Quantitative and Qualitative Worksheet

Running head: INCARCERATION OF WOMEN OFFENDERS 2

Proposal Timeline

The approximation of this proposal time covers around 18 weeks starting as from February 3rd, 2020. The time allocated for the different sections of the proposal are as follows:

Identification of the study problem. Feb 3rd to Feb 10th (1 week)

In that period, the problem statement and issues to be researched in the study will be researched in depth and justify the research.

Literature Review. Feb 11th to Feb 18th (1 week)

In this period, previous studies about the problem statement of this study will be examined and formulate questions and suggestions on how and the areas which need more research. Discussions about the differences as well as the similarities between numerous previous studies will be highlighted and discussed in depths.

Data Collection. Feb 19th to 18th March (1 month)

Over the three weeks, both the qualitative and quantitative data for this study will be collected. The data collection used will be interviews, questionnaires and surveys. Data materials from previous studies will also be analyzed. Through the various data collection tools, a fair and average data will be obtained.

Data analysis March 19th to 18th may. (2 Months)

Over this period, all the data collected from both the quantitative and qualitative methods will be critically analyzed, and determine the main reasons for the increase in women committing violent crimes in the U.S.

Summarizing of the Findings. 19th May to 18th June. (1 month)

During this period, all the data collected and then analyzed will be critically and carefully summarized to provide basis for drawing important conclusions of the research. The conclusion of the study will determine the reasons as to why there is an increase in the number of women committing violent crimes. Comment by Kristin Early: Well done Theresa!

Introduction

Over the last few decades, the number of women in jail or prison or under the criminal justice department supervision has not decreased at the same rate as the males. In the 1990s, only 600,000 women were incarcerated in the United States jails or prisons (James, 2018). However, this number has increased dramatically with recent statistics showing that there are over 1.3 million incarcerated women in the United States (James, 2018). Interestingly, the number of women imprisoned due to violent crimes such as homicide or assaults has increased over the years, while other crimes have decreased (Copp & Bales, 2018). Many of the violent crimes committed by incarcerated women who are incarcerated due to violent crimes are were typically committed against their partner, spouse or ex-spouse. Previous studies have shown that many of them previously reporting reported cases of the partner physically or sexually abusing them (Kang-Brown, Hinds, Heiss, & Lu, 2018). 

However, it is important to note that the levels of women getting jailed or imprisoned are still increasing due to some of the changes in the United States crime policy (Swavola, Riley, & Subramanian, 2016). These changes in policies include mandatory punishment for cases of lawbreaking of any individual such as mandatory sentencing and increased response by law enforcement to social problems in the society. In recent years, many activists, as well as scholars, have raised awareness of the problem of increased incarceration of women by the criminal justice system (Swavola, Riley, & Subramanian, 2016). This has seen some effort made to address the problem of women committing violent crimes, incarceration and how they are treated in prisons and jails to attempt and reduce it (Swavola, Riley, & Subramanian, 2016). This study will employ survey research and secondary data analysis to determine the causes of the increase of women committing violent crimes and measures taken by the criminal justice systems to culminate the problem.  Comment by Kristin Early: Outstanding introduction!

Problem statementStatement Comment by Kristin Early: Capitalize all major words in Level 1 headings. Please fix other instances throughout.

Women's incarceration in the United States due to participation in violent crimes has increased dramatically. For the last 40 years, the number of women being incarcerated has doubled that of men, which is raising concerns and attention in the criminal justice system (Swavola, Riley, & Subramanian, 2016). This rapid rise in the percentage of women imprisonment imprisoned has resulted in an urgent need to understand the unique needs of such women in prisons and jails. Women imprisoned due to violent crimes usually represent a small but very significant portion of the wider group of women under the observation of the criminal justice system (Swavola, Riley, & Subramanian, 2016). However, the criminal justice system usually lacks programs or interventions that specifically target correcting women offenders and forcing them to use programs and interventions developed for men. 

The proposed study will survey to examine how the criminal justice system, specifically jails and prisons are dealing with the increase of women and violent crimes. The study will also examine whether women incarcerated due to violent crimes are treated better, worse, or the same of as their male counterparts of for similar crimes. The study will also examine the measures and strategies that the criminal justice system has installed or put in place to help this subpopulation of incarcerated women. Data on the possible reasons for the increase in women participating in violent crimes will be collected from the criminal justice department for the last few decades. The data collected will be examined and analyzed and the reasons for the influx will be determined. Also, data concerning the treatment of incarcerated women in prison will be collected and compared to the treatment of their male counterparts and determine whether they are treated better, equally or worse than men. Comment by Kristin Early: Will survey incarcerated women? Will survey what? Comment by Kristin Early: You have a good start here on the problem statement, but it is not clear as to where specifically you are proposing to conduct this study and who specifically you will be surveying. Additionally, I would recommend focusing on one primary research hypothesis and testing it, as opposed to a number of different angles. To adequately summarize the proposed study, add the following section to your paper here, filling in the sections in brackets: The proposed study will examine the issue of [fill in your topic here] by collecting data from [whom/what – fill in] located in [where – state specific study location here], to determine if [explain how the data collected would be used to study the problem]. The study is anticipated to begin [when – fill in start date] and be completed by [fill in the end date here].

