The Development of Motivated Burglars - Research Proposal Example

Pre-Trial Intervention and in creased probability of future crimes: A study Pre-Trial Intervention and in creased probability of future crimes: A study 1 Abstract 1 Introduction 2 Research Aim 2 Literature Review 3 Research Philosophy: 5 Positivism: 7 Social Constructivism: 7 Critical Research: 8 Research Strategy: 9 Questionnaire: 10 Limitations of the Research: 10 Research Ethics: 11 Data Analysis: 12 13 Abstract In the following paper there shall be conducted a detailed study on the result of pre trail intervention in the world today. There has been observed that in the attempt to ensure that the first time offenders are corrected without putting them through harsh punishments so as to ensure that the problems of hardened criminals can be corrected. This is usually done through putting those who are part of the first time crimes through pre trial programs such as community service and others. In the following paper there shall be conducted a detailed discussion on the effectiveness of these pre trail intervention and whether these interventions only help those who have perpetuated a crime to get away from it and under take new felonies. The process of the discussion will be discussed in details along with the survey of the population so that the conclusions that are drawn are practical in nature. Introduction There has been observed that the problems of felonies have been on the rise in the recent past. The societies in the world today are seen to have been experiencing an increase in the problem of juvenile delinquency and there are many cases that have come forward that plead guilty for the first time offence. The method of pre trial intervention and programs have today become an important method of dealing with these cases, where the offender is usually a juvenile or someone who does not have a record. Through the implementation of a pre trial program authorities are able to punish the perpetuator while at the same time are also able to ensure that they realise their mistakes and do not have a record. But although there have been a number of such cases that have come forward in today’s world, there has to be realised that the problems that come along with such interventions are numerous in nature and therefore there has to be developed a system that over comes these problems. In the following paper these problems will be discussed and the root causes for he various problems will be identified. Research Aim At the beginning of the project, before the whole research for the paper is conducted, there has to be identified and established the aims that the paper is looking to fulfil and achieve. This will help ensure that the paper is developed in sync with these and there are no diversions while the research is being conducted, as the topic that is under observation is a diverse one, and there can be a number of factors that can be studied. The aims that the paper aims to fulfil in the following desertion include: That family PTI will increase community involvement;  That family PTI will decrease delinquent behavior;   That family-oriented PTI programs are more effective in fostering rehabilitation than offender-centered PTI, The role that is played by pre trial interventions in reforming those who have committed felonies or crimes. Literature Review This section will help look at the various areas that can be looked at while developing the discussion of the paper. there has to be realised that the fact remains that pre trial interventions and programs are very useful and allow for the various authorities and social factors to intervene in the lives of those who have gone astray and committed a felony or a crime. The intensity of the intervention that is proposed is dependent on the felony that is committed and is usually decided by a jury or a judge. The Pre-trial Intervention Program (PTI) provides defendants, generally first-time offenders, with opportunities for alternatives to the traditional criminal justice process of ordinary prosecution. PTI seeks to render early rehabilitative services, when such services can reasonably be expected to deter future criminal behavior. The PTI program is based on a rehabilitative model that recognizes that there may be an apparent causal connection between the offence charged and the rehabilitative needs of a defendant. Further, the rehabilitative model emphasizes that social, cultural, and economic conditions often result in a defendant's decision to commit crime. Pre-trial intervention (PTI) has been shown to be more effective when the family is involved in the process. Most PTI programs focus on the treatment given before release from confinement. Family-oriented PTI programs look beyond the prison set-up and attempt to establish a community for the accused to return to (Dembo, 2003). The reality is that the social stigma against persons released from prison facilities poses a strong hindrance against re-integration into the community efforts towards rehabilitation (Tate, Reppucci, & Mulvey, 1995). By conducting regular and in-depth discussions with the family regarding rehabilitation, the basic social support system of the accused is assured (Dembo, 2003).  The present study will replicate a family-intervention system conducted by Dembo, Schmeidler, and Wothke (2003) wherein families were trained to address the rehabilitative process a family-member was undergoing with the end goal of improving PTI. However, in the study conducted by Dembo et al., the dependent variable was measured through self-report data. The present research will use indicators of reintegration into society along with repeated delinquent acts to assess whether or not family-intervention is indeed a rehabilitative process. The succeeding sections will reflect the design and method of the research. The research questions to be answered by the present study will also be clarified in order to show a clear direction of the research being conducted.  