Policing Mentally Disordred Suspects (Research Paper Sample)

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Re-examination of the Criminalization Hypothesis
* What did research conducted prior to Engel and Silver (2001) find regarding the relationship between mental disorder and arrest
The research conducted before Engel and silver (2001), reveals that the contact between mentally disordered citizens and the police was limited. More recently, several policy changes have been made to improve and increase contact between mentally disordered citizens and police (225). However, police are often called to handle the disturbing or bizarre behavior of the citizens who are mentally disordered, in way that is acceptable to the community or public at large. Teplin and Pruett (1992) notes that there are two legal policies that govern the police while dealing with mentally disordered citizens (225). One is the power of the police, their duty to offer protection to the public by getting rid of dangerous people from the society. Two, they have a duty to help people who cannot help themselves. This requires police to remove and arrest suspects found with felony offenses regardless of the mental condition of the suspects. Another research (Banton, 1964; Bittner, 1967b) indicates that police personnel perform dual tasks as "peace officers" and "law officers" encompassed handling of the mentally disordered citizens (226).
* What is the hypothesis that Engel and Silver Are testing
Engel and Silver are testing the hypothesis of criminalization, which is based on the assumption that the police personnel solve encounters with suspects that are mentally disordered in an appropriate way (225). Using the previous studies on police behavior, the relationship between possible use of arrest of mentally disordered citizens and the police will help to test and validate this hypothesis.
* Is this a micro or macro level Research? Explain why
This research is macro level. This is mainly because of the scope the study of this phenomenon. Typically, macro-level research approaches the study of social life in social systems, institutional structures, and relationship among the several structures in the society as they exist. This research approaches the social life investigation as it exists in interactional and interpersonal relationship between the police and the mentally disordered people (228). The macro-level approach tends to minimize the ability of people to overcome and act beyond the limits of social structures.
* What is the unit of analysis in this study
The main entity that is being analyzed in this research is the policing of systems and individuals that are mentally disordered. It is the center of focus based on the interpersonal relationship between the police and the mentally disordered people (228).
* What methods best describes how data was collected
Qualitative method of data collection best describes this research. The main methods for gathering qualitative date include focus groups, observations, individual interviews, and focus groups. In this case observation has been widely used with data on policing neighborhoods being collected using systematic observations field supervisors and patrol officers (230). Accompanied by officers, trained observers recorded their work during the work shifts and wrote brief descriptions of the encounters between the police and citizens. Afterwards, the trained observers prepared their narrative accounts of all the events they observed pertaining to police-citizen encounters. In this research, in 24 neighborhoods, 5, 700 hours of field observations were undertaken (230). The selection of each neighborhood was intentionally biased towards the patrol areas which were expected to provide high levels of police activity.
* What research design best describes the research in general? Justify your answer
This is a quantitative research design. This is because Angel and Silver have a hypothesis, which they have already understood and which should be tested to find out its validity. In this type research, the hypothesis will dictate the quantity, scope, and form of the data required.
* What is the dependant variable and how is it measured.
The dependant variable in this research is police behavior (229). The decision making process is influenced by certain other variable which affect the behavior of the police towards the suspect. This research indicates that people who are mentally disordered have a high likelihood to engage in violent or dangerous behavior, more especially when they are under the influence of alcohol or drugs. This is a possible explanation for the high rates of arrest of mentally disordered suspects due the encounters exhibited during police encounters (238). In addition, research with suspects who are non-mentally disordered indicates that particular characteristics, for example intoxication, influence the behavior of the police significantly. This variable is measured by the decision to arrest suspects as well as mental disorder characteristics (229-230). While lacking a diagnostic precision, this measure of mental disorder is believed to reflect the form of on-the-spot assessment that police office typically make.
* What are the key theoretical independent variables? How are they measured?
Legal Variables are key in this research. This includes criminal behavior evidence, the seriousness of offense, and presence of a weapon (23...