In social sciences (including cognitive and behavioral sciences), research is increasingly resulting indirect and rapid practical applications that have discernible effects on social institutions and behavior and the life of individuals.
In this regard, the social sciences are now following the model of the physical and biological sciences. Social science research results, expressed most often in the form of statistical probabilities, generalized observations, or theoretical formulations, are used in developing computer models and simulations that are in turn used for planning, decision making aids such as formal guidelines, and resource allocations. In law enforcement and administration of criminal justice, this coming together of developments in social science with advances in computer hardware and software is already having profound effects by shifting the emphasis toward science-based expertise versus experience, pragmatism, and trial-and-error as the basis for processes and procedures.
In the area of criminal justice, new developments in social science, embodied in predictive models and guidelines, may have effects at least as significant as the effects of applications of physical and biological sciences. If properly applied, they have much potential for reducing the undesirable effects of excessive discretion and variability in decision making, which often become discriminatory. But one risk is that they will make the process too rigid or mechanical. Another risk is that these social technologies could be misused in discriminatory ways. They are developed on the basis of information about patterns of behavior across large groups or populations. They should be treated with care in dealing with individuals. A third concern is that reliance on science and technology may encourage decision makers to think of people only as anonymous “offenders” or impersonal “cases.”
The criminal justice system operates during different stages of the process at different government levels. Law enforcement is generally a municipal or county function. Prosecution........
