Things can only get better

Abstract

We did not want to enquire too closely when the Government announced its support for ‘evidence-based’ policy-making. After the long years of having criminological research ignored, under-valued and under-funded by the Conservatives, we were not inclined to be picky. So, like drifting mariners, many of us succumbed to the siren call of the Home Office for independent evaluation of its Crime Reduction Programme. I like to think we had some honourable motives: a desire to support the application of knowledge to social progress, perhaps? I also like to think we trusted our Government, whose promises of reform appeared to merit support. Along with some of my academic colleagues, we have published our various accounts of our evaluation experiences in a special issue of the journal Criminal Justice (Volume 4 (3), 2004). For my part, it was with sadness and regret that I saw our work ill-used and our faith in government's use of evidence traduced.