Literature review

Sawyer (2018) carried out research that aimed at tracking the growth of women populations in the state prison. The research was aimed to reveal the gender divide that has existed between the story of growth in the women as well as the men prison. The report tracked trends in the prison population since the 70s in all the states in America. Sawyer tried to pinpoint areas where the reforms in prisons have led to the mass incarceration of women in the United States (McKeown & Harvey, 2018). The study shows showed that the recent reforms have only had a meaningful impact on men with women prisons still largely unaffected by the reforms. In the report, it was clear that many states have undermined any commitment to the criminal justice reforms to transform the women's prisons and reduce the increased incarcerations of women.   Comment by Kristin Early: Use past tense to report prior research, since the study has already been completed. Please fix similar instances throughout.

The report indicated that the recent effort by the criminal justice systems to reverse the growth of prison populations has impacted more men than women. From 2009 to 2015, the number of incarcerated men reduced by about 5 percent while that of their women counterparts reduced by only 0.29 percent (Sawyer, 2018). This proved that more need to be done in the women prison to reduce the number of incarcerations. Out of the 50 states, women have led in 35 states in the number of incarcerations compared to only 15 states where men have had more incarceration than men from 2009 to 2015 (Sawyer, 2018). The reasons for the slow reduction rate in women's prisons are mostly because women are more likely to face disciplinary actions with more severe punishment when charged with a violent crime. Also, fewer rehabilitation centers are available for women as compared to men giving first offenders a no chance for rehabilitation but to face imprisonment punishment. Also, the criminal justice systems have created policies that have led to the over-criminalization of women such as mandatory arrests for women who fight back in domestic violence. This has generally led to the increase of women charged with violent crimes under the supervision of the criminal justice systems. 

Swavola, Riley, and Subramanian (2016) conducted research aimed at halting the growing rate of women incarceration in the United States. The study concentrated on analyzing the previous research on women's incarceration and how the issue came to be a big problem in the criminal justice systems. The study shows that women, more than men, go through many difficulties and experiences in prison that have adverse effects (McKeown & Harvey, 2018). The differences are brought about by the effects of trauma, physical disorders as well as behavioral health illnesses mostly due to single parenting in addition to poverty. The study emphasized that the increased rate of incarcerations for women is due to policies that have led to increased punitive attitudes in the criminal justice systems as well as legislations that mandate sentencing of low-level lawbreaking offenses (Swavola, Riley, & Subramanian, 2016). The study suggested that more rapid measures to redirect women in the criminal justice supervision to reform and help them achieve healthier more productive and stable lives in the society should be adapted to reduce the levels of incarcerations. 

Swavola, Riley, and Subramanian (2016) provide various reasons as to why there has been mass incarcerations or women committing violent crimes. The first reason for increased women imprisonment is due to the lack of employment opportunities. The study revealed that 6 out of 10 women in prison did not have a job or employment before committing a crime. The women claimed that lack of employment led to them developing serious mental issues or illnesses such as depression and bipolar disorder. Also, many claimed that they were previously victimized in cases involving crimes, such as, childhood abuse, sexual assaults, and violence from their partner, resulting in PTSD. (Swavola, Riley, & Subramanian, 2016). This led or contributed a lot to the women participating in criminal activities that landed them in prison. To reduce these problems, criminal justice systems need to make policies that reduce the prosecution of low-level wrongdoings. They also need to assign a defense attorney to the suspects in the early stages of these cases and the expansion of the release on recognizance (cite).

Kubiak et al (2012) carried out research that was geared towards determining the long-term effects or outcomes of interventions for women involved in violent crimes. The research was to examine how co-existing factors that lead to trauma-related aggressiveness or anger, and violent behaviors of incarcerated women can lead to the reduction of violent cases among women in the prison (King, 2017). Programs such as Beyond Violence experimental condition as well as the treatment-as-usual condition were considered for a long-term objective that reduced reoffending and relapse to violent behaviors after prison release. The research shows that women who received Beyond Violence programs in prison were less likely to re-offend or recidivate than the women who received the treatment-as-usual programs (Kubiak, Kim, Fedock, & Bybee, 2012). This suggests that programs that aim at correcting the short, as well as the long-term behaviors of recidivism and relapse, should be implemented more in women prisons to reduce the high rates of women incarcerations. 

Fedock (2018) researched the lives of imprisoned women before they were incarcerated and after they imprisoned to determine their treatment as compared to their male counterparts in the male prisons. The study focused mainly on women incarcerated for committing violent crimes such as murder and assaults. The study shows that many women especially facing life imprisonment generally ha a pre-prison experience that included histories of poverty, both childhood as well as adulthood assault and abuse, parental imprisonment, and parental substance use. These factors contributed significantly to the women committing the crimes that they were sentenced for (Karlsson, Zielinski, & Bridges, 2015). Fedock raised the important issue of developing programs that cater to the needs of such women in society to reduce the chances of them committing crimes or going to prison (Fedock, 2018). The study shows that unlike men, women have less or no programs and interventions that help them reduce their criminal behavior both in and out of the prisons. Additionally, the study shows that the treatment of women in prison, including physically, mentally and health-wise is completely different from that of their male counterparts. 

