The Effects of Plagiarism in Criminal Justice and Security Management - Term Paper Example

?The Effects of Plagiarism in Criminal Justice and Security Management Writing and Research Introduction Plagiarism is an issue that continues to beset the academic community. It is clear that the failure to address this in a manner that would absolutely eradicate it has led to plagiarism being committed even by professionals. However, it is in the academe that it must be addressed first. It is necessary for students to recognize it not just as plain cheating but as something more serious. Plagiarism, after all, is not just an act committed by a student in order to pass his subjects. It results in the establishment of obstacles to learning, which is essentially a violation of his own rights. At the same time, it also introduces him to the act of stealing intellectual property, which is a violation of other’s rights. Therefore, plagiarism has a serious effect not just on the person who owns the ideas or the verbal formulation but also on the plagiarist as well. It is ironic but it is also in an academic setting that an individual is encouraged to plagiarize. Of course, it is not the instructors who do the encouraging but the conditions of the academe itself. When there are so many books and other references available, the individual does have the tendency to rely on these instead of creatively formulating original concepts and putting these into words. The student could copy ideas and to reformulate these when expressed so that it would appear original. The worst that could be done though is to directly and lazily lift entire sentences or lines and use these as if it is the student’s own by not mentioning the source at all. This is the same problem that is encountered in the field of criminal justice and security management writing and research. The failure to cite the original sources of ideas could create the impression that the individuals who use these freely are the ones who developed these and, therefore, deserve credit. With plagiarism, efforts at in-depth and unique analyses of issues in criminal justice and security management would essentially suffer in terms of quality. Both criminal justice and security management are subjects that are supposed to evolve as cases arise and become the bases for new laws and rulings by the courts. Observations of practices in the said areas are supposed to be evaluated and raised to the level of theories. However, plagiarism results in just the citing of what has been pointed out by others previously without even putting this in context with unique and actual circumstances. As a consequence, the development of the criminal justice system and its corresponding security management is curbed or slackened. Plagiarism: Definitions and Motivations Plagiarism is not just the simple act of copying a portion of someone’s written work and making it appear original. The plagiarist’s main violation here is not theft of words but of the idea. Apparently, it is when one steals an idea that the theft of the verbal formulation also becomes obvious. Nevertheless, it is the stealing of the idea that makes plagiarism a serious offense. In the academe, it is serious because it is basically an assault on principle of honesty in learning. The student is expected to perform well by using his intellectual faculties. If he just copies, he definitely does not use these. However, it must also be pointed out that the books and other educational reading materials, as well as the instruction provided by the professors may indeed influence the student as he tries to develop concepts. These do not necessarily result to plagiarism though. What could result in plagiarism is when the author, intentionally or not, does not cite the sources of the ideas that he may want to articulate. Laurie Stearns consider this as an inability to creatively present unoriginal ideas according to one’s interpretation (1999, p. 7). It is obvious that one does not have to create original ideas even in the subjects of criminal justice and security management. He could cite the ideas of others and try to infuse his own concepts into these. However, he should also see to it that he credits the sources of his ideas. Otherwise, he could be accused of plagiarism. An excuse may be raised that the omission in identifying the source may be done inadvertently but as a student or a professional, one is expected to be always modest and honest enough to give credit to those whose ideas or words are cited. Plagiarism is committed intentionally for a number of reasons; all of which benefits the plagiarist himself. These motivations may be the categorized into four and all of these are applicable in the fields of criminal justice and security management. A student may commit plagiarism with the clear intention of obtaining the desired grades and fulfill academic requirements. On the part of the teacher, it is absolutely necessary to check whether the plagiarism committed is intentional. This is because intention is essentially the basis for declaring a paper plagiarized or not (Sutherland-Smith, p.25). Outside the academic context, the motivations for plagiarism are monetary, profession-related, and reputational. All three could be the reason why an individual who has a career in criminal justice and security management would commit plagiarism. When pursuing an argument in the court of criminal justice, for example, one may attempt use precedents and court rulings as though these are his ideas by not citing the sources. This could be considered as plagiarism. For a professional, committing plagiarism is not just motivated by the desire