Alternative Ways of Helping Women Who Have Been Released From Prison - Research Proposal Example

Research Proposal Introduction Literature Review Understanding the notion of crime gives a better expression of what constitute an acceptable behavior and what does not. Some behaviors have been regarded as crimes in some societies while in others they are not. For instance, prostitution has been legalized in some nations while in others it is seen as a criminal behavior. By understanding criminal law, we are able to identity what constitute an acceptable behavior and what does not. Upon conviction, punishment is doled out to the offender. There are many goals of punishment. One goal is vengeance, that is, punishment for punishment’s sake because it is deserved. Another goal of punishment is deterrence; it is anticipated that being punished will dissuade that individual offender from offending again and will be a lesson to the rest of the community not to take on in the same criminal behavior. A third goal of punishment or sentencing, particularly involving incarceration is that of incapacitation. In other words, through punishment, the public will be protected from the offender for at least the period of the sentencing (Austin et al, 2004). The last but not the least goal of sentencing is rehabilitation. This is not about being disciplinary to the offender, but rather recuperative. Rehabilitation tries to treat the fundamental causes of criminal behavior in the offender and then reinstate that person to society as a productive and law-abiding member. In Maryland, female offenders are allowed to participate in a work release program at Maryland correctional institution for women (MCIW) before they are released from prison. Studies have shown that women who participate in this work release program are less likely to be re-incarnated than women who do not attend this program. This is because it is through such a program that individual law offenders are rehabilitated in order to live peaceful with other members of the society once they are released from prison. Women who do not go through this program are more likely to be involved in criminal activities after they are set free. The purpose of prison incarceration is to take the criminal from the society since she is deemed to be dangerous, and confine her in an area where she will be able to reflect on his mistakes and where she might get rehabilitated Most of the studies done on individuals who are set free before they are rehabilitated show that one out of three are likely to commit another crime. This is because it is almost impossible for them to acquire jobs with felony records and to make it worse; they associate themselves with other criminals who are out of prison making it difficult to get other sources of income other than the criminal activities. This is why we find criminals who have just been released from prison, committing acts of crime without being worried (Melton et al., 2007). Others acquire even intense criminal behaviors from their peers in prison which they practice the moment they are released. As we all know, the woman is the pillar of every household including the society and the moment she is incarnated it is not only the children who suffers but the entire society. This becomes worse if she is released from prison without going through rehabilitation programs. Even if she was incarnated for a minor crime, she may leave the prison having acquired other unlawful behaviors. One example of such a behavior is drug abuse, prostitution, or child abuse. Such behaviors affect the entire society but the family suffers most. Drug abuse may result into violence towards the children or their father which may result into more harm including re-incarnating the offender. It is good to note that women offenders are human beings just like any other person (Loh, 1984). Most of them are not in prison because they wish to be there but are just victims of circumstances. Therefore, they need to be appreciated and trained on how to become responsible people not only to them selves but to the society at large. This can only be achieved through the use of different programs and services like the one offered at Maryland. This program is aimed at addressing the needs of the women, give them advice on how to use their leisure time and more so rehabilitate them for easy reintegration into the society. The program is not static but depends on the specific needs of and characteristics of a particular population. Once the inmates are received in a new institution, they first go through an interview process where they are screened by the mental health and medical units for the purpose of ascertaining their needs and specific characteristics. The purpose of this program is to assist inmates in understanding the policies, procedures, and or services in the respective departments. This does not only make the life of the inmates in prison easy and bearable; it also helps the staff in disciplining the inmates (Loh, 1984). Through the orientation program, inmates are warned on the things they are not supposed to do and the expected behavior. MCIW offers women offenders with pro-social programs that enlighten them on the expected values and life skills. This program trains women on personal responsibility and self respect. Through it, they learn to appreciate themselves as they are, and not to put the blame on any one or any thing for their mistakes. They are trained on how to become accountable to their actions and also learn how to respect others. However, the women who do not go through this program remain to be troublesome and the costs incurred in trying to integrate them into the society are usually very high. There is therefore a need to conduct a study among these women especially among the social workers in order to determine the best course of action. The strain theory developed by Merton explains how social structures found in a society can influence an individual to involve him/herself