Women need more attention than men as they have unique needs and problems facing them than that of the men. However, the research shows that women in prisons are treated the same or worse than their counterparts in male prisons. Considering the uniqueness of their problems both physically and mentally, women necessitate more attention, but this is not the case in many women prisons across the United States (Fedock, 2018). Women in prisons are more emotionally dependent than men thus requiring more connections and support from their families, social workers, and the criminal justice system.

However, this is not the case in many female prisons whereby women have been stripped of their womanhood and left to depend on themselves just like men’s prisons (King, 2017). This has led to the growth of emotionally distinct women in the prisons who faces difficulties of integration in society more than men convicts. This might lead to high recidivism or relapse of such women leading to increased women incarceration due to the increased rate of women committing violent crimes. Future research should attempt to research more on women rehabilitation and treatment programs in prisons and how they can help restore the womanhood and connections of women to society after their release.

Estrada et al (2017) state that the gender gap in committing a crime has reduced over the last three decades. Estrada claims that there is an alarming of women mimicking the criminal behavior of their counterpart males. He notes that the number of males being convicted with violent crimes is reducing while that of the females committing a violent crime is increasing at an alarming rate. Many young women are said to recently be starting their adult lives with a criminal record. These offenses are a major driving force to them participating in criminal behavior later in life including violent crimes. Thus, the current trends in females committing violent crimes show a sharp increase especially in the United States (Estrada et al., 2017). This can be much attributed to women emulating male behavior to commit crimes. Estrada believes that an increase in criminal behavior in women has been significantly been promoted to the issue of gender equality. This is due to the issue of producing changes in the kind of masculinity that normally encourages criminality.

Campaniello (2019) claims that for the last 50 years, the level of women participating in crimes as well as the labor market has constantly increased. Campaniello states that more women are now participating in violent crime, however, that number has not yet leveled with that of men. Not having children especially for women is a factor that has led to them participating in criminal behavior. This means that women who have kids are less likely to participate in crime as compared to those without children. Also, married women, who are more likely to have children have a low propensity to participate in crime as compared to the counterpart who is not married (Campaniello, 2019). Campaniello also notes that the increase and advancement in technology which has led women to move out the social norms such as staying at home have led them to increase their participation in criminal behaviors.

Today, many women have participated in the labor market and this also acts as a factor to them participating in a crime. Campaniello also states that the changing roles of duties and responsibilities for both men and women have contributed significantly to women committing crimes. Campaniello suggests that the reduction of the wage disparity that exists between women skilled workers and unskilled ones can positively lead to the reduction of the increasing rate of women participation in violent crimes and crime as a whole. Thus, the role of marriage, labor participation and children are contributing factors to women participating in criminal behaviors (Campaniello, 2019). Technological progress and changes in the social roles of women in the community can also be attributed to having contributed to women participating in criminal behavior. Thus, developing support policies that advocate and push for marriage and bearing kids should be encouraged to reduce women's criminal activities.

Shepherd et al (2019) state that the high rate of females committing violent crimes has largely been contributed to them coping male behaviors such as engaging in substance abuse. Substance abuse among women has increased the rate of mental illnesses as well as sexual and physical ill-treatment. Shepherd et al (2019) note that the prevalence of women's participation especially in violent crimes can be attributed to the interrelation between several factors in that woman’s life. These factors include physical as well as sexual victimization especially during their childhood, abuse intimate relationships and mental health concerns and coping mechanisms. Shepherd et al (2019) propose several ways in which the criminal justice department can reduce the level of women participation in a crime. These include developing rehabilitation centers especially for young women who are involved in substance use to help them change and promote positive behavior. Also, addressing concerns and cases of mental illness among women is the key to reducing their participation in criminal behaviors. Addressing these issues can help reduce the number of women committing violent crimes. Shepherd et al (2019) offer a good insight into the high-risk factors that lead women to commit crimes. 

Cano-Urbina et al (2019) note that there is a relationship that exists between women committing crime and education. The number of incarcerations of women due to committing crimes such as property theft is high among females who dropped out of high school than those who graduated from high school. The level of education attained by a woman is a great determinant of their participation in criminal behaviors. Cano-Urbina et al (2019) state that education usually impacts several aspects of a person living such as increasing their levels of skills hence improving the opportunities of getting a job. Women who are working have a low risk of participating in crime as compared to those who do not have a job. Educations also affects a person’s social networks and relationships which play a very important role in crime participation by women.

 Having children increases demands that lead a female parent to engage in education for a better job to take care of their children. This aspect reduces their chances of participating in crimes to a low level. Children usually lead to the development of stronger family relations and bonds that reduces the level of such women participating in criminal behaviors. This is because the cost of incarcerations will have much impact on the woman as it will affect their children. Cano-Urbina et al (2019) provide crucial evidence that links education to crime amongst women. The arrests and imprisonment rate for women with a low level of education is higher than that of women who have attained a high level of education. Thus, the school has a positive effect on a woman's life and reduces the chances of them participating in criminal activities.  

