Applying theory-driven evaluation to the British Crime Reduction Programme

The Crime Reduction Programme began in April 1999 and was largely finished by March 2002. It went through a number of major changes. It also incorporated an ambitious initial evaluation component and a range of forms of evaluation activity. This article traces the changing theories in and of the programme as a whole and the changing forms of evaluation that were conducted under its auspices. It attempts to explain how and why the programme metamorphosed and how and why provisions for evaluation activity evolved as they did. It tries to distil realistic lessons for the conduct of informative evaluation in the context of large-scale government programmes. It also attempts to locate the potential for realist evaluation within such programmes.