of winning an argument or earning monetary benefits; it is also possible that one’s reputation is at stake. If plagiarism is not discovered, one can certainly take advantage of it to build up his reputation in a profession. Plagiarism in Criminal Justice and Security Management Writing and Research Plagiarism is a problem that has been recurring in the fields of study in criminal justice and security management. It is very clear that there are sizable number of students that continue to practice this as they try to complete academic requirements such as thesis papers, researches, and even dissertations. On the part of the professors, the task of evaluating the quality of such written works has been made more burdensome since they also need the check whether the content is plagiarized or not. Regardless of what academic course a student is attempting to complete, an act of plagiarism definitely has an impact on his studies and reputation. However, when plagiarism is committed in a branch of social science such as criminal justice, the effects are not just on the individual but on society as well. McCarthy et al have raised the point that the researches in this particular field of study has the possibility of contributing to the shaping of policies in criminal justice and, consequently, of the attitudes of the practitioners of criminal justice (2012, p.351). It is therefore clear that any plagiarized content may play a major role in policy-making, which is essentially an occurrence that should be avoided. Apparently, the plagiarists may intend to strengthen their arguments, theses, or theories by eclectically using ideas that are not originally theirs. The ultimate result is a distortion or revision of the original concept in order to make it suitable to their respective frameworks. Criminal justice and security management researchers are expected to cherish and give importance to their responsibility towards society. Their work always has an impact on society because whatever findings or conclusions that they may develop as a result of their studies could lay the bases for the formulation of laws and other state policies when it comes to crime prevention as well as the prosecution of those who have committed violations or offenses. Negligence on the part of the researchers may result in policies and laws that may not be as effective in crime prevention and prosecution. The worst that could happen would be the formulation of those that may be detrimental to the well-being of society and its people. It is important for criminal justice researchers to always bear in mind that they should not only be diligent in collecting data that would serve their purposes and in gathering concepts from published sources. It is also their ethical obligation to divulge their sources in all honesty. The objective of which is not just to give credit to the sources but also for others to confirm the veracity of the information or concepts presented. It is normal for conclusions of every academic paper to be subjected to scrutiny and debates. Misquoting, misrepresenting ideas, and wittingly or unwittingly failing to cite the sources would not be favorable to healthy debate. It is a deplorable fact that most researchers who commit dishonesty and plagiarism are those who are younger and not the older or more experienced ones (Ellis et al 2010, p.376). This can be attributed to two possible factors that are related to juvenile tendencies and academic immaturity. Young researchers, especially students, are usually motivated by grades when they work on their papers. Because of this, they may not be as determined as those individuals who do criminal justice research as part of their profession. As a result they could easily be tempted to plagiarize for as long as they would be able to complete their papers in time and without having to go through the complications of processing a research with good quality. For those who may be actually serious in their research though, it is possible that the lack of experience may be the root cause for the urge to commit plagiarism. Unlike those who have been professionally conducting researches and writing the results into consolidated reports complete with analysis, they may not be able to easily come up with the best ideas regarding the methods that could be used when confronted with obstacles and problems. As they develop in an academic setting, however, young researchers should acquire more skills in gathering materials and improve their capability to evaluate and analyze these. At the same time, they should also enhance their writing skills. Ultimately, limitations such as lack of training and inexperience would no longer serve as excuses for plagiarism. When already in an actual professional setting in the field of criminal justice and security management, plagiarism is no longer caused by mere inadequacies in capabilities but rather by non-adherence to ethical responsibilities. It is easy to attribute plagiarized writing to poor research. What is meant by poor research here is the inability of the individual to fully comprehend the essence of the information that he has obtained and to express this in writing using his own words. Unless the writer has been able to absorb the meaning of the data or the written or oral statements made by resource persons, there is always the tendency to inappropriately use the same words as the original. While this may not be totally avoided, the writer should, at least cite the sources to make it clear that the ideas he has mentioned are not his or the data he is presenting comes from another research or survey. On the part of the readers, the