Lopez et al (2019) study basis its research on the effects of early exposure to violence, substance use as well as negative emotions that can play a role in a woman participating in violent criminal behaviors in the future. Women exposed to gender-based violence at an early age can lead to mental health issues such as anxiety and depressions. These are some of the factors that lead women to commit violent crimes such as murder or assaults or substance use. Early exposure to violence can lead to a woman developing anger issues later in life. Anger has been positively identified as a factor that prompts women to act violently on other people which can lead to death or injuries to such people (Lopez et al., 2019). Thus, early exposure to violence, substance abuse and sexual victimization among women is related to them committing or participating in violent crimes later in the young and adults.   Comment by Kristin Early: You did a very good job of detailing prior research on the topic and using proper APA formatting. Just go back and catch the need to switch from present to past tense when discussing the results of prior research. Otherwise – outstanding Theresa! Very enjoyable to read!

Methods

This study aims to research and examine the reasons for the recent increase of women in committing violent crimes and how the criminal justice system especially jails and prisons are dealing with the influx. The study also attempts to examine how the women are treated in prisons as compared to their male counterparts charged with the same crimes. The study will conduct an analysis of prior researches conducted by professionals about the increase in the violent crimes committed by women in the United States. The study will analyze and identify various reasons leading to the increase of women committing violent crimes and whether the criminal justice departments are doing any significant steps towards addressing this particular problem.  Comment by Kristin Early: Actually, reviewing prior research studies by others is part of the literature review process, as opposed to original research involving data collection. So instead, you would focus here on generally outlining you plan in terms of where you will conduct your study and how you will collect your data to address your research hypothesis.

 In addition to this research, various questionnaires will be issued to members of women prisons together with the staff to help determine whether all the stakeholders involved are doing anything to reduce the problem of women participating in violent crimes. The main objective of the study is to determine the leading causes of the increase of women in violent crimes under the supervision of the criminal justice system. The study will be able to make suggestions on various ways that can help in reducing the problem of increasing women committing violent crimes.

Conceptual and operational definitions

The major concepts examined in this study are the increased rate of women committing violent crimes and in what ways the Mecklenburg County, North Carolina jails are handling the problems. The concepts also include the prior definition by other researches and how women in prison are treated in comparison to their male counterparts who have committed the same crimes (Sawyer & Wagner, 2019). Previous studies tackling the same subjects have attempted to offer multiple reasons as to why women incarcerations rate is high due to committing violent crimes such as murder and assaults. Also, they have defined what is meant by a “violent crime” about this study. Violent crimes involve the perpetrator threatening to use or actually use force on the victim.  

Violent crimes

Violent crimes receive heavy punishments and sentencing in the criminal justice systems. Individuals who have committed violent crimes such as murder and assaults usually receive a time in prison that is not less than 7 years to life sentence depending on the intensity of the crime committed. Violent crimes among the women in the United States have increased over the last few decades leading to a growing population in the women prisons. Different researchers have attempted to research on these subjects and define the root causes of the increase in covering several women prisons across the United States. Violent crimes, especially among women, involve murder or assaults that majorly are against a spouse, an ex-spouse or a partner. These actions according to several studies have been attributed to several coexisting factors such as poverty, substance use, childhood and adulthood sex abuse, and assaults and PTSD. Violent crimes involve the use of violent threats or weapons on someone that leads to causing both physical and mental injuries to that person. 

For this study, violent crimes that will be discussed are murder and/or assault and attempted on a partner, a spouse, or an ex-spouse of the woman offender. The study will also include violent crimes committed against persons who have been known to the woman as their own attacker or person of accused sexual assault. Therefore, for this research, violent crimes will be defined as those actions perpetrated on a person by a woman leading to physical injuries to the individuals. Comment by Kristin Early: Okay, so you will look at all violent crimes right? Not just those against persons known to the offender, right? I say this because it would be good to take a full look at all violent female offenders and how they got there and what occurred. I scrolled down and see your hypotheses – the first hypothesis is the first time you have mentioned desire to focus on first-time offenders. It seems like from everything you have said up to this point that you are interested in seeing whether Mecklenburg County is doing what other jurisdictions are doing around the country, i.e., criminalizing women’s behaviors and putting them in jails for low-level crimes. Does that sound right? If so, I would focus on that and your second hypothesis. Then consider what data you would need to test it.

Jails and prisons

The concepts of jails and prisons as the correctional facilities under the criminal justice systems are facilities where women charged with violent crimes are imprisoned. Some examples of these facilities are found in both the state and local governments (Johnson, 2019). In this research, only Mecklenburg County jails will be covered as they are the facilities that contain women who are charged with violent criminals examined in this study such as murder and assaults. 

Research hypothesis

The study hypothesis that the installation of various programs and interventions by the criminal justice systems such as rehabilitation centers from women in the county who are first-time offenders will lead to a reduced level of women committing violent crimes. The second hypothesis is that moving away from prosecuting low-level crimes by women will lead to fewer incarceration rates in the women prisons leading to a reduction in imprisoned women. 

Sampling design or strategy

The study will utilize the random probability sampling design where the interviewers for the survey will be selected randomly. This aims to offer a complete representation of the population under study to collect the best possible data for the research. This should also be to avoid cases of biases in the research to minimize any error in the study. The sampling strategy will involve selecting the target population, the accessible population, defining the eligibility criteria, outlining the sampling plan and then recruiting the sample. Comment by Kristin Early: Okay, but to test whether women are being essentially criminalized for low-level offenses that men would be released for – it seems you would need to request official records from the Mecklenburg County jail (Sheriff’s Office) for say a two-year period and compare the crimes women are incarcerated for against the crimes men are incarcerated for, right? You could then have a qualitative component, such as interviews, to talk to women about what got them to being incarcerated – so they can explain the circumstances and you could get a very view on the “why” they found themselves incarcerated and how the system did or did not treat them. Does this make sense?

