implications for practice and directions for future research.     

Artistic enhancement in the production of photo-fit likenesses: An examination of its effectiveness in leading to suspect identification

Following a crime, witnesses are often asked by the police to construct a Photo-FIT likeness of the suspect. However, previous laboratory research has indicated that the quality of the likenesses produced can be very poor. This study investigated whether the artistic enhancement of the basic Photo-FIT by a skilled operator using a variety of techniques influenced the quality of the Photo-FIT impression produced, and in turn increased the likelihood of correct recognition from the Photo-FIT. Six professional police Photo-FIT operators produced one basic Photo-FIT which was not artistically enhanced in any way and one Photo-FIT which had been artistically enhanced. These two types of Photo-FIT were given to 105 police recruits who were required to identify which face that Photo-FIT represented from a photographic lineup of 12 ‘suspect’ photographs. Composites which had been enhanced were significantly more successful in leading to a correct identification than were basic composites which had not been enhanced. The implications of these findings for police procedure and practice in the employment of commercial composite systems are discussed.