The main thrust of the research is to assess the efficacy of a proposed pre-trial intervention program. A family-oriented program will thus be administered to one experimental group while a non-family-oriented program will be applied to another group. These programs will be administered to one group of individuals and their families. By doing so, there will be greater parallelism in the comparison of the two programs. Considering that the family set-up is most relevant in the case of minors, the present study will limit its population to juvenile delinquents (Alexander & Parsons, 1973). In particular, this research will limit its population to minors still living with their parents. In order to obtain a sufficient number of participants, several penal facilities will be asked for consent for the participation of their detained juvenile delinquents who have not yet started with their PTI programs. This will control for confounding effects of other PTI programs which may be administered by the penal facility.  Research Philosophy: Over the years there has been established that there exists a close relationship between the research philosophy and developing knowledge in any chosen field of study. There has to be realised that in the conduction of any research or study there has to be established and maintained a basic research philosophy. This is conducive for a mature development of the research. Thus in the beginning of any research project there has to be a clear statement which clearly establishes the research philosophy behind it. In the following section there shall be a detailed discussion conducted on the various aspects and variables which have be considered while establishing the philosophy that has to be followed during the conduction of any research study or project. Following that, there shall be detailed the philosophy that will be followed while the conduction of this research project. The philosophy that is adopted and incorporated by the researcher in the process of conducting the study and constructing his or her research dissertation affects the results that the paper will achieve. This is mainly due to the fact that the philosophy that is adopted will influence which view point is the research conducted from. Thus, to ensure that the results of the research are all encompassing and not limited to a certain area the philosophy adopted should be appropriate for and in sync with the research topic and aim. There are a number of philosophical traditions and paradigms which exist and these has to be a clear understanding of all these so that the correct philosophy can be adopted which would be conducive for the conduction of the study during the research (Bullock A Trombley S, 1999). These can be categorised under three core traditions. These are: Positivism: this philosophical tradition has its roots in the physical sciences. Social Constructivism: the basic roots of this philosophy can be found in the social sciences including anthropology and sociology, and Transformative theorists: this school of theorists have roots in Feminists research, civil rights research, research on prejudice, etc. Positivism: The positivist and the post positivist approach are firmly based in the historical sciences. In this form of epistemological perception, scholars and theorists believe that knowledge is based only in actual experiences (Ashley D, Orenstein DM, 2005). This school of thought can be traced back through history to the Greek society and has evolved through the ages (Cohen, 2007). There are some basic assumptions that are made under this school of philosophical tradition. The main principle that the school believes and endorses is that there exists unanimity in the scientific methodology, where there can be achieved a unification of logic which is present in all sciences, natural as well as social. Social Constructivism: The next important philosophical tradition that is of great significance in the field of research is the school of Social Constructivism. This school of thought was established and built up largely by the scholar Lev Vygotsky. In this school of thought the basic assumption which is followed is that knowledge is based in social background, and the construction of general philosophy has to be in the social setting. It follows the basic assumption that man is a social animal and thus, the roots of any research have to be in the context of a man’s social background. Thus, the research has to be conducted in the social settings, where there are many variables that need to be considered including culture, etc. The roots of this school of philosophy can be traced to the interpretive and deductive social sciences like sociology, anthropology and others. Critical Research: This is the third school of research that can be adopted by researchers while deciding upon the philosophy to follow while conducting the research. It looks at the development of the research through the critical analysis of the facts conducted at three levels, psychological, behavioural and social. It believes that there exist multiple realities which are based in the socioeconomic, political and cultural variables. They believe that all that is perceived as knowledge is a social construction as real knowledge can be achieved through the ideological criticism of the existing system and social constructions. This philosophy believes that it is only through the critical analysis of the society that real knowledge be achieved and established. In the following paper there shall be made an attempt to carry out the research which will make use of research philosophies, the positivist approach as well as the social constructivists approach. This will help us ensure that the research that is conducted to develop in a holistic manner, which is not just outside in but also inside out. The research will take into account all the research that has been conducted in the past and also add to that the information that will be gathered from conduction of the survey which will be carried out in relation to the questionnaire that will be prepared. Research Strategy: It has to be realised that the choice of the method of research that is adopted while conducting any research is of out most importance as it allows for the researcher to develop a directive and holistic paper. In the following dissertation the method of research that has been adopted and implemented is that of qualitative research. The methodology that has been adopted here for practical speculations, and thus it has supported the qualitative methodology has been chosen. In qualitative research the emphasis is given over the varied inquiries. These inquiries crosscut the disciplines and the related subject matters in a very diagnostic way. Qualitative research targets to gather a determined in-depth understanding in relation to the preferences made by human behaviour and all those reasons justify the preferences. It is a process that derives the consequences that