Scientific research in the criminal justice arena serves various purposes and has different points. There are five points to scientific research. The five points of scientific research that will be discussed in this paper are question, hypothesis, experimentation, data analysis, and conclusion. Research can provide useful and exciting insights into community problems and how police agencies operate. It can reveal potentially useful programs and strategies for dealing with problems. It can show which programs are successful and which are not. It can suggest new strategies to deal with old issues. It can provide information needed to improve existing programs. And it can inform the public and elected officials. (Vito, Tewksbury, & Kunselman …show more content…
A hypothesis is often defined as an educated guess because it is almost always informed by what you already know about the topic (Harris, 2008). A hypothesis always consists of variables, or groupings of specific attributes of what you are looking to solve. There are dependent and independent variables within a hypothesis, or in layman terms, cause and effect. In short, the independent variable is the cause and the dependent variable is the effect (Maxfield, Michael, & Babbie 2008). For example, in the above paragraph we questioned the effect of the lack of law enforcement training on unlawful arrests, so from this question we can create a hypothesis. A good hypothesis on this would be; Police officers that lack proper training are more likely to unlawfully arrest a citizen than a police officer who does not lack proper training. In this hypothesis, the independent variable or cause is the lack of police officer training while the dependent variable or effect is the possibility of it leading to unlawful arrests.
Once the hypothesis has been formed, experimentation can begin. Experimentation is the third step in the scientific research process. The experiment is designed to test the generated hypothesis and either supports or refutes it. The experiment takes the independent and dependent variables and tests them by manipulating the independent variable. As the independent variable is manipulated, the dependent variable is measured (Harris, 2008). In the training
Furthermore, evidence-Based Policing allows for the use of research findings to develop those strategies that are best designed to reduce crime and disorder while maintaining the trust and confidence of the public. we serve. Also, police officers should incorporate those research findings into every decision. Evidence based policing does not have all the answers; critical decision will have to be made at during certain times in a split second. Nevertheless, having a scientifically proven evidence-base to support and guide how officers operate, I believe can help reduce crime, keep officers safe and improve relations with the community. Additionally, it can encourage police officers to use proven strategies and methods to improve crime control, community relations, and internal management. Agencies also gain the knowledge and analytical skills, specifically advanced crime analytics, to generate their own
Gaines, L. K., & Kappeler, V. E. (2014). Policing in america (8th ed.). (S. Decker-Lucke, Ed.) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America: Anderson Publishing. Retrieved January 2017
Policing is a very difficult, complex and dynamic field of endeavor that is always evolves as hard lessons teach us what we need to know about what works and what don’t work. There are three different Era’s in America’s policing: The Political Era, The Reform Era, and The Community Problem Solving Era. A lot has changed in the way that policing works over the years in the United States.
To begin with, what type of jobs come to mind when you hear Criminal Justice? Most may say police officer, correctional officer or even judge but there are more intricate careers when dealing with the law. Psychology plays a major part in the Criminal Justice field. Psychology deals with the mind and behavior but it gets more complex when you involve law. There are four discrete roles of Psychology when discussing the law which are applied scientist, basic scientist, policy evaluator, and advocate. They all have important roles in order to complete the mission of case.
At the majors fair I visited a total of three different major tables. Those majors were Criminal Justice, Anthropology and Simulation and Game Design. The first major that I visited was the Criminal Justice table because I am taking intro to Criminal Justice and wanted more information about the major. At the table was Ms. Kusko the department chair and also my professor for my Criminal Justice Class. At the table I learned that students interested in the Criminal Justice field have to take the intro class and also a few psychology classes such as the intro class and the Psych and Law class. Additionally, I learned that there are very interesting jobs for graduates in the Criminal Justice major from working in local law enforcement all the
To begin with, statistics can be defined as the practice or science of collecting and analyzing numerical data in large quantities, especially for the purpose of inferring proportions in a whole from those in a representative sample. Criminal justice on the other hand is defined as the system of practices and institutions of governments directed at upholding social control, deterring and mitigating crime, or sanctioning those who violate laws with criminal penalties and rehabilitation efforts. The use of statistics has been around for decades in a number of scholarly disciplines. More specifically, it has been an important vehicle in obtaining better knowledge in the field of criminal justice. This paper will discuss the role of statistics in criminal justice.
If a hypothesis is verified using experimentation then what might be the next step in the scientific method?
The next step is to form a testable hypothesis, or educated guess. A hypothesis must phrased in a way that in which another person can test the same hypothesis to verify or discredit it. After the hypothesis is formed, the experimenter must choose and appropriate research study. For example, if a scientist want to do a study about the behaviors of a particular person, like in the case Phineas Gage and the psychological affects of the iron rod that shot through his head, than the scientist may want to conduct a case study. Once the research method is established and the study has been planned out, then it is time to conduct the experiment and collect the data. The final step is to analyze the data to see if it supports or rejects the hypothesis. If the results do not support the hypothesis, then one should revise their hypothesis. If the results do support the hypothesis, then the study should be replicated to validate this study. Sharing the results of the experiment with other members of the scientific community is also an important part is advancing one’s understanding of the particular
In today’s society, research has grown into one of the successful methods in the field of Criminal Justice. Any individual is able to collect, analyze, and reporting data based on their research topics. There are numerous research methods available in the Criminal Justice System, which can benefit sociological and psychological theories. Researchers stated that research can takes an interest on people because it can deliver a deeper processing, feelings of satisfaction, and gaining more knowledge (Wade, 2001). In the education system, professors provide guidance on their students on importance of research such as participating in classroom discussions and activities. It is determined that textbooks were terribly written and continue to lose
In criminal justice research is the basis for maintaining an effective system. It helps to discern what methods of correction or deterrence are most impactful, what mannerisms, behaviors, and events drive criminality, and what crimes are most prominent in our society among a slew of other things (Maxfield, Babbie, 2015). Research is detrimental to the propulsion of our society as a whole, and within our criminal justice system, it can be the difference between the procurement of a functioning society and anomie.
From since I was a young child I have always wanted to go into the field of Human Services. As I have grown I have decided that I would go into the Criminal Justice side of Human Services. By this I mean that I still want to help people, but I want to help people who have become criminals or who are on the path of becoming criminals. I especially want to help children and teens who have been in and out of a Juvenal Detention Center. From this passion I have decided that I want to go into one of three careers. These careers are as follows; Juvenile Defense Attorneys, Juvenile Counselor, or Juvenile Corrections Officer.
Gathering data and researching material is very important within the criminal justice system. No matter what profession one may have within the judicial system, researching information is something that has to be done at one time or another. Within this paper I plan on discussing what I’ve learned about research for criminal justice and its criteria. Emphases of this paper are to give some informational data on police officers and why they choose protecting the community a profession.
The first courtroom I attended was at the Provincial Offences Court in Whitby, Ontario. Many of the accused, except for one individual, had their trial’s adjourned or plead guilty to amended charges in lieu of continuing with a trial. Despite of this, I was still able to witness first hand how the credibility of an accused can affect the decision of the Justice of the Peace regarding suspended sentences and amended charges. When evaluating the credibility of an individual, you “form an opinion about whether a person has been honest and told the truth” (Arcaro, 2009, p. 301). During my field observation of POA court, I witnessed the Justice of the Peace “analyzing the reported circumstances and making a conclusion about [an accused] reliability”
If this study was conducted today I believe that the conclusions would be somewhat the same as the findings back then. With the technological advancements of cell phones, Global Positioning Systems, the 911 system and computers today, police response times have been greatly reduced. This allows for the greater possibility of capturing an offender at or nearby the scene. This also allows for not only police response times to be decreased but also response times for other first responders that provide lifesaving first aid. With the advancements in forensics the greater chance of catching a criminal after the fact has been greatly improved which allows for the police to be more reactive when a crime has finally been discovered. With police departments designing precincts in a more efficient manner and utilizing Intelligence Led Policing, Predictive Policing or Compstat to properly allocate resources provides for preventative patrols to be accomplished while also being able to be reactive in nature.
When thinking about Criminal Justice it’s obvious that research is involved in solving crime. But it goes much further than that. Research is actually conducted in Criminal Justice itself. Research is done in Criminal Justice for a number of reasons. Research can be conducted in Criminal Justice for three main reasons; social problems, policy and academics. Then a number of other additional reasons are exploration, description, explanation, application, predictive and finally intervening. Within why research is conducted is another important aspect of Criminal Justice is Methodology; which is how the research is being conducted. Each of these topics will further be explained in depth.