Education-based incarceration and recidivism

Research paper, 10-12 pages, 10 sources...sounds scary already doesn't it? Well it's not that bad as it seems so relax and breathe :)

First of all you have a great teacher who gives great advice like, DO NOT procrastinate, listen to her!!! She knows what she is talking about!!! My advice is to start thinking about your topic early and do not wait till one of the last weeks of the quarter to start it. Break it up in to pieces and do section by section, this way you will not get too overwhelmed. Jenny will tell you this over and over again so listen. 

I did my research paper on education-based incarceration and its relation to recidivism.If you are interested in this topic a source I highly recommend using is an article by L. McKean & C. Ransford (2004) titled Current strategies for reducing recidivism. In this article they talk about the importance of education and current way for reducing recidivism. This is a really good starting point so goodluck and have fun. It will feel AMAZING once you are done with it :)

Researched Paper CRIM 301 Winter 2012

This research paper has definitely been a challenge. The literature review is an IMPORTANT component of the paper. It is the foundation for the paper and without it, it is very difficult to write the paper. What I wish I had done differently with the paper would have been to find more theories and thinkers about my topic.

1. I recommend asking help from the professor about anything related to writing the paper. She is always available to help and is only an e-mail away.

2. Visiting the University Writing Center is helpful for any difficulty you have with your paper. Make sure to schedule an appointment ahead of time and don't expect to see a tutor before finals week because they are always booked! Also, don't expect the tutor or the professor to help you write the paper. They are there only to help and clarify anything you are having difficulty with.

3. As you write the research paper, do NOT try to write it a week before or even a few days before. Start ahead of time by searching and gathering for your sources.

4. If other students have a topic similar to yours, approach them and ask them about their topic. They most likely can give you ideas for your paper. 

The topic I chose for my researched paper was the factors that lead to prison rape and how it can be best prevented. Most of the books about this topic are available at the library. One of the sources I found helpful was a book called Prison Masculinities. The authors are Sabo, D., Kupers, A., T., & London W. (2001). The book can be found in the school library and the call number is HV 6089 P74.This book was very helpful because it had various chapters that related to rape in prison and masculinity.

Treating Police Stress

            This assignment is the longest paper I have ever written for a class because I had to make sure I evaluated and synthesize my information clearly. It takes a lot of time to complete it. It took me days to finish this assignment not only for trying to analyzing information, but also working on other assignments in my other classes.My research paper is twenty five pages long with the title page and the reference pages. My advice to future students is the following:
1.Once you find a topic that is interesting or relates to your future career in criminal justice and that the professor approves it, get as many sources as you can ASAP. (get an even amount of books and journal articles; also get more than 8 or 10 sources).
2. Get sources that are not too difficult to understand, but not too easy either.
3.Do not slack off for a second because with this research assignment it takes time to read through sources you can use for your paper and analyze it to your own understanding.
4. Always ask the professor for help in the research project or else you will be stressed out.
5. Read all your sources carefully and thoroughly because if you do not understand what the sources are about and why those sources matter, you take a very long time in getting the paper done.
6. You must focus on one part of the research paper a day instead of writing the whole paper in one setting.
7. Relax and be patience in finding and analyzing your sources because if you understand the source, you can apply it in your research paper clearly.
8. Always email the professor like crazy to get feedback on the content of your paper.
           I wish I had more patience in analyzing my sources for my research project because I got worried of not submitting the paper on time and I had to make time to work on other assignments for my other classes. I will admit I am proud of choosing the topic on treating police stress because I plan on being a police officer and I found it to be appropriate topic since I myself am stressed from working on this paper. I hope to learn how to relax a little by learning different types of solutions of treating stress like coping skills(mediation, diet, exercise, etc.) to prepare myself to be a police officer. My research question was "what are the best ways to treat police stress? I found lots of solutions like individual coping skills, a police hotline, and stress management training. One of the most useful sources I used was Police stress: history, contributing factors, symptoms, and interventions by Judith A. Waters and William Ussery (2007). This source can be found in the Cal State LA library website and click on articles. Then find the criminal justice proquest database and type in keywords police stress and law enforcement. Finally, click on the fourth selection called Police stress: history, contributing factors, symptoms, and interventions by Judith A. Waters and William Ussery (2007). In general, you can find sources for police stress or any other topic in criminal justice at databases like crim. justice proquest or EBSCO Crim. Justice Abstracts with Full Text. Once you go through the databases mentioned type in keywords of your topic specifically in what area you will be looking at like treatments, stress, law enforcement. Overall, good luck in this class you guys will need it for the workload, but I can get guarantee that the professor will be very helpful and take advantage of her kind and understanding personality, but make sure you put in effort in her class and you will be rewarded with a good/passing grade.