Research design

The study will utilize quantitative research design as it will involve surveys and analyzing secondary data from previous studies. The research design methods will be attempting to compare the numbers of violent crimes among women for the past few years. The research design will be descriptive using surveys to determine the main reasons for the increase of women committing violent crimes in the United States for the past few decades. 

Data collection

The study will utilize data collection from the quantitative data collection method.. Data analysis from previous studies will be carried out to offer support on the research question and increase the extent of data collected to cover the full extent of the issue. Comment by Kristin Early: This is a good start to the Data Collection Plan. We will be going over collection strategies and analysis in more detail in the coming weeks, and you will have the opportunity to revise this section to add more detail.

Organizational Behavior Principles

Organizational behavior aims to learn different individual’s perceptions, values, and actions in an organization. There are various principles of organizational behavior that are evident in each organization. In my study setting, I will study the organizational behavior of women prisons which is under the criminal justice department and how this can have effects on incarcerated women's behavior. The criminal justice department has a decentralized administration where power is disseminated to a various subdivision under the department and this include the correctional department. Various issues face incarcerated women especially those sentenced due to participating in violent crimes (Sundt, 2016). This is generally due to the organizational behavior issues that are present in such prisons. The correctional facilities usually have a centralized administration such that the prison warden has to allow for any activity that happens in the prison. The centralized administration in my study site gives access to easy data collection. Comment by Kristin Early: Avoid first person voice – you can do this by simply removing personal pronouns such as I, me, and my. Comment by Kristin Early: Actually, we want to examine organizational behavior in terms of how it can impact our research study, not how it might impact the study subjects.

The organizational behavior principle in my study site is the Autocratic principle of Organizational Behavior. This type of organization behavior puts the prison warden as the boss and the other staff as subordinate. He decides what should be done in the prison and how it should be done making them top controllers of the organization. This leads to the punishment of any slight mistake or wrongdoing for both the staff of the prison and also the prisoners themselves. This is meant to ensure good behavior and conducts between the subordinate staff and the prisoners for the smooth running of the organization (Sundt, 2016). The organizational culture created in this setting usually portrays power as it moves from the prisoners to the top management. Comment by Kristin Early: Right, exactly – and so how might that impact your research in terms of your efforts to collect and analyze data, as well as interpret your results?

In jails or prisons, two types of organizational culture are developed, and this includes management and relationship culture. Both cultures are important in the criminal justice system as it encourages change in the systems especially jails and prisons which are the correctional organization of the system. Prison staffs mostly require strong leadership with good structure and police that drives practices leading to positive behavior change of the inmates (Van De Steene, & Knight, 2017). These cultures will change jails from control institutions to a correctional organization that encourages the reduction of recidivism by helping prepare the inmates to go back to society after their prison time. This will help implement some of the recommendations in my study that aims at reducing the number of women participating in violent crimes which increases the number of women incarcerations in the United States.   Comment by Kristin Early: Good!

The organizational culture that encourages positive behavior in prison will help me in obtaining data from people who are changing their violent behaviors due to programs that help them to become better people. It will impact the interpretation of data as it will only be dealing with first-time offenders since cases of recidivism are much reduced preventing reoffending by ex-convicts (Van De Steene, & Knight, 2017). This ultimately will lead to the reduction of cases of women committing violent crimes. The organization culture found in such correctional facilities will help me in making a substantive conclusion about my study that will lead to positive changes in the criminal justice systems. Comment by Kristin Early: Yes, but what if you do not find that the culture really is fully encouraging positive behavior or providing incarcerated women with evidence-based interventions? We want to be open to the possibility that we may find the exact opposite when we conduct our study. So revise this slightly to recognize that and discuss how the centralized, autocratic culture of a jail (which is often male-dominated too) could impact your data collection, data analysis and interpretation. Recall my example in seminar where I observed the Baltimore City Courthouse environment and talked with juveniles, judges, and prosecutors and started to realize that the culture created an environment where juveniles who were waived to adult court were actually treated more leniently by the system than those retained in the juvenile court system. This impacted by study in a major way. Comment by Kristin Early: But if you limit to only first-time offenders, you might miss a huge piece of the larger puzzle. For example, some women may be routinely criminalized over and over for fighting back aggressively against a partner who abuses her. By limiting to only first-time offenders you might miss the chronic offenders who are routinely reincarcerated for violent offenses and make up the bulk of women incarcerated on any given day in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.

Ethical considerations

There are several ethical considerations that the research will have to adhere especially when dealing with the female prisoners in various jails in the Mecklenburg County area. The first ethical consideration will involve informed consent as well as the refusal of participation (Delgado & Barragan, 2019). The study will ensure that any prisoner taking part in the surveys will do so out of free will without coercion. Second, the study will ensure the privacy of the prisoners is well respected and none will be disclosed without their consent. The last ethical consideration will involve the confidentiality of the interviews which will only be used for the research and not any other purpose. The identity of the participants will also be concealed unless they allow it for the integrity of the research. 

