Policy Research: Applying Social Science to Solve Problems - Research Paper

Introduction

Policy research is a research of social science which does not include university groups or students as their planned audience or target audience. Still, the study may be including an academic audience. The goals and targets of policy research are the application of social scientific discoveries to solving problems that have been pointed out by a client. Policymakers don't always know what kind of policies are perfect for every given circumstance, hence for them to make the right and ideal decisions they need to acquire evidence (Narayan, 2000). Purposes and types of policies within the field of criminal justice

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In the field of justice, several purposes are served by the policy. The criminal justice operation systems are guided by the overall structure that is provided by the policies. The implementation of the plan in the order of criminal justice are held up by polices. To the individuals that work in the criminal justice systems, these policies help them in having the knowledge and understanding the roles, duties and functions of their work as well as fully understanding the outcomes of every action. Having this in mind the characters, behaviors and decisions of the employees are determined or guided by the policies as well as ensuring they are morally upright and ensure that they follow and obey rules in the decision making processes(Narayan, 2000). Reliability is ensured by the policies, and also individuals can be trustworthy as well as trusting others in the field of criminal justice in the line of duty. The policies also act as governors that control and restrict behaviors of employees by limitations, especially those that have an interest in criminal justice. This leads to fairness and honesty as also prevents bias as the rules and regulations are followed to the maximum. The policies govern not only the employees dealing with criminal justice but also the criminals themselves by helping in detecting, preventing and also reacting to the behaviors and conducts of the criminals by the organizations in that field. Another very crucial role that the policies have is giving the organizations that deal with criminals the power to conduct their process and functioning of the duties that are beneath them. Without the policies, the organizations would not be functioning as required, and there would be limitations in efficiency and morals would be degraded or defiled(Narayan, 2000).

In the criminal field of justice, policies play a preeminent role in the functions of all its operations. Being very crucial, there are several different sets of strategies that the institutions use in their day to day governance. They are;

The politics and criminal justice policy; in this policy, beliefs can be divided into conservatives and liberals. In the liberals, the politics are focused on the freedom of individuals, the rights of the constitution and the significance of the due process in law. Another main focus of the liberals is how the government can ensure that there is equality in society and that everybody is treated right as well as the ability of problem-solving (Doble, 2013). The beliefs of the liberals are to better the community as they believe the government should advocate for disadvantaged people and criminals should be rehabilitated as a way of punishment which is very different from the conservatives who see the criminals as individuals who had a choice in their actions and them should be punished in the eye to eye manner. The conservatives believe in traditional values and ways and do not depend mostly on government values. The conservatives also think and believe that there is a justification for the political and economic inequalities(Doble, 2013). The two groups have a different way of thinking and doing things towards the policies of the criminal justice

Stand your ground policy; this policy exists in only twenty-four states in the whole country, and it states that individual has the right to protect themselves against attacks in their homes. The law also goes by the name castle doctrine.

Crime prevention policies which state that crime is not accepted in the society and the purpose of the policy is to ensure that there is a reduction of the later. Some approaches and strategies are proposed, experimented and executed to make sure that crime is being reduced in the society under this policy. The policy also protects the police by granting them freedom in the line of duty, and they are expected to act in a way that they feel is right after rational thinking and evaluation of a situation(Doble, 2013). This freedom is under new crime prevention policies.

Relationship Between Research and Policy Development

Research and policy development work closely together, and each one of them influences each other. Policy development and research have a huge role in shaping decisions and policy evolution. Planning and policy in criminal justice are an upright and straight forward organization. The field of their operation are areas that deal with ethical questions such as what is right and what is wrong, also what accounts for justice or not, and even the administration of independent authority, blame and potential (Khara, 2016). Built-in social and ethical implications language is used in the social policy like the social isolation, delinquency, criminals, and factors of environmental criminogenic, individuals and dysfunctions of the community. The theories of criminology have their centre of attention in the causes of poverty and crime that are either societal or personal (Khara, 2016).

