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Evidence-Based Policy Making?

The Interplay between Research and the Development of Prison Drugs Policy

Middlesex University, UK

This article is concerned with the role of evidence, research and knowledge in the recognition, definition and framing of drugs issues in prisons and in the development, implementation and reformulation of policy. As the drugs issue in prison has become more politicized and policies have become more explicit and defined over time, research and evidence have become increasingly important dimensions within the policy process. Drawing on semistructured interviews with key policy players and an analysis of documentary materials, this article examines research utilization in the development of contemporary prison drugs policy since 1980, situating this process within its political, economic and social contexts. In order to make sense of the interplay between research and policy in this area, the analysis employs the various models of research utilization put forward by Carol Weiss (Weiss, 1986). Within the current context of increasing managerialism and new commitments to evidence-based policy making, the article concludes by suggesting that researchers should become more active agents at all stages of the policy process.

Key Words: drugs • policy • prisons • research

Criminology and Criminal Justice, Vol. 1, No. 3, 277-300 (2001)
DOI: 10.1177/1466802501001003002


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