Research on Program and Policy Evaluation at Michigan State
Faculty studying policy and program evaluation focus on a wide range of criminal justice issues, from school safety programs to correctional policy to programs related to environmental issues.
Faculty members specializing in research on environmental risk and security include:
Dr. Timothy Bynum: Dr. Bynum is currently working with Dr. McGarrell in conducting research and technical assistance for Project Safe Neighborhoods, a national Department of Justice initiative to reduce gun violence. His current research projects in this area include evaluations of offender reentry programs and various strategies to reduce gang crime and gun violence. His previous research has involved evaluations of a wide variety of criminal justice interventions in policing, corrections, and juvenile justice. Dr. Bynum has served on the national evaluation team for a variety of federal initiatives, including the Weed and Seed Initiative, the School Resource Officer Program, the Youth Firearms Violence Initiative, the School Based Problem Solving Program, and the evaluation of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.Dr. Steven Chermak: Particularly interested in evaluating the effectiveness of various strategies to reduce violence, Dr. Chermak’s previous research has focused on law enforcement strategies, such as directed patrol and offender notification. One current project includes an evaluation of the impact of gang mediators on neighborhood violence.
Dr. Meredith Gore: Dr. Gore’s interests focus on integrating multidisciplinary theoretical frameworks to evaluate programs designed to reduce risks to the environment and people. She is currently working on research to: 1) develop criteria to evaluate leadership programs in natural resources, and: 2) evaluate the impact of environmental interventions.
Dr. Edmund McGarrell: Dr. McGarrell’s current research projects include National Institute of Justice and Bureau of Justice Assistance funded research evaluating the impact of Project Safe Neighborhoods on gun violence, the comprehensive anti-gang initiative, and the drug market initiative. Previous evaluations have included former inmate re-entry, gun violence reduction, and an experiment on restorative justice conferences.
Dr. Christopher Melde: Dr. Melde’s research focuses on youth violence, gang, and delinquency prevention. His recent research includes multisite longitudinal evaluations of school-based prevention programs, as well as police-led suppression and prevention efforts.
Dr. Jeremy Wilson: Dr. Wilson's research focuses on applying problem-solving models to address community violence. Partnered with communities across the U.S., he has examined many field interventions implemented by police organizations, community programs, and task forces. Currently, he is working with Drs. Chermak and McGarrell to evaluate a grass-roots violence prevention strategy in Pittsburgh that employs street-level outreach coordinators to prevent retaliation and link at-risk individuals with social services. Also, he is evaluating the deployment of problem-solving officers as a means to reduce violence in Oakland, CA.
Dr. April Zeoli: Dr. Zeoli's interests are on whether policies designed to reduce the availability of common correlates of violence affect the rate of intimate partner or youth violence. To date, her research has focused on laws designed to reduce the availability of firearms to intimate partner violence perpetrators or youth, as well as laws designed to reduce the availability of alcohol to youth or the population in general.
Doctoral students at MSU involved in this area at MSU include: