Assignment 1: Conceptual Framework Paper. This paper, which is worth 2

by Caaltu · June 1, 2024

Assignment 1: Conceptual Framework Paper.

This paper, which is worth 20 points, is a systematic review of police-related concepts and theories based on your research question(s). The completed paper must be 4 to 6-pages long, double-spaced. Title and references are not counted as part of the page requirement. The paper must include the following four heading and subheadings: Title, Introduction, Conceptual Framework, and References.

You will introduce your research question(s), and describe rationale, significance, and goal(s) of your research in the Introduction.
In the Conceptual Framework section, you will begin with a general statement in which you will mention all the concepts/theories you will review as found in the literature. You will then go over them one by one according to what you read in the literature. There should be at least two paragraphs for each concept/theory. Please note that you will NOT present or write any empirical evidence on the concepts/theories in this paper. You will NOT provide any empirical data on the validity of the concepts/theories. Instead, you will find from the literature at least three concepts/theories that are relevant to or helpful for understanding police-related research question(s) you introduce earlier and provide a detailed explanation of them one by one. For example, if your research question is: Why are some homicide cases solved by the police while others are not? Concepts/theories related to this question, as found in the literature, may include the social class theory, the equal diligence theory, and the psychological impact theory, which have all been used to explain police homicide clearance. If your research question is: What are some of the emerging ways to control police misconduct? Concepts/theories related to this question, as found in the literature, may include the use of force policy, the early warning system, and independent police auditing, which have also been covered in the literature.

At least six references of books and journal articles are required for this review. All books and journal articles used should be relevant to your topic, cited in the text and listed in the reference page in APA or ASA style. Excessive quotes should be avoided and plagiarism will result in automatic failure of this assignment. Where quotes are used, original authors and page numbers should be documented. Internet sources can be cited only when credible sources such as authors, sponsors, and/or publishers are listed and when complete papers and/or sufficient information are posted online.

Topics for this paper must be related to policing. The following topics are suggested: Policing Gun Violence, Policing Violent Crimes, Police Accountability, and Police Performance. Keep in mind that the focus of this paper is on conceptual understandings and/or theoretical explanations of the problems as targeted by the police, NOT on data, statistics or police practices that demonstrate whether the concepts/theories have been applied/used effectively, which will be the focus of the empirical evidence paper later in the semester.
Police theories refer to explanations about police policies, programs, and behavior. For example, some anti-gun programs are created because the police believe by aggressively pursuing gang members involved in gun violence, by extensive and intensive stop-and-frisk activities in crime hot spots, by buying back guns with no questions asked, or by collaborating with multiple government agencies and community groups, they would be able to reduce gun crimes. Such theories or perspectives or concepts are widely published in research literature and should be the core of