Translational Criminology, Politics, and Promising Practices

Abstract

Over the last two decades, there has been growing momentum behind efforts to produce policy-related research that is both rigorous and theoretically informed. Yet despite broad disciplinary support for translational criminology and its attendant effects on bridging the gap between criminological research and practice, the movement has faced a number of challenges. Some of these have arisen within the discipline itself, including resistance by criminologists who claim that researchers should avoid making policy recommendations due to the causal uncertainty of our scientific knowledge. Others, however, emanate from the applied settings in which efforts to advance translational criminology and evidence-based criminal justice policy are being undertaken. Chief among these is the role of politics. In this article, we begin by tracing the development of criminology, including its focus on causality and more recent embrace of translational efforts. Then, drawing on examples from state and local translational initiatives, we discuss a range of political considerations and impediments, their potential effects on translational efforts, and promising practices for translational criminologists to consider. We conclude by underscoring the importance of establishing a more prominent role for translational criminology and ways in which we, as criminologists, must adapt to achieve this goal.