Criminal Justice
There are a large number of study designs that can be used to better understand issues in social sciences, including criminal justice (USC, 2014). Before a study design can be applied to a particular phenomenon or problem, however, they must be understood in terms of the strengths and weaknesses. In addition, most study designs will not be appropriate for a given situation and research goal. To better understand the strengths and weaknesses of particular study designs and appropriate applications this essay will discuss five that would be useful in criminal justice research. Two of these methods will then be used to explore how they could be used to study a professional practice issue in criminal justice.
Study Designs
Exploratory Study Design
Exploratory research is used when little is understood about a particular phenomenon and there is the possibility of future research using more quantitative methods (USC, 2014). The goals are primarily to provide a comprehensive description of a problem, suggest possible theories that would be applicable, and evaluate whether the problem would be amenable to additional study in the future. In other words, the exploratory study design would be useful for understanding whether a new, untested policing strategy may be having an impact on a particular crime statistic like domestic violence. For example, if an urban policing agency recently created a community policing unit it might be useful to interview the officers assigned to the unit, along with members of the public who the officers have encountered, to better understand whether the community policing strategy is producing better outcomes. The findings from an exploratory study cannot be generalized to the wider population because of the small sample size and conclusions about causality cannot be made.
Case Study Design
One of the study designs that could be used following...
Psychologists serve in various roles within the criminal justice system, as well as at every level of the criminal justice system from law enforcement to corrections. Some of the most common categories of criminal justice psychologist include as applied scientist, basic scientist, policy evaluator, and advocate. Each of these roles can be fulfilled at the levels of law enforcement, corrections, and also within the courts system. Applied Scientist/Psychologist Licensed psychologists can work
For example, Cook County, IL, has built a network of support for juvenile female offenders within the local community. The county has developed its own gender-specific assessment and treatment guidelines and has trained youth-facing community workers on assessing juvenile offenders and recommending programming. (Juvenile Justice Journal, 1999, p. 30). Also, the county designed a pilot network of social service agencies in order to provide a community-based continuum of care. (Juvenile
In the experimental community, the researchers instituted a media campaign to increase seat-belt usage, followed by increased police enforcement of the seat-belt law. It was found that the percentage of drivers using seat belts increased in the experimental community but remained stable or declined slightly in the comparison community (Piquero and Piquero, 2002). An example of the before-and-after design would be the analysis of the impact of the Massachusetts Bartley-Fox
This may mean an expansion of white-collar task forces designed to investigate such crimes. Question Predictions are that terrorist will continue to commit heinous criminal acts against our citizens in the future. If this prediction comes true, what, if any, effects will this have on the corrections system. Will Criminal Justice Administrators need to rethink what "model" (more punitive or restorative model) of justice should be used if more and more
Criminal Justice Management Mapping Crime Hotspots to Deter Crime Reducing crime is a constant concern of law enforcement and community leaders. Police strategies for reducing crime rely heavily on deterrence, in the form of police patrols (reviewed by Koper, 1995, p. 649-650). Research has shown that a police presence reminds offenders and potential offenders of the certainty of punishment, which is a more effective deterrent than the promised severity of a punishment.
However, as criminals become more aware of undercover tactics, the covert officer is required to provide more and more proof that he is indeed a criminal- which leads to the officer committing acts that compromise his or her integrity for the sake of maintaining cover. By understanding the often conflicting nature of these goals, deception and integrity, we can see how an undercover officer can become confused, lost, and
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