Answer:
CBAs in criminology are usually part of an impact evaluation, which looks at how a new program affects outcomes for participants. Most applied criminology CBAs count the costs of new interventions, translate participant outcomes into dollars, and compare those costs and benefits to business as usual.
Explanation:
Early CBAs in criminology simply counted costs and benefits and compared them to each other, without considering whether there were alternative explanations for the results. Consider our successful treatment client. To put a value on his recovery, we need to know whether he would have been in prison or on the street without treatment. We also need to know how much of his recovery was due to the treatment. What else happened in his life between sentencing and the evening at the subway that might have affected his behavior? This process of developing an appropriate "counterfactual" is critical to generating rigorous CBA results.