To address ethical concerns aspects in my research, I will follow the following steps in a very effective manner and discuss them with the participants in-depth to ensure they understand everything. The first step will involve discussing with the participants about the aspect of voluntary participation in the research. I will ensure that they understand that nobody is forcing them to participate in the research and that anybody is free to withdraw from the research anytime they wish (Davies, & Francis, 2018). The second step will involve discussing with them about the aspect of informed consent in the participation in the research. Through this, I will provide all the information and assurances about the research and its purpose and make sure that they understand why they are participating. I will explain to them the implications of their participation in the research to make a fully informed and deliberate decision with any pressure or coercion whatsoever.

The third step will include making sure that there is no use of any discriminatory or offensive language in the questions they will be answering. This is to avoid making them uncomfortable during the research which will be unethical and unacceptable practice in research. The fourth step will involve explaining and assuring to them that their privacy and anonymity are completely respected, and their name nor identity will be published or used without their say so (Cowburn, Gelsthorpe, & Wahidin, 2016). This is to guarantee them that their privacy and anonymity in the research is important and very well respected. Publishing participant's name or identity without their consent is unethical as it can lead to victimization. The next step will ensure that the participants understand that the research will use the data they provided just the way they gave it without any exaggeration or deception.

Also, the research will ensure the participants’ confidentiality is respected and that the limits of professionalism are adhered to when it comes to obtaining information from them. The information they give is confidential and that it will not be shared with a third party. The adherence to the professional codes of conduct when it comes to the confidentiality of the participants will be completed followed. For example, the research will be examining the reasons for the increase of women committing violent crimes (Rennison, & Hart, 2018). This might lead to some participants stating some crimes they committed and never got caught or punished. That information will be protected, and confidentiality assured and not to be shared with any third party. The other step will ensure that the participants are protected, and no harm will come to them as a result of their participation in the research.

Through adhering and following all the steps discussed above, the research will ensure honesty, transparency and protect the participants from any harm. This will be following the codes of conduct and professionalism that is very important to ensure ethical considerations when conducting any research involving human participants (Rennison, & Hart, 2018). Ensuring all ethical considerations are adhered to will give the research all the transparency it needs to offer genuine information and suggestions about the problem of an increasing rate of women participating in violent crimes in the united states. This will also ensure the validity of the research conducted and its application to solve the issues or questions of the research through pouring knowledge and promoting the truth. Comment by Kristin Early: Theresa, overall you have an outstanding draft of a research proposal. You have been very thorough and now my feedback is really aimed at helping you to fine tune things further. Well done!

Conclusion

The research studieses discussed in this study’s literature review presented some similarities with my hypotheses. The rate of women committing violent crimes has increased over the past few decades increasing the levels of incarcerations of women in the United States. All the studies proved that for the last 40 years, the number of women incarcerations due to committing violent crimes ranging from murder to assaults has almost doubled (Copp & Bales, 2018). The studies suggest that this has been due to pre-prison life experiences which have led to the development of aggressive and violent behaviors. These factors include childhood sexual abuse, adult abuse, poverty, sexual assaults, and substance abuse by the prisoners as well as their parents. Due to such factors, these women have been pushed in criminal behaviors hence ending up participating in violent crimes (Kang-Brown, Hinds, Heiss, & Lu, 2018). Thus, the criminal justice department has installed some measures that help adjust the behavior of such women especially in prison and in society. 

Moreover, when compared to their male counterparts in prisons, it is evident that women's prisons are not given the attention it deserves to help rehabilitate these women. There is no evidence of programs and interventions aimed at correcting the behavior of the women as there are in the men prisons (Delgado & Barragan, 2019). This has led to the correction of emotionally weakened women. When this woman is released back in the society from prison, the chances or recidivism or relapse are very high leading them to committing additional violent crimes and into incarcerations. However, as past researches have shown the absence of rehabilitation or intervention centers for women in the community, the results may be inconsistent. This could be due to the different states and prison centers studied or due to the sampling design and approach used for the studies.

References

Campaniello, N. (2019). Women in crime. IZA World of Labor, (105v2).

Cano-Urbina, J., & Lochner, L. (2019). The effect of education and school quality on female crime. Journal of Human Capital, 13(2), 188-235.

Copp, J. E., & Bales, W. D. (2018). Jails and local justice system reform. The Future of Children, 28(1), 103-124.

Cowburn, M., Gelsthorpe, L., & Wahidin, A. (Eds.). (2016). Research ethics in criminology: Dilemmas, issues and solutions. Taylor & Francis.

Davies, P., & Francis, P. (2018). Doing criminological research. SAGE Publications Limited.

Delgado, J., & Barragan, K. (2019). Empowering the female offender: Barriers and perceptions of inmate success.

Estrada, F., Nilsson, A., & Bäckman, O. (2017). The gender gap in crime is decreasing, but who’s growing equal to whom?. Sociologisk forskning, 54(4), 359-363.

Fedock. G. (2018) Life before “I killed the man that raped me”: Pre-prison life experiences of incarcerated women with life sentences and subsequent treatment needs. Women & Criminal Justice 28:1, 63-80.

James, A. (2018). Ending the incarceration of women and girls. Yale LJF, 128, 772.

Johnson, D. (2019). Marginalization and divestment: The effects of relocating the Los Angeles women's jail. UCLA Women's LJ, 26, 43.