Political research is illustrative, systematic and involves temporary practices as well as providing answers. New and existing policy programs are evaluated, which leads to finding the best practice as well as being able to measure the changes in the society, and the large scale modelling basis projections are ready to be developed(Khara, 2016).

Examples of How Research Can Assist Policymakers by Informing Their Policy Decisions

Policy decisions are made from the research that is provided by the world, and it should be relevant, valid and of the highest quality. A high-level group for research in LERU, the officials of the European Commission and the policymakers of EU, tried to gather knowledge about what and what does not perform in the policy field when research is being pulled (Michel, 2017). Geoffrey Bouton, who is the vice president of Edinburgh University and also is a former chairperson of the LERU research institution committee made a statement saying that in the ventures that we occupy ourselves in, in making sure that research is employed to make sure that there is good governance(Michel, 2017). The task is more challenging ad shady than it looks at first because it is not usually that science can give out definite, expressive or specific answers and that what the researchers are always looking for. That kind of information makes policymakers to make the right decisions. Science is also trying to create a different view of how we have seen the world, and at that time that the researchers think that they have understood their case of study science again changes things(Michel, 2017). Proper research and one of quality product information and knowledge that policymakers can use in making their decisions. The study has to understand the past, now and the future. Proper research should have foresight because some significant investigations have taken and can take a very long time to get a solution and for most of them to have successful investments have to be made early. Communication is very crucial in any research because with bad communication then one cannot be able to get the required information from the sources and also there should be a very good timing in doing research in order to be able to tap the opportunity of acquiring information that is required to make good policies(Michel, 2017).

To get the right evidence required to make perfect decisions, there is the importance to perform research and collect local data. The collection of data and thorough research helps the policymakers to be at the top level of efficiency and have the right knowledge about how to respond to matters on the ground. The role of research is to help in gathering knowledge and information that is very crucial in solving problems and also making important decisions and policies(Michel, 2017). The main reason to perform research is to find a solution for a challenge, and the centre of attention is to apply research that is used for making decisions for the public policy.

Two Examples of Policies That Were Developed Within the Past Ten Years That Resulted From Research Within the Field of Criminal Justice

One of the policies that have been implemented within the time range is the Obama drug policy, the policy was implemented by the former president of united states of America because he believed that the Americans citizens should be energetic with skills and expertise but all that potential was facing limitations due to the drug usage in the country which leads to jeopardy in the community, individuals and also families (Harris, 2016). The policy was aimed at reducing drug usage in the country. Another policy was the California criminal justice experiment which has been performed in the criminal justice in California the policy is done to help in reducing the overcrowded state facilities by transporting various groups of inmates in the county(Harris, 2016). The criminal policies that were being done in the past were only leaving the state prisons with very high numbers of inmates and from 2011 when the policy was put into work there have been tremendous changes that have led to reduction of congestion and better treatment, betterment of facilities and better operations in these state facilities(Harris, 2016). The California criminal justice experiment as done as research to the state facilities and the prisons to see what the changes can do in the criminal justice. The Obama drug policy was from the results of research that had been done on the American states about the drug usage in the country. Data had been collected in the hospital and rehabilitation centers that showed that drug usage was very high in the country. In the case of California prisons, the data was raised in the county prisons through research (Harris, 2016).

References

Doble, J. (2013). Attitudes to punishment in the US-punitive and liberal opinions. In Changing attitudes to punishment (pp. 166-180). Willan.

Frau-Meigs, D., Velez, I., & Michel, J. F. (Eds.). (2017). Public policies in media and information literacy in Europe: cross-country comparisons. Taylor & Francis.

Khara, T. (2016). The relationship between wasting and stunting: policy, programming and research implications. Field Exchange 50, 23.

Welsh, W. N., & Harris, P. W. (2016). Criminal justice policy and planning: Planned change. Routledge.

Woolcock, M., & Narayan, D. (2000). Social capital: Implications for development theory, research, and policy. The world bank research observer, 15(2), 225-249.