in criminal behavior. According to Merton, some individuals are brought up in poor families others by a single parent and they find it difficult to meet the expectations of the society. In such cases, an individual experiences a lot of pain and friction trying to meet his needs. Some societal goals seem more important that the means used to achieve them and most people would not care which means they use as long as they achieve these goals (Melton et al 2007). The aim of this theory is to explain why people go through some experiences while trying to meet societal goals that are far beyond their means. It tries to justify the crime committed by certain individuals by relating it to the desire and pressure of meeting some difficult goals. However this theory does not tell us the relationship between rehabilitation and crimes among women and this research tries to fill that gap. It is important to carry out this study because other scholars have found that the costs incurred by the society in addressing the problem of women offenders are too high. To make it worse, these women become irresponsible parents and do not even realize the need of bringing up their children in a responsive way. They dedicate very little time to their children and do not take attention of what their children do (Melton et al 2007). They are less concerned about the children’s behavior and are not involved in their children’s life. Children brought up by neglectful parents tend to be emotionally detached from social institutions. They grow up with a perspective that their parents have other important aspects in their lives than they are to them. Some children end up acquiring their parent’s behavior which can be detrimental to the society. Methodology Research design Exploratory research design will be used for this study because the main aim of carrying put this research to search for alternatives ways of helping women who have been released from prison. To do this both quantitative and qualitative research methods will be used. This is because the kinds of data that will be collected will both theoretical and numerical data. Qualitative method involves an ally of interpretive techniques for data collection and data analysis. Under this method the researcher will use focus groups and interviews on the participants. This method aims at getting an in-depth analysis of what makes women to be involved in criminal behaviors. The main questions that the method aims to answer is how and why on top of what and when. In qualitative research methods the following methods of data collection will be used interviews, focus groups, cases studies and observation, however, it is not limited to the above methods (Creswell, 1998). In order to gauge the outcome of MCIW in rehabilitating incarnated women, a cross-sectional interview will be used with a predetermined list of questions. The survey will contain a series of yes/no and open-ended questions. The questions have been chosen for their applicability to answering questions related to criminal behavior in women. In order to determine the survey’s dependability and validity, it will be evaluated by a panel of six experts in the criminal field, specifically coordinators within the quality departments. Subsequently, the survey will be piloted on five participants before beginning the study. Additionally, a variety of question styles have been included to allow for variations in learning and recall abilities. Furthermore, the researchers will be trained to carry out the interview in the same fashion and only probing in a non-leading manner to ensure the answer is complete. Sample The participants of the research will be drawn from two groups of women who have previously been incarnated; those who participated in the work release program and those who did not. These women will be sampled from organizations and international organizational agencies specializing in women affairs. In this case, stratified sampling will be used to ensure proportionate representation from all the chosen areas of concern. The participants will also include children who are able to give accurate information about how their mother’s incarnation impacts their lives. The study will make use of 150 respondents (n=150). The number may possibly increase depending on the amount of resources available for the whole research process. The research process will require 10 interviewers to help carry out the research study. The participants will be allowed to decide or change their minds regarding their participation; moreover, they will not be forced to provide the information they will not be willing to provide. Again, the research process will take place at one of the schools in the district at a time when participants are free; in this case, each group of participants will be allowed the privilege of proposing the time appropriate for them to participate in the study process by either accepting to fill the questionnaires and or getting interviewed. The respondents will also be allowed to withdraw their participations whenever they will deem necessary. This will ensure that the recruited respondents will be completely committed to the research and are will be willing to offer the required information. Names will be not included in the study data and instead a number will be assigned to each participant to uphold secrecy. Some crucial information will be documented on each participant, including but not limited to age, gender, race and economic status. Measurement Strategies This research tries to measure two parameters; 1. Women who have gone through the work release program and have been incarcerated for more than two times (IV). 