Kang-Brown, J., Hinds, O., Heiss, J., & Lu, O. (2018). The new dynamics of mass incarceration. Vera Institute of Justice.

Karlsson. M. E, Zielinski. J. M, & Bridges. A.J. (2015) Expanding research on a brief exposure-based group treatment with incarcerated women. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation 54:8, 599-617.

King. A. E. (2017) Outcomes of trauma-informed interventions for incarcerated women. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology 61:6, 667-688.

Kubiak. S, Kim, J.W, Fedock. G & Bybee. D. (2012) Assessing short-term outcomes of an intervention for women convicted of violent crimes. Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research 3:3, 197-212.

Lopez, V., Kopak, A., & Pasko, L. (2019). Substance Use Pathways Among Female Adolescent Offenders. Crime & Delinquency, 65(3), 375-400. Comment by Kristin Early: Oops – only capitalize the first word of the title and subtitle here. Fix any other instances throughout.

McKeown. A & Harvey. E. (2018) Violent women: Treatment approaches and psychodynamic considerations. Journal of Criminological Research, Policy and Practice 4:2, 124-135

Rennison, C. M., & Hart, T. C. (2018). Research methods in criminal justice and criminology. SAGE Publications.

Sawyer, W. (2018). The gender divide: Tracking women’s state prison growth. Prison Policy Initiative, 9.

Sawyer, W., & Wagner, P. (2019). Mass incarceration: The whole pie 2019. Northampton, MA: Prison Policy Initiative. Retrieved April, 8, 2019.

Shepherd, S. M., Newton, D., Harries, C., Fix, R. L., & Fullam, R. (2019). An analysis of high-risk offending pathways for young females in custody. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 26(2), 194-205.

Sundt, J. L. (2016). The effect of administrative segregation on prison order and organizational culture. Restrictive housing in the US: Issues, challenges, and future directions, 297-330.

Swavola, E., Riley, K., & Subramanian, R. (2016). Overlooked: Women and jails in an era of reform. New York, NY: Vera Institute of Justice.

Uprichard, E. (2013). Sampling: Bridging probability and non-probability designs. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 16(1), 1-11

Van De Steene, S., & Knight, V. (2017). Digital transformation for prisons: Developing a needs-based strategy. Probation Journal, 64(3), 256-268.

Unit 1 Assignment Feedback

Hi Theresa,

The Unit 1 Assignment used Track Changes to document revisions made to the CJ 525 paper, and to demonstrate that feedback from your previous instructor and/or me (from Unit 1 Seminar) had been addressed.  The paper included all four components of the plan (timeline, problem statement, literature review, and data collection).  The problem statement was clear, with a focused problem that can be solved. However, the specifics of the 5 W's of the proposed study were not fully presented. Feedback was provided to help you to address this. The analysis demonstrated consideration of the organizational behavior and day-to-day management in the study setting, as well as ethical issues that must be addressed. There were a few issues with the application of organizational behavior and I provided guidance there as well.

While not the basis of review here, I provided feedback in the Data Collection Plan section.  In the upcoming weeks, we will be learning more about appropriate methods of collecting data, identifying study participants, selecting a sample, and analyzing qualitative and/or quantitative data.  

The paper was clear, well-written and well-organized.  Sources were cited and referenced in APA format, with some minor errors. The proposed study focuses on an important issue in the field and one in need of resolution.  Please feel free to contact me if you have questions about any of the feedback, as I have tried to provide you with a detailed review to help you do well on the final project in Unit 6.

Best,

Dr. Early

Grading Rubric

CJ598-2: Organizational Behavior and Management: Apply organizational behavior and management theories to ensure the effective and efficient operations of an agency or division.

CJ598-2 is assessed by the Unit 1 Research Project Revision

Points Possible:

80

No ProgressIntroductoryEmergentPracticedProficientMasteryGrading ScoreRelative WeightPoints

0.002.002.753.504.255.00

Problem Statement

Project plan does

not contain a

problem statement.

Problem statement is

unclear and the focus of

the problem is either too

broad or can not be solved.

Problem statement is clear but

the focus of the problem is

either too broad or can not be

solved.

Problem statement is clear

with a focused problem that

can be solved.

415%10.2

Project Plan

Project plan does

not contain the

problem statement

and the literature

review.

Two of the plan's

components are included

but either the problem

statement or the literature

review is missing.

Three of the plan's

components are included but

either the problem statement

or the literature review is

missing.

Two of the plan's components

are included and must be the

problem statement and the

literature review.

Three of the plan's

components are included and

two of them are the problem

statement and the literature

review.

All 4 components of the plan

(timeline, problem statement,

literature review, and data

collection) are included in the

plan.

515%12

Consider

The project was not

submitted.

The student considered

feedback from the

instructor and made

changes accordingly as

reflected in track changes

throughout 20% of the

project.

The student considered

feedback from the instructor

and made changes

accordingly as reflected in

track changes throughout

40% of the project.

The student considered

feedback from the instructor

and made changes

accordingly as reflected in

track changes throughout 60%

of the project.

The student considered

feedback from the instructor

and made changes

accordingly as reflected in

track changes throughout

80% of the project.

The student considered

feedback from the instructor

and made changes

accordingly as reflected in

track changes throughout

100% of the project.

520%16

Apply

Student work

demonstrates no

understanding or

progress towards

achievement of this

outcome.

