Criminological Protocols: Structure, Types, and Evaluation
Criminological Protocol: Structure and Types
The Crime’s Disappearance and Relocation
Apparently, the crime disappears from the area but can travel to other nearby areas where there has been no improvement.
Structure of a Criminological Protocol: Phases Explained
A criminological protocol is divided into five parts:
1. Demand Received
First, one must proceed to identify the requesting party. Sometimes the demands are not explicit, so one must discern from the application what is really being asked. Once the demand is identified, it needs to be put in writing. Once we clarify the demand, we can determine which type of report is requested (explanatory, prevention, prognosis, or evaluation).
2. Methodology and Instruments Used
This section of the report should state what methods and instruments have been used to obtain additional data not provided in the application (statistics, urban design analysis, group discussions, interviews, surveys of victimization, etc.).
3. Sources
This section specifies the protocol, citing correctly the books, articles, and reports which have been consulted for the report.
4. Criminological Evaluation
The criminological assessment is the core of the report. Here, one must specify all criminological considerations related to the issue of interest, the results of applying the methods used in their case, and knowledge gained in the consultation literature. This should lead us to connect all these elements with the theory that applies to the case and, depending on the type of report required, provide an explanation of the event, predicting the evolution of the phenomenon, providing preventive measures, or presenting the results of the evaluation.
5. Conclusions
In this final section, the criminologist must respond directly to the demands identified at the baseline. One should not repeat the considerations and explanations included in the previous paragraph, but answer the explicit and implicit demands, if any, according to the previous criminological assessment.
Types of Criminological Protocols
The criminological protocol is a tool particularly suited to provide scientific information on events or circumstances that relate to any of the four objects of Criminology (crime, offenders, victims, and social control). The functions may be alternative or cumulative according to the demand.
a) Explanatory
This involves offering well-grounded scientific explanations empirically on the event in question. It is to ask what happened, why it happened, and what factors have contributed to the crime.
b) Prognosis
The protocol offers a prognosis on the evolution of a phenomenon or a particular human behavior. From the data of the particular case, the criminologist should be based on theories properly consolidated and additional evidence if the social phenomena or human behavior will be repeated in the future and with what probability.
c) Prevention
Sometimes the demand made to criminologists is to provide appropriate measures or programs to solve a particular social conflict or to prevent the conflict from arising. The measures proposed in the protocol must always have a scientific basis and, as always, be based on empirical evidence substantiating the decision taken in the protocol.
d) Evaluations
It is one of the most important functions. It consists of making an assessment of the effectiveness and efficiency of a particular measure, program, legislation, etc. It is customary to initiate programs in slums without including an evaluation of their performance. The evaluation allows one to continue with the action (either