The document discusses the criminal justice system and issues related to high incarceration rates. It notes that criminal justice comprises law enforcement, courts, and corrections that work to enforce laws and protect citizens. It also discusses research questions on factors driving high conviction rates and the role of the criminal justice system. Other concepts discussed include ethics in law enforcement, substance abuse in prisons, criminal justice policies, and using former offender narratives to prevent crime.

1. Running Head: CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
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CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
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Research Questions
High incarceration rates are my research issue in criminal
justice. Criminal justice comprises law enforcement agencies
that include police, courts, and correctional services. Each of
these parties has delegated roles to play in ensuring that citizens
adhere to the law; they are protected, offenders are arrested, and
prevent the possibility of people engaging in crimes (Telep,
2016). The criminal justice system has established processes
that are established by the governments that control crime and
enforce penalties on the people who violate the law. Therefore
researching it engages in facilitating more thoughts and insights
into the sector by enhancing more education into criminal
justice studies.
There is the use of empirical research methods that are being

2. used in determining the phenomena that affect the
criminologists. The study furthers the criminal justice studies
with both qualitative and quantitative research in evaluating the
issues facing the sector. The education for the criminal justice
parties interests me as I would like to understand the training
offered to the people in the sector. The knowledge, they are
provided within ensuring that they delegate their duties
effectively and with great professionalism (Annie, 2020). The
sector carries a large number of people who are crucial in
ensuring that the laws provided by the Constitution are adhered
to by citizens. There is a need for criminal justice to be
improved to facilitate more insights on getting better methods
for enhancing law adherence.
Another concept that relates to my issue of high rates of
imprisonment is ethical practices in the sector. Law enforcers
need to portray integrity and honesty in delivering their
obligations to ensure that the conviction process does not favor
particular individuals. The law enforcers' integral values need
to be examined to ensure that people who are alleged to have
broken the law are brought to justice through clear and concrete
evidence (Heaton and Tong, 2016). The law enforcers should
not engage in unlawful activities that cover up crimes for
influential people in the society in the event of breaking the
law. Ethics should facilitate the conduct of the criminal justice
system in reducing imprisonment rates.
The issue of substance abuse that has increased in correctional
facilities pose a major threat to the obligation of criminal
justice protecting the public. This issue relates to the increase
in conviction rates as the correctional facilities have failed to
restrict the use of illegal drugs. The cases of heroin use in
prisons may be a factor to consider in evaluating the increase in
rates of conviction (Tilley and Laycock, 2018). The criminal
justice system need to facilitate avenues that can be used to
reduce the rates and come up with accurate research for
interviewing and assessing the correctional facilities to ensure
compliance with the law.

3. Policy-making in criminal justice is another concept that relates
to the research interest. The making of policies determines the
ability of criminal justice to exercise its duties according to the
law. The absence of strong policies that govern criminal justice
hinders effective carrying out of operations of the sector. This
compromises the issues related to justice delivery as the major
elements lack the mandate and resources that can facilitate the
achievement of justice (Bowers et al. 2017). The increase in
high incarceration rates may be founded on the inadequacy of
relevant policies set for the department to practice justice.
When there are weak policies, criminal justice is weak and
unable to exercise their jurisdiction effectively.
Criminal justice should incorporate the use of people who had
been convicted and later released to help prevent crime. The
police can benefit from the narrations by the parties to note the
various ways in which crimes occur (Chapman, 2016). The
police can use the narratives to influence the people towards
adhering to the laws as they will have the idea of the
consequences of breaking the law. The concept relates to the
incarceration rate as it facilitates criminal justice with
knowledge of methods of gathering data that is useful in crime
prevention. The police are able to get knowledge of the
information that underlies criminal activities that they did not
have knowledge about.
I would develop these research questions to help focus on a high
incarceration rate, which is my topic. What do you think are the
major drives that are responsible for the high conviction rates in
the country and on global grounds? What comes to mind when
you hear high incarceration rates in the country and globally? Is
the criminal justice system to blame for the high incarceration
rates in the country? From your answer, why do you think so?
What do you think or propose the criminal justice should do to
prevent crime and foster adherence of the law?
If I was to do a literature review, I would choose my topic,
which is a high incarceration rate. I would engage in evaluating
the available reviews on the topic. I would strategically isolate

4. the variables that I find most appealing and important to the
topic. I would derive the major challenges that have been
recorded in the past using data from my country and from other
countries to increase my scope of knowledge. Then I would
generate a conceptual framework.
The open-ended questions that I would ask the willing
participants in the project would help me gather more
information about the topic. I would develop these open-ended
questions for the participants. What is criminal justice in your
view? How has criminal justice increased the crime rates in
your locality? What do you think can be done to improve the
criminal justice system? Who do you think is to blame for high
incarceration rates, and what reasons do you have for your
answer? How credible do you think criminal justice is in
preventing crime rates? What aspects would you introduce into
the criminal justice system to ensure that it functions with
integrity and honesty? What do you think are the barriers to
effective exercising of duties of criminal justice? What do you
think of using ex-offender narratives by police to prevent
crime? What changes would you suggest to reduce the
incarceration rate?

5. References
Annie, S. (2020, January 8). The Purpose of Learning Research
in Criminal Justice. Retrieved from
https://legalbeagle.com/6201020-purpose-learning-research-
criminal-justice.html
Bowers, K., Tompson, L., Sidebottom, A., Bullock, K., &
Johnson, S. D. (2017). Reviewing evidence for evidence-based
policing. In Advances in evidence-based policing (pp. 98-116).
Routledge. Retrieved from:
https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1556768/1/Bowers%20et%2
0al%202017%20Reviewing%20evidence%20for%20EBP.pdf
Chapman, B. (2016). Research on the Impact of Technology on
Policing Strategy in the 21st Century. Retrieved
from: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/251140.pdf
Heaton, R., & Tong, S. (2016). Evidence-based policing: from
effectiveness to cost-effectiveness. Policing: a journal of policy
and practice, 10(1), 60-70. Retrieved from
https://doi.org/10.1093/police/pav030
Telep, C. W. (2016). Expanding the scope of evidence-based
policing. Criminology & Pub. Pol'y, 15, 243. Retrieved
from: https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.jou
rnals/crpp15&div=24&id=&page=
Tilley, N., & Laycock, G. (2018). Developing a knowledge base
for crime prevention: lessons learned from the British
experience. Crime Prevention and Community Safety, 20(4),
228-242. doi:10.1057/s41300-018-0053-8