2. Woman who have not participated in the work release program and have been incarcerated for more than two times (DV). Prior to the material day for study and before the recruitment of the participants, the participants will be informed of the main reason for the study and what kind of information the participants will be required to give in relation to the study. After this is done that the participants will be recruited. A face-to-face interviewing has been chosen to evade losing a subpopulation of participants who may not be capable to fill a written investigation due to visual or physical impairment. On the prearranged date and time, the research assistants will meet with the participants and give the preamble and instructions for the study. Within this preface, the researcher will highlight the privacy of the interview, including all of their answers. Each study question will be read out loud to the participants and the participant response will be recorded. This process will be repeated for each participant in the study sample. After the interview has been concluded, the responses will be assessed by another researcher to make certain that there are no gaps or omissions. Data analysis After data has been collected, the research assistants will go through notes collected and listen to recorded conversations, then realize the major points brought out from the research. A data analysis professional can be hired to compile it together. Following the complete analysis of data will be the process of interpretation and compilation of report from the analyzed data information. The utilization of the report will be informed by the purposes and reason of the research study. After data has been analyzed, it will be coded by the research assistants. This is an interpretational and mechanical activity that can only be conducted by the researcher and her team. The researcher will translate the meaning of meticulous data segments; establish their relevance, and identity the goal each segment plays in the research project (Creswell 1998). Once this activity is done, the interpretation will be recorded in the data by marking the boundaries of the relevant data segment and signifying the corresponding aspect by means of a code. The purpose of coding is to prepare data for further in-depth analysis. The nature of the code and the kind of analysis will be determined by the aim of the research project. This research project will use conceptual codes. These are labels placed on discrete happenings, or events for instance the concepts ‘mentoring’ or ‘counseling’. Wherever in the data the researcher has the impression, for example, that somebody is giving some advice, the research may mark this segment by a code label like ‘giving advice’. The importance of using conceptual data is that one may use up to 30 characters. One does not need to use cryptic abbreviations because each code is typed once. Data Analysis Tools that can help analyze the Data Analysis is used to refer to ordering and structuring of data to produce knowledge. After data has been gathered the two parameters (IV and DV) being researched on should be analyze. This is only possible once the data has been analyzed. The definition used for analysis embraces a whole range of activities of both qualitative and quantities types. The former brings out social economic dimension of the research and to achieve that, aspect like percentages and frequencies will be used. Statistical analysis is the same as inferential static. It has to bring out the level and strength of any observed relationship between two variables in any inquiry (Creswell 1998). One of the methods of data analysis is hypothesis testing. Here the relationship between participation in WCIM and involvement in crimes is examined. In hypothesis testing various mathematical methods will be used. This includes but not limited to the following: 1) Z-test- this is based on normal probability distribution and its used for judging the significance of several statistical measure, particularly the mean of a sample. The same test is used for judging the difference between mean of two different samples (Creswell 1998) (2) T-test- this is based on t distribution and considered appropriate for judging significance of the difference between mean of two samples. The relevant test statistic ‘’t” will be calculated from the sample data then compared with its probable value based on t distribution read from “t” statistical tables 3) F-test- this is based on f- distribution and is used to compare the values of two independent samples. This test is also used in context of analysis the variances called “ANOVAs”. ANOVA is used for judging significance of more than two samples means one at a time. After it has been calculated it is compared with probable values in the f-ratio tables. Ethical considerations Ethical research standards will be followed to ensure that the research process and findings are credible. Furthermore, the research process will be closely monitored to ensure that only parameters of concerns are measured with the specified research tools. This will ensure the validity of the whole research process. The research will also make use of knowledgeable research assistants and research professionals who will make sure the research process is not biased in any way and also to limit any errors as much as possible. The major limitation of this study is time. Primary research consume a lot of time because every participants have to be interviewed and this might hinder the effectives of the data collected if enough time is not allocated. References Ashworth, A. and Wasik, M. (1998). Fundamentals of sentencing theory: essays in honor of Andrew von Hirsch Oxford monographs on criminal law and criminal justice. New York: Oxford University Press Austin, J. et al (2004). National Assessment of Structured Sentencing. New York: DIANE Publishing Creswell, J. (1998). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five traditions. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications. Loh, W. D. (1984). Social research in the judicial process: cases, readings, and text. New York: Russell Sage Foundation Melton et al., (2007). Psychological evaluations for the courts: a handbook for mental health professionals and lawyers. New York: Guilford Press Read More