Student's application

demonstrates an

elementary comprehension

of organizational behavior

and management. Weakly

connects theory and

concepts to larger

organizational issues.

Student's application

demonstrates a basic

theoretical and applied

comprehension of

organizational behavior and

management. Usually

connects theory and

concepts to larger

organizational issues.

Student's application

demonstrates a good

theoretical and applied

comprehension of

organizational behavior and

management. Consistently

connects theory and concepts

to larger organizational issues.

Student's application

demonstrates a strong

theoretical and applied

comprehension of

organizational behavior and

management. Synthesizes

theory and concepts to larger

organizational issues.

Student's application

demonstrates superior

theoretical and applied

comprehension of

organizational behavior and

management. Develops

organizational behavior and

management applications and

theory, connecting concepts

to larger organizational issues.

420%13.6

Formatting/Layout

The project was not

submitted.

The project was submitted,

but the formatting (e.g.,

spacing, margins, font size,

etc.) contains errors that

are excessive and

distracting. The title page

and reference page are

missing.

The project demonstrates an

attempt to adhere to the

formatting guidelines as

outlined in the instructions

(e.g., spacing, margins, font

size, etc.)--errors are

frequent. The title page

and/or reference page may

be missing, incomplete, or

contain some formatting

errors.

The project demonstrates an

attempt to adhere to the

formatting guidelines as

outlined in the instructions

(e.g., spacing, margins, font

size, etc.)--errors are not

egregious. The title page or

reference page are included

but may contain formatting

errors.

The project adheres to the

formatting guidelines as

outlined in the instructions

(e.g., spacing, margins, font

size, etc.) with minimal

errors. The title page and

reference page (listing all

sources used) are included

but may contain minor or

negligible formatting errors.

The project adheres to the

formatting guidelines as

outlined in the instructions

(e.g., spacing, margins, font

size, etc.). The title page and

reference page (listing all

sources used) are included

and conform to course/

assignment guidelines.

55%4

Source Attribution

No attempt was

made to distinguish

between ideas from

sources and those

of the author. Paper

may be plagiarized.

Ideas from sources are not

clearly distinguishable from

those of the author. The

following are infrequent or

non-existent: Signal

phrases, inclusion of URLs,

author names, publication

titles, in-text citations,

and/or (when appropriate)

quotation marks.

Ideas from sources are

usually distinguishable from

those of the author by the

use of any of the following:

Signal phrases, inclusion of

URLs, author names,

publication titles, and/or in-

text citations. Quotation

marks are rarely used when

appropriate.

Ideas from sources are

generally distinguishable from

those of the author by the use

of two or more of the following:

Signal phrases, inclusion of

URLs, author names,

publication titles, and/or in-text

citations. Quotation marks are

sometimes used when

appropriate.

Ideas from sources are

usually distinguishable from

those of the author by the

use of two or more of the

following: Signal phrases,

inclusion of URLs, author

names, publication titles,

and/or in-text citations.

Quotation marks are used

when appropriate.

Ideas from sources are clearly

distinguishable from those of

the author by the frequent use

of in-text citations. Quotation

marks are always used when

appropriate.

45%3.4

Source Use/Integration

No outside sources

were used.

Quantity and type of

sources do not entirely

adhere to the requirements

of the assignment. There

are > 26% fewer sources

and/or types of sources

than required.

Quantity and type of sources

adhere to the requirements of

the assignment for the most

part. There may be < 25%

fewer sources and/or types of

sources than required.

Quantity and type of sources

adhere to the requirements of

the assignment.

55%4

Mechanics

Student work

demonstrates no

understanding or

progress towards

achievement of this

outcome.

Grammatical, punctuation,

and spelling errors

pervasive and distracting.

Grammatical, punctuation,

and spelling errors

significant and distracting.

Frequent grammatical,

punctuation, and spelling

errors.

Minor grammatical,

punctuation, and spelling

errors.

Technically flawless,

mechanically and

grammatically correct.

45%3.4

Organization

Student work

demonstrates no

understanding or

progress towards

achievement of this

outcome.

Organization and structure

detract from the analysis.

Analysis is disjointed and

lacks transition of thought.

Organization and structure

are not easy to follow and

interfere with meaning.

Paragraph and sentence

transitions need significant

improvement.

Organization and structure

developing but still some illogic

in flow. Transition of thoughts

needs some improvement.

Organization and structure

are clear but presentation

could be more precise. Minor

flaw(s) in flow of analysis.

Organization and structure of

the paper are clear and easy

to follow. Logical flow of ideas.

55%4

Language

Student work

demonstrates no

understanding or

progress towards

achievement of this

outcome.

Language inappropriate,

mundane, and unfocused.

No central theme or thesis

present. Not written for the

appropriate audience.

Random, choppy, and/or

awkward language

significantly detracts from

analysis. Not written for the

appropriate audience.

Language ordinary, imprecise,

and/or lacks interest or

precision. Central theme or

thesis present but not explicitly

presented. Written for the

appropriate audience.

Language functional,

appropriate, and acceptable.

Written for the appropriate

audience.

Variety of sentence length and

structure. Language rich,

precise, and vivid. Central

theme or thesis clear. Written

for the appropriate audience.

55%4

100%

Overall

Grading Score:

75