results from human behaviour and instincts. It supports the research with reliable reasons that held behind the aspects of selected groups of human behaviours. In a very simple way, qualitative methodology investigates the resources and the results derived from the decision making proceedings for a particular query. The research is based on collected samples that are further categorised as derived data and in peculiar into patterns. These data are the primary basis for deciding over the organising as well as reporting results in reference to the selected research. This paper makes qualitative research a typical kind of foregrounding process for determining the predetermined objectives. Questionnaire: The questionnaire that is prepared will be divided in two parts. The first part of the paper will look into the personal information of those who are being interviewed, while the second half of the question will ask questions pertaining to the details about those who have faced conviction or pre trail intervention. The families of those who have faced this will also be interviewed so as to ensure that a holistic discussion is developed where all the view points of those involved are taken into consideration. The conduction of the questionnaire can also be done through the usage of internet so as to ensure that a wide range of people are reached out to and that through this there is created a all encompassing research. The survey will also try to ensure that those who run these programs such as community services and other pre trail intervention programs are also interviewed so that the view point of the administrative authority is also available for analysis. Limitations of the Research: There has to be realised that no matter what the method of research that is adopted while conducting any study there are always present certain limitations. Thus, it is difficult to conclude that the research that is conducted is 100 percent accurate. This is also the case with the following research paper. The basic drawbacks of the following paper are: The most important drawback that has to be realised is that a limited number of people are interviewed with regards to the study. It is assumed that the view of these people is representative of the population as a whole. Another important drawback of such a study that is conducted is that the area of influence under research is vast and it is impossible to analyse all perspective that is related to this area. Also there has to be realised that there is no method of ensuring that the data that is collected is not biased as the answers of those who have been surveyed will be coloured by their experiences. These are some of the important limitations that are present in the research that has been conducted and therefore a completely unbiased and 100 accurate research paper will be difficult to achieve. Yet there has to be realised that these limitations do not negate the importance of the research conducted, which is still significant as it makes observations about the practical use of the theoretical knowledge of practise sessions. Research Ethics: While conducting any research programs there are certain ethics that have be maintained. Ethics has been described as the appropriateness of behaviour by Sanders (2008). The ethical standard that has been maintained while carrying out this research is in sync with the standards that have been set up by the Northumbria University in its ‘ethics in research and consultancy-policy statement’. The research that has been conducted includes only complying adults who were either 18 years and above and does not include any children. All those who participated knew what the research was being conducted for and where the information was going to be utilised. It does not include any confidential information of any of the participating individuals or groups. Data Analysis: There are a number of cases that have come up in the recent times that look at ensuring that those who have committed a crime are able to make use of the PTI method to ensure that they are able to get away with a minimal amount of intervention from the state. There has to be realised that the role that the PTI was formulated to perform was to help the guilty realise their mistakes and help them ensure that they over come their problems and follow a more virtuous lifestyle. But the study that has been conducted in this paper realise that most of those who make use of these usually are aware of their problems and most of the cases usually have a follow up of crime in the future. There has to be realised that the PTI is now a days used as method by those who are guilty to escape serious punishments. There has been observed that those who are able to pay a decent defendant lawyer usually use this method to help escape justice. Thus, the PTI is now a days being misused by those who cab manipulate the law to find loop holes in the system and over come the legalities of society to achieve their own ends. References: Alexander, J.F. & B.V. Parsons (1973). Short-term behavioral intervention with delinquent families: Impact on family processes and recidivism. Journal of Abnormal Psychology¸ 81(3), 219-225.  Ashley D, Orenstein DM 2005: Sociological theory: Classical statements (6th ed.). Boston, MA, USA: Pearson Education. pp. 239-240. Bullock A, Trombley S (1999), The Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought, London: Harper-Collins, 1999, pp.669-737 Creswell, J.W. (2009). Research design: qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approach. NY: Sage Publications.  Cohen, L, 2007: Research Methods in Education, British Journal of Educational Studies, Vol 55: Part 9 Corden, R.E. (2001). Group discussion and the importance of a shared perspective: Learning from collaborative research. Qualitative Research, 1(3), 347-367 Dembo, R., J. Schmeidler, & W. Wothke (2003). Impact of a Family Empowerment Intervention on Delinquent Behavior: A Latent Growth Model Analysis. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 37(2), 17-41.  Glasersfeld E 1995: Radical Constructivism: A Way of Knowing and Learning. London: Routledge Falmer New Jersey Judicial Court, Pre Trial Interventions, accessed on May 2010-05-28 at http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/criminal/crpti.htm Tate, D.C., N.D. Reppucci, & E.P. Mulvey (1995). Violent Juvenile delinquents: Treatment effectiveness and implications for future action. American Psychologist, 50(9), 777-781. Read More