In recent decades, the growing demand for evidence-based, cost-efficient interventions to prevent crime has also drawn attention to a pressing need for those programs and policies to do more to bring about social impact and social justice. Crime prevention that prioritizes social impact harnesses the knowledge of evidence-based interventions to foster meaningful, lasting systems change. Social justice in this context equitably delivers crime prevention resources and promotes perceptions of fairness and legitimacy among individuals and communities. Too often, these goals have been incorrectly framed as incompatible and mutually exclusive.
Guest edited by Brandon C. Welsh and Eric L. Piza, this volume challenges that notion by exploring a new framework for contemporary crime prevention that simultaneously fosters social impact and social justice. It analyzes new and significant developments in the field of crime preventionāfrom the research being conducted to its influence on public policyāand documents the ideals, challenges, and progress of this growing movement. Contributions by experts from a variety of disciplinesācriminology, sociology, public health, policymaking, and moreāprovide a deeper, broader understanding of the connections of social impact and social justice to the prevention of crime in society.
