A framework for deriving policy implications from research

Scopic (social contexts of pathways into crime) is a five year ESRC funded
programme of research which aims to achieve a better understanding of how young
people become involved in crime. A key consideration in a research programme of
this type is how best to generate policy implications from academic research. This
report sets out a proposal as to how this might be achieved. It begins with a brief
description of scopic; we then set out a framework for deriving policy implications
which takes into account the validity of the research, and the practicality, feasibility
and ethics of proposed policy options. Consideration is then given to how policy
implications might be made concrete. The report concludes with a case study in
which the model is applied to one of the early published research papers from scopic
and we comment on the strengths and weaknesses of this approach.