Criminal justice paper

Objective: Students are to locate, download, and summarize six peer-reviewed journal articles
based on one topic. This should be one of the three topics from Writing Assignment 2. Four of
these articles must be empirical, one must be a review, and one must be a position. Each
summary is at least one page long. Minimum page length: six pages or at least one page per
summary. Feel free to write more. Include a bibliography page in APA format in addition to
writing at least six pages.

he foundation of any field within the social sciences rests upon its ability to produce valid and
reliable empirical data. Empirical data is that gathered in the real world through interviews,
surveys, observations, content analyses, and a host of others methods to collect information.
Such data is often published in what are referred to as peer-reviewed journals. This means that an
article has been previously read by a panel of (often) three noted professionals in the field. This
panel verifies the methodology and findings of the research, and then offers recommendations to
the editor to accept or reject the paper. Most papers submitted are rejected. Often, when papers
are accepted, they are done so on the condition that a series of edits be made. Papers are only
accepted for publication as articles in journals after all edits and other conditions have been
accepted by the panel and the editor.
Students within the School of Criminal Justice and Criminalistics will be expected to be able to
locate, download, and summarize peer-reviewed journal articles. These articles come in three
general types: empirical articles, review articles, and position articles.
Empirical articles – When the author(s) of the paper produce an original analysis and discussion
of a particular topic or data set. For instance, a researcher is interested in the extent that gang
members experience violence and interviews 60 of them throughout Los Angeles and reports on
her findings. Empirical articles may also analyze the extent an intervention is effective (e.g.
studies examining ‘what we do’ about crime in general or certain crimes), or how many
minorities are incarcerated on drug charges compared to whites (e.g. studies examining
conviction rates). This is the most common type of article that students will be expected to
obtain.
Review articles – When the author(s) of the paper examine previously published data. Here,
they might summarize other researchers’ findings and offer recommendations. The point here is
that the authors do not collect original data or conduct any original analysis, but rather ‘review’
what other researchers produced. The key word here is ‘original analysis.’ If the authors of a
paper use another data set (i.e. one they did not collect), but then produce their own analysis of
that data, that would be an empirical article.
Position articles – When the author(s) of the paper state their opinion about a certain topic.
Often these topics are related to policies (e.g. what is the most effective way to tackle gangs?).
These papers are normally short 5-10 pages and appear towards the beginning of the journal. The
journals Criminology and Public Policy and Criminal Justice Policy Review have many of these
types of articles.
How to spot the difference? In most cases, the name of the article or the abstract gives away the
type of article. If the title, for instance, says something like ‘A partial test of social learning
theory towards explaining gang delinquency’, then this is a strong clue that the article is an
empirical one. What gives it away here is the idea that the author(s) are testing a particular
theory. If the title of the paper does not reveal anything, go to the abstract. Here, if you see
numbers, the likelihood is that the article is an empirical one. These numbers likely represent
people or locations (or gangs) that are part of the data. Look also for phrases like ‘we tested’ or
2
‘we examined the extent that [x] could be explained by [y]’. Those are also likely empirical
articles. If the abstract has the phrases ‘we review previous studies’ and the like, then it is
probably a review article.
Not all articles are peer-reviewed. This means that what the authors say and how they collect
data have not been verified by a panel of other experts and professionals. Generally speaking,
students want to avoid these types of articles. A major reason is that such information might not
be true. Articles published on websites can be particularly troubling as anyone can essentially
say anything – regardless of how true or current the information might be. Websites with the
word ‘wiki’ in their name (as in Wikipedia) have been proven to supply false information (There
was an empirical study done on this. You can look it up!). Again, avoid using such information
when constructing your work (e.g. papers, reflection exercises, projects, writing assignments,
posters, presentations).

Major journals in the field of criminal justice
Criminology (this is the #1 journal in our field!)
Criminology & Public Policy
Journal of Research in Crime & Delinquency
Crime & Delinquency
Juvenile Justice
Deviant Behavior
Social Problems
Justice Quarterly
Journal of Criminal Justice
The British Journal of Criminology
Crime & Justice
Criminal Justice Policy Review
Journal of Quantitative Criminology
Journal of International Criminal Justice
Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice
Homicide Studies
Violence and Victims
3
Journal of Interpersonal Violence
Substance Use and Misuse
Criminal Justice and Behavior
Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology
Police Quarterly
American Journal of Sociology
The Prison Journal
International Criminal Justice Review
Punishment & Society
Crime, Law, & Social Change
European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research
Howard Journal of Criminal Justice
Law & Society Review
European Journal of Criminology
Crime, Media, Culture
Probation Journal
Current Issues in Criminal Justice
Journal of Experimental Criminology
Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology
Journal of Ethnicity in Substance Use
Drug and Alcohol Dependence
Addiction
Journal of Substance Use
Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment
International Journal on Drug Policy
Addictive Behaviors
Journal of Studies on Alcohol
Alcohol and Alcoholism
Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs
The field of criminal justice is a hodgepodge of sociology, psychology, law, public health, and
political science. Empirical data relevant to criminal justice can also be found in journals from
these fields.

here's an example of how the assignment should look like

Bankston’s (1998) review essay examines the new second generation of youth gangs.
The article is on immigration to the United States after 1965 and in relation to how immigrant
communities gave rise to criminal street gangs. The author discusses some of the major
theoretical trends to youth gangs after 1965. The three broad themes that he focuses on are
opportunity structure, cultural approaches, and social disorganization.
The first concept explored was opportunity structure. In general, this refers to a lack of
job opportunities for unskilled labor. As a result of being unable to find jobs, youth and young
adults form gangs. Selling drugs was one such opportunity that youth gang members engaged
in. Robbery, extortion and theft were others. Certain gangs were offered certain opportunity to
participate in certain types of money-generating crimes.
The second concept addressed were cultural approaches. Cultural approaches refers to
the development to certain cultural traits that enable gang members to adapt to particular
situations. It also looks at the role of culture within gangs. Chicano gangs for instance, were well
established within the community by 1965 that often involve families throughout generations.
Moreover, Asian gangs might have been impacted by the cultural pattern of adult organized
crime. A final cultural characteristic explored is how certain gang traits transcend race and are
employed by gang youth from various ethnicities and nationalities.
The third and final concept examined is social disorganization. Here, gangs emerge in
relation to the collapse of social institutions due quick changes in society. Such change includes
people moving in and out and a lack of stability in such institutions. Moreover, disagreement on
cultural values from people from different cultural backgrounds hinders social organization.