citations would definitely be an added advantage because these would allow them to conduct further studies by already reading the references. For instance, in criminal justice, proper citations do not just credit the origins of concepts or information. These also point out to the readers the possible study materials that they may use if they wish to further delve on the topic through simple cross-referencing or by actually reading the sources. In this regard, the development of new theories in criminal justice and security management would continue. Citations in a criminal justice research paper are like portals to other materials that discuss criminal laws and other related subjects. The absence of such citations would deprive the reader access to other materials that could bolster his understanding of the subject. Plagiarism, on the other hand, would just mislead him and may even lead to regression instead of academic development. The studies in security management are supposed to bring about continuous improvements. When researches are made, these usually have the intention of describing present realities in the practice of crime prevention and prosecution. In order to achieve accuracy in this regard, it is not enough that data is gathered from secondary sources. Actually, secondary sources, being product of previous researches are definitely not updated and, therefore, are less accurate. The serious researcher would proceed to gather data from the field through surveys and interviews. As a result, the data collected is clearly not copied. If an analysis would be made based on the collected data, it would surely be one that is original also. Under this circumstance, the possibility of plagiarism is not very high. Plagiarism occurs when ideas are copied from others. Since such ideas are definitely not based on the actual conditions that the researcher has encountered, these may not be absolutely anchored on objectivity. Because of this, the researcher or the writer does not only commit dishonesty or plagiarism. He also has the tendency to present subjective or erroneous concepts. The implication of this tendency to security management could be very serious. As mentioned earlier, researches can influence policy-makers. Therefore, erroneous conclusions in security management and criminal justice researches could lead to the creation of laws and policies that would turn out to be fruits of questionable concepts or principles. While plagiarism may be a serious issue in criminal justice studies, it should not be considered as a mere violation of rules in the academic setting. Oftentimes, a plagiarist in the academe is often penalized for violating school rules and regulations on the matter. Such treatment would consequently create a mindset among students that plagiarism is wrong because the school administration and the faculty say it is. The handbooks usually do not articulate much on the philosophy behind the rules, which is why the students would not be able to fully grasp the essence of the ‘do’s’ and ‘dont’s.’ This kind of mindset does not instill in the students ethical principles but rather the fear of being caught violating the rules. Therefore, the more daring of the student population may still continue to commit plagiarism but would just do so in the most inconspicuous manner. Teachers are not supposed to only tell students about the rules. They are supposed to explain why such rules exist and what the implications of violations are. Sutherland-Smith points out that the students understanding of plagiarism is often affected by how teachers educate them about it (2008, p.31). If teachers simply instill fear, the students only have to overcome fear in order to commit plagiarism. However, if the teachers educate the students about the implications of plagiarism to themselves, to others, and to society as a whole, then the conviction to avoid it is much greater. Conclusion Plagiarism is clearly not an issue of violating rules only, whether in an academic or professional setting. It is far more serious than that because it is an ethical issue. To plagiarize is to show disdain to ethics. In criminal justice, ethics is sacred and it must be upheld always by all professionals who working in its system. In all aspects of professional activity under the criminal justice system, there are ethical considerations that must always be promoted, from practice of discretion and the use of force in apprehending criminals to their prosecution while ensuring always that their rights to due process are respected (Banks 2004, p.4). A plagiarist in the academe or even in the criminal justice profession definitely has the tendency to commit other more serious unethical actions. This is essentially the worst implication that plagiarism has on criminal justice. References Banks, C. (2004). Criminal Justice Ethics: Theory and Practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Ellis, L., Hartley, D., and Walsh, A. (2010). Research Methods in Criminal Justice and Criminology: An Interdisciplinary Approach. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. McCarthy, B., Davis, R. and Bush, M. (2012). Ethics and Criminal Justice Research. In M. Braswell, B. McCarthy, and B. McCarthy (Eds.), Justice, Crime, and Ethics. Boston, MA: Elsevier. Stearns, L. (1999). Copy Wrong: Plagiarism, Process, Property, and the Law. In L. Buranen and A. Roy (Ed.), Perspectives on Plagiarism and Intellectual Property in a Postmodern World. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. Sutherland-Smith, W. (2008). Plagiarism, The Internet, and Student Learning: Improving Academic Integrity. New York, NY: Routledge. Read More