PERSPECTIVES ON CRIMINAL JUSTICE RESEARCH

• NCJ Number: 55299
• Journal: Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 6 Issue: 4 Dated: (WINTER 1978) Pages: 287-289
• Author(s): D H BAYLEY
• Date Published: 1979
• Length: 3 pages
• Corporate Author: Pergamon Press, Inc
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

A GRADUATE SCHOOL PROFESSOR OF INTERNATIONAL STUDIES PROVIDES SPECIFIC AND PERSONAL ADVICE ON WHAT CRIMINAL JUSTICE RESEARCHERS SHOULD DO IN ORDER TO GET ON MORE EFFECTIVELY WITH THE CONTEMPORARY RESEARCH ENTERPRISE.

Abstract

FIRST, ACADEMIC RESEARCHERS MUST STOP TALKING ABOUT BEING INTERDISCIPLINARY EXPERTS AND GET OUT INTO THE WORLD. IT IS A CONCEIT OF THE ACADEMIC WORLD THAT PROBLEMS CAN BE LABELED AS BELONGING EXCLUSIVELY TO POLITICAL SCIENCE, SOCIOLOGY, ECONOMICS, AND SO FORTH. AS SOON AS ANY ACADEMICIAN ADDRESSES CONCRETE PROBLEMS OF RESEARCH, IT BECOMES IMMEDIATELY APPARENT THAT INTELLECTUAL ASSISTANCE MUST BE SOUGHT IN A VARIETY OF DIRECTIONS. RESEARCH COMPELS AN INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH, AND BECAUSE THIS APPROACH IS REALLY A NATURAL FUNCTION OF ACADEMIC ENLIGHTENMENT, THE ATTENTION AND FUNDING THAT INTERDISCIPLINARY MATTERS ARE RECEIVING SEEM INORDINATELY AT ODDS WITH THE REAL GOALS OF RESEARCH. SECOND, RESEARCHERS MUST STOP LECTURING PRACTITIONERS ABOUT THE VALUE OF SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH. PRACTITIONERS ARE CORRECT WHEN THEY POINT OUT THAT ACADEMIC RESEARCHERS FREQUENTLY DO NOT PROVIDE ANSWERS THAT FEED INTO OPERATING CONCERNS. RESEARCH IS OFTEN IRRELEVANT, AND RESEARCHERS TOO QUICKLY TURN THEIR BACKS ON THE CONCERNS OF PRACTITIONERS FOR PRACTITIONERS FOR REASONS THAT ARE LARGELY INDEFENSIBLE, INCLUDING ARGUMENTS THAT RESEARCH MUST BE RESPONSIVE TO THEORETICAL, RATHER THAN TOPICAL, CONCERNS. THE PRACTICAL CONCERNS OF PRACTITIONERS ARE NOT A BAD PLACE FOR RESEARCH TO START, PROVIDED THAT A FOUNDATION OF THEORY IS BUILT INTO THE ENTERPRISE. LASTLY, RESEARCHERS MUST AVOID METHODOLOGICAL NARCISSISM; THAT IS, PAYING TOO MUCH ATTENTION TO THEMSELVES AND WHAT THEY ARE DOING. RESEARCHERS TOO OFTEN ACT AS IF THEIR ACTIVITIES ARE THE PROPER SUBJECT OF CONCERN, RATHER THAN THE PROBLEMS OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE. TWO PARTICULARLY OVERSTRESSED PREOCCUPATIONS ARE QUANTIFICATION AND THE COMPARATIVE METHOD. (KBL)