There are only a several pieces of advise to give. First, make sure that you structure your paper well enough and far in advance. This way when the clock is almost to zero you will have the proper tool that just might save you. Second, make sure that all of your articles are capable of fitting nicely with your paper. I had to revise my selections several times while reading/writing everything. Lastly, start way in advance! If you don't you'll be stuck in the library typing on page five when class starts in twenty minutes.

My topic is the evolution of the Fourth Amendment, and how the progression of the court has changed jurisprudence. The most useful source that I found was an older peer review article from 1986. The evolution of consent search law by Kappeler, V. E., & Vaughn, J. B. I found this most useful because of the knowledge and insight given regarding not only consent searches but the Fourth Amendment in general. Finding this source as well as any other source is fairly easy. Just by going to the CSULA website and clicking on the library link the steps to finding an article are drawn out right there. However, if you have any issues or problems the library personal are always there to help.

My topic is on police suicide, and I wanted to know what is the best methods in preventing police suicide. I found this to be a difficult topic because not enough studies have been conducted to prove what methods have actually work, so I ended up changing my thesis. The hard part in writing the literature review was trying to make a connection with all the sources and how to piece them together. You just have to skim through them over and over until you find some connection, if not, then you just have to go do more research and find a different source. Another hard part about the literature review for me was finding the theories. The theories were not really mention so I had to look through a few psychology books that deal with suicide. I recommend looking at this book,  Shneidman, E. (1985). Definition of Suicide. New York: John Wily & Sons, Inc. It start talking about the different theories on page 30 if you ever want to do a literature review on police suicide. 

Wrongful Conviction through Eyewitness Testimony

I enjoyed doing a research on how eyewitness testimony can help or break a case. I was shocked to find out how many suspects have been wrongfully convicted and in some cases sentences were the death penalty. The research made me question why does the criminal justice system rely so heavily in eyewitness testimony. After so much research on the subject the problems I had were how to put the paper together. Every night I have stayed up late trying to make sure everyday I fix my errors. The main problem I had was the literature review because some articles had up to 7 authors and in one I could not find any information about.
Main articles I found where Scholarly Journals and the Innocence Project website can help with ideas on why eyewitness error occurs and what is being done to fix a broken system. One of the books I strongly recommend is The Innocence Commission, Preventing Wrongful Convictions and Restoring the Criminal Justice System, and A Tripartite Solution To Eyewitness Error. The readings discuss how can the system be reformed in order to help the innocent who are convicted.



P.S. I strongly suggest to take advantage of the 3 appointments per week the writing center allows. If it was not for the writing center I think I would have not finished my paper.

For me, this assignment was complex by far. Take it from a student who is 6 classes away from graduating and has never written a paper longer than five pages nor a literature review. I would not call this assignment a piece of cake. I think more so it was the idea of failing the assignment as well as my professor that held me back. My advice would be to maintain that self encouragement and motivation. Get as much help as possible, and choose a topic where the research is easy to obtain. My topic was the effects of juveniles being tried as adults. I would recommend using this article, Prosecuting Juveniles in Adult Court: The Practitioner's Perspective By:Patricia Allard, JD and Malcolm C. Young, JD You can find it on Proquest through the school library system. It is a wonderful article because not only does it discuss the prosecution side, but it also discusses the negative effects being tried as an adult has on children. Good luck in this class and on your paper, you have a wonderful teacher so take advantage of that.