Formal Evaluation Model

June 30, 2016
CJA 385

Formal Evaluation Model Policy making in criminal justice can be broken down into two main focal points; monitoring and evaluation. During the monitoring phase, this is where factual information about policy goals are monitored. During the evaluation phase, this is where the question arises; did the monitoring phase address the potential outcome of the intended objective? In criminal justice, the formal evaluation model would benefit these types of policies. This paper will summarize the formal evaluation model and explain why it is the most effective evaluation process in criminal justice. This paper will also look at a policy involved with criminal justice and provide reasoning why the formal evaluation process is more practical than the pseudoevaluation and decision-theoretic evaluation. According to Willam Dunn (2012), Formal evaluation is an approach that uses descriptive methods to produce reliable and valid information about policy outcomes but evaluates such outcomes on the basis of policy-program objectives that have been formally announced by policy makers and program administrators. During this type of evaluation the goals and objectives are measurable values, meaning they contain specific and realistic information gathered during the monitoring phase. In criminal justice the formal evaluation process is vital because the effectiveness and efficiency of policy outcomes are defined by legislation, various program documents, specific goals and objectives laid out by policy administrators, policy makers and policy stakeholders. Once a policy has been implemented for some time it will undergo a summative evaluation or a formative evaluation. Both of these types of formal evaluations only differ based on frequency of evaluations, with summative evaluations monitoring a policy that has been