example of illogical reasoning in criminal justice

Although examples are prevalent throughout the book, as you read this material, it is recommended that you think about the relevancy and application of the topics covered in this book to your specific criminal justice interests. In recent years, media reports have focused on the relationship between methamphetamine use and violence; before then it was crack cocaine use and violence.32 However, media portrayals regarding the violent tendencies of drug users date back to the 1930s and the release of Reefer Madness. Martinsons report became commonly referred to as nothing works and was subsequently used as the definitive study detailing the failures of rehabilitation. Operationalization involves the process of giving the concepts in your study a working definition and determining how each concept in your study will be measured. In addition, several additional myths about crime, police, courts, and corrections will be briefly presented. All of the treatment studies included at least one measure of offender recidivism, such as whether or not offenders were rearrested or violated their parole. Los Angeles: Roxbury. Questions arose, however, regarding whether juries differed in their understanding of MNaghten versus Durham and, in turn, whether this resulted in differences in their ability to make informed decisions regarding criminal responsibility in cases involving the insanity defense. (1911). She interpreted this finding as Durham being no better than providing no guidance to jurors on how to decide the issue of insanity. A fallacy is an illogical step in the formulation of an argument. Therefore, they both must be the product of complex design. Although there are certainly operational similarities across criminal justice agencies, there are also nuances that exist across the over 50,000 criminal justice agencies in the United States. Previously, sources of knowledge development were discussed, including authority, tradition, common sense, personal experience, and media portrayals. The myth of policewomen on patrol. 8996 in Bohm, Robert M., and Jeffrey T. Walker. Retrieved on May 7, 2012. Response time was not related to an officers ability to make an arrest or recover stolen property. You might have opened this book for a number of reasons. In addition, this book assumes that practical and evaluative knowledge of research methods is more useful than theoretical knowledge of the development of research methods and the relationship between theory and research. The development of research questions is discussed in more detail in Chapter 2. Selective observation involves only making observations that are connected to the observer's current beliefs. If the odds of success are unlikely, it is illogical to assume that by sheer willpower it can be made to occur. This suggests that research is cyclical, a vibrant and continuous process. Washington, DC: Police Foundation. Again, these findings indicate the need for dispatchers and patrol officers to communicate with complainants regarding when they should expect an officer to arrive and the outcome of the call. For example, a researcher using secondary data analysis may analyze inmate files from a nearby prison to understand the relationship between custody level assignment and disciplinary violations inside prison. Researchers develop, refine, and report their understanding of crime and the criminal justice system more systematically than the public does through casual observation. In the past, it was common for police agencies to require all police applicants to meet a minimum height requirement to be considered for employment. The research question marks the beginning of your research study and is critical to the remaining steps in the research process. It is said that misery loves company, so you are not alone in your apprehension and anxiety regarding your research methods course. Third, it allows for the objective assessment of programs. Basically, the remaining steps in the process are completed in order to answer the research question or questions established in this step. Instead, the knowledge gained from the experience is wrong. The myth that punishment reduces crime. 179191 in Bohm, Robert M., and Jeffrey T. Walker. Other times, we have no idea of how the experts arrived at their knowledge. (2006). Informed consumers of research dont just take the results of a research study at face value because the study is in an academic journal or written by someone with a Ph.D. The theory implies that one learns criminal behavior through interactions with those close to them. Differential police response has been shown to save departments money and give patrol officers more time to engage in community-oriented and proactive policing activities. Four Purposes of research are exploration, description, explanation, and application T/F True 3.The objective of the text is to help future criminal justice professionals become: A. The mythology of crime and criminal justice. Instead, the knowledge gained from the experience is wrong because being disrespectful to the police usually leads to more enforcement action taken by the police, not less. Researchers use systematic, well-established research practices to seek answers to their questions. Studies have shown that female officers are more patient and understanding in handling domestic violence calls, and female victims of domestic violence are more likely to provide positive evaluations of female officers than their male counterparts.52. As one example among many, the prosecutor sought to convey to the jury the notion that Islam endorses harsh penalties for those who violate its scriptures. In other words, should we believe the results of the study? Reporting and interpreting the results of the study make up the final step in the research process. People accept myths as accurate knowledge of reality when, in fact, the knowledge is false. They are: Your personal journey and obstacles: Outline the major life events that brought you to this point and how those events affected your decision to pursue graduate school. However, the research also found that judges base their decisions in part on extralegal factors, particularly the interaction of a defendants age, race, and gender. The contributions of academic and policy-oriented research can be seen across the whole range of correctional functions from pretrial services through probation, institutional corrections, and parole. Los Angeles: Roxbury. The myth that serial murderers are disproportionately white males. 3744 in Bohm, Robert M., and Jeffrey T. Walker. (2006). The entire philosophy of rehabilitation was now in doubt because of Martinsons conclusion that our present strategies cannot overcome, or even appreciably reduce, the powerful tendencies of offenders to continue in criminal behavior.87. The myth that imprisonment is the most severe form of punishment. 192200 in Bohm, Robert M., and Jeffrey T. Walker. Syllogisms are used in everyday life, but they also have applications in the criminal justice system. A good example of how classical crimi nology can be applied in the community corrections field is found in David Farabee's monograph, Reexamining Rehabilitation In this review, Farabee offered several recom mendations for corrections reform that focus on deterrence-based intervention strategies. Chapter 2: Getting Started: The Beginnings and Pitfalls of Research, 5. Demystifying crime and criminal justice. Participants in the program were talked to and yelled at by the inmates in an effort to scare them. The Minneapolis Domestic Violence Experiment is an example of this and will be discussed in detail in Chapter 5. The reality is the understanding of crime and criminal justice system operations by the public is frequently the product of misguided assumptions, distorted interpretations, outright myths, and hardened ideological positions.6 This is a bold statement that basically contends that most peoples knowledge of crime and criminal justice is inaccurate. 79 Worden, R. (1993). Illogical Reasoning. However, it is hoped that the detective will continue to sort through all the evidence for confirmation or rejection of his original conclusion regarding the murder suspect. Therefore, if we only acknowledge the events that confirm our beliefs and ignore those that challenge them, we are falling victim to selective observation. It is even appropriate to replicate a previous study to determine whether the findings reported in the prior research continue to be true in different settings with different participants. In this case, you would find that greed has been defined as someone who commits criminal acts. Well-meaning programs can have harmful effects! It makes sense, and the program was initially touted as a success due to anecdotal evidence based on a few delinquents who turned their lives around after participation in the program. These are the factors we expect judges to consider when making sentencing decisions. 2 THE PRACTICE OF RESEARCH IN CRIMINOLOGY AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE Bachman-Sample.qxd 12/6/2006 11:45 AM Page 2. in explaining a phenomenon may not always be the ones supported by empirical research. Demystifying crime and criminal justice. Illogical Reasoning f. Resistance to Change; Overgeneralization a. 1) Stricter alcohol policies. For example, the research consistently shows that a persons demeanor significantly impacts the decision-making of police officers. Lansing, MI: Michigan Department of Corrections. Some additional myths about corrections that research does not support include: Prisons are too lenient in their day-to-day operations (prisons as country clubs).64, Prisons can be self-supporting if only prisoners were forced to work.65, Private prisons are more cost effective than state-run prisons.66, Focus of community corrections is rehabilitation rather than punishment.67, Correctional rehabilitation does not work.68, Drug offenders are treated leniently by the criminal justice system.69, Most death row inmates will be executed eventually.70, If correctional sanctions are severe enough, people will think twice about committing crimes.71, Sexual violence against and exploitation of inmates of the same gender are primarily the result of lack of heterosexual opportunities.72. Today, the study remains one of the most highly cited pieces of corrections research. Third, uncritical agreement with authority inhibits change. (2006). 8 Lombroso-Ferrero, Gina. 63 Michalowski, Raymond. In addition, research methods are the same across disciplines. Obviously, this throws his research conclusions, that red wine has a beneficial impact on the aging process, into question. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. The myth that the focus of community corrections is rehabilitation. 221226 in Bohm, Robert M., and Jeffrey T. Walker. Four hours of exposure to prison life is not going to counteract years of delinquency and turn a delinquent into a nondelinquent. Los Angeles: Roxbury. Many departments adopted a differential police response approach. Was probability sampling used? It seems clear that besides the death penalty, the most severe punishment available in our criminal justice system is to lock up offenders in prison. and the panacea phenomenon. The evaluation of research ranges from the manner in which one obtains an idea to the ways in which one writes about the research results, and understanding each step in the research process is useful in our attempts to consume research conducted by others. As applied to the criminal justice system, when we are inclined to be critical of the criminal justice system, it is pretty easy to notice its every failing and ignore its successes. Fallacies are common errors in reasoning that will undermine the logic of your argument. Furthermore, an expert in one area may try to use his authority in an unrelated area. Definition. Scared Straight programs and other widely held common sense beliefs about crime and the criminal justice system are questionable, based on the available research evidence. Groups of 12 jurors listened to each trial with instruction provided at the end regarding the particular rule of law (MNaghten or Durham) for determining criminal responsibility. So, the data are there for the taking, but the records that are retrieved typically are not checked for errorserrors that would be obvious to human eyes. (2006). Besides selective observation, some of our observations may simply be wrong. It is important to note that just because someone uses a logical fallacy, their claim may not necessarily be wrong, it simply means that the arguer has not provided either enough, or the right kind, of . Halloween sadism is the practice of giving contaminated treats to children during trick or treating.18 In 1985, Joel Best wrote an article entitled, The Myth of the Halloween Sadist.19 His article reviewed press coverage of Halloween sadism in the leading papers in the three largest metropolitan areas (New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Chicago Tribune) from 19581984. Today, half the courts in the United States put criminal records on their public websites. Researchers also discovered that probationers tended to recidivate by committing the same crime that placed them on probation. Recently, the University of Connecticut released a statement describing an extensive research misconduct investigation involving a member of its faculty. (2009). Over a six-month period, Martinson and his colleagues reviewed all of the existing literature on correctional treatment published in English from 1945 to 1967. We are more likely to notice pieces of evidence that reinforce and support our ideology. 36 Buerger, Michael. 17 Shelton, D. E. (2008). The research design selected should be driven by the research questions asked. 66 Blakely, Curtis, and John Ortiz Smykla. If you personally see something or if it actually happens to you, then you are likely to accept it as true and gain knowledge from the experience. Over 425 of these surveys were returned. Retrieved on January 14, 2012; Scientific journals notified following research misconduct investigation. January 11, 2012. http://today.uconn.edu/blog/2012/01/scientific-journals-notified-following-research-misconduct-investigation/. Demystifying crime and criminal justice. Illogical reasoning occurs when someone jumps to premature conclusions or presents an argument that is based on invalid assumptions. (2007). However, researchers should not dismiss all knowledge from the prior sources discussed, because, as mentioned, these sources of knowledge are sometimes accurate and certainly have their place in the development of knowledge. The first is psychodynamic theory, which is centered on the notion that an individual's early childhood experience influences his or her likelihood for committing future crimes. Give an example of a research study that dispelled a myth. Criminology 36, 763797. As a student in criminal justice, you have probably experienced something similar in interaction with friends, relatives, and neighbors. 46 Bishop, Donna M. The myth that harsh punishments reduce juvenile crime. 140148 in Bohm, Robert M., and Jeffrey T. Walker. Second, a follow-up survey was mailed to citizens whom the police had contacted during their response. Scared Straight programs are still in existence today and are even the premise for the television show Beyond Scared Straight on the A&E television network. In U.S., support for death penalty falls to 39-year low. October 13, 2011. http://www.gallup.com/poll/150089/support-death-penalty-falls-year-low.aspx. You need to have familiarity with all research designs so that you can become an educated consumer of research. Los Angeles: Roxbury. Brief Fact Summary. Informed consumers of research B. In addition to authority knowledge, people often rely on tradition for knowledge. Second, in order to prove that a research finding is correct, a researcher must be able to replicate the finding using the same methods. Critics claim that CSI viewers accept what they see on the show as an accurate representation of how forensic science works. Here's an example of an inductive argument: Observation (premise): My Welsh Corgis were incredibly stubborn and independent (specific observation of behavior). For example, all men are mortal and Socrates is a man, therefore Socrates is mortal. In today's criminal justice system, with the increasing numbers of offenders, the system is going to have to find away to reduce the prison population. According to the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, alcohol is a factor in 40 . The myth of positive differentiation in the classification of dangerous offenders. 123131 in Bohm, Robert M., and Jeffrey T. Walker. Electronic monitoring (seventh), intensive supervision probation (sixth), halfway house (fifth), intermittent incarceration (fourth), day reporting (third), county jail (second), and boot camp (first) were all rated by inmates as more severe sanctions than prison.75. However, if a person was rude and uncooperative to a police officer during a traffic stop and was let go without a citation, the person will gain knowledge from this personal experience. The survey instrument consisted of questions to assess the length of time to respond to a call and the outcome of the call (i.e., arrest). Experimenting with a multitude of teaching strategies to alleviate the math anxiety, relevance argumentation, and disinterest of criminal justice research methods students will result in more effective teaching and learning. For several years, the MNaghten rule was the legal rule applied in all courts of the United States. Although authority knowledge is certainly an important means of gaining knowledge, we must critically evaluate the ideas, beliefs, and statements of those in positions of authority and be willing to challenge those statements where necessary. frequently simplistic and illogical. After they developed the survey, they tested it by distributing the survey to three criminal justice classes, totaling 80 students, from a midsized regional comprehensive university in the southern region of the United States. In order to test their hypotheses, the researchers examined sentencing data from Pennsylvania spanning four years (19891992). (2001). Critical evaluation involves identifying both positive and negative aspects of the research studyboth the good and the bad. Selective/inaccurate observation 3. scale developed in this study identifies disinterest and relevance argumentation, in addition to math anxiety, as part of student apprehension and resistance to research methods. For example, we know that cigarette smoking causes lung cancer and has other significant health impacts, so we dont smoke. I was not legally authorized to use deadly force in the traffic stop scenario despite the insistence of my instructor to the contrary. It takes two separate clauses and connects them together. 23 Bullock, Jennifer L., and Bruce A. Arrigo. This type of reasoning is called a syllogism. Calls for service: Citizen demand and initial police response. In addition, the limitations of the study, as well as the impact those limitations may have on the results of the study, will be described by the researcher. Therefore, this book is written with the assumption that students have not had a prior class on research methods. What group, subjects, or population will be studied and selected? To further discuss the importance of research methods in the development of knowledge, this section will discuss myths about crime and criminal justice. Experimental design is discussed in Chapter 5. The benefits for a department are not at the expense of the public. 34 Goldstein, P, H. Brownstein, and P. Ryan. These surveys asked questions to assess citizen satisfaction with response time and outcome. As originally created, the program was designed to decrease juvenile delinquency by bringing at-risk and delinquent juveniles into prison where they would be scared straight by inmates serving life sentences. Besides math anxiety, the researchers think that apprehension is caused by student indifference to the subject matter and irrelevance of the course because it does not apply to the real world. They state that student apprehension in research methods and statistics courses is due to three main factors: Taken together, the reconceptualization is known as D.RA.MA., and the combination of these three factors constitutes the D.RA.MA. Modern day policing has implemented new policies that have changed the way the system handles offenders. Demystifying crime and criminal justice. The knowledge gained may include that being disrespectful during future traffic stops will get this person out of future tickets. However, history is rife with laws that sounded good on paper but had no impact on crime. For example, if a survey is developed to study the relationship between gang membership and violent delinquency, the distribution and collection of surveys from a group of high school students would occur in this step. (1981). Perceived reality is contradicted by the facts developed through research. Examples: Let's say you think that young men in fraternities just like to party, and you meet a guy What do you think? Probation was now used as a way to exercise restrictive supervision over more serious offenders. Los Angeles: Roxbury. Content analysis requires the assessment of content contained in mass communication outlets such as newspapers, television, magazines, and the like. (2006). Field research is discussed in Chapter 6. Demystifying crime and criminal justice. Illogical definition: If you describe an action, feeling, or belief as illogical , you are critical of it. Some believed the system was too lenient on offenders. when we prematurely jump to conclusions or argue on the basis of invalid assumptions examples; -it is possible that delinquency influences school performance just as much or more than school performance influences delinquency. The court case, Ingraham V. Wright took place in 1977, in Miami, Florida. Think of a detective who, after examining only a few pieces of evidence, quickly narrows in on a murder suspect. The observation helped to fuel arguments against the use of Durham, which, in turn, contributed to its demise as a legal rule. Los Angeles: Roxbury. In the early 1980s, the Rand Corporation conducted an extensive study of probation to learn more about the offenders sentenced to probation and the effectiveness of probation as a criminal sanction. Someone has committed a crime, and there has been some social unrest resulting in injuries, violent conflict, and some rioting. Forty studies that changed criminal justice: Explorations into the history of criminal justice research. Police departments allocated substantial resources to the patrol function and deployed officers in an effort to improve response time through the use of the 9-1-1 telephone number, computer-assisted dispatch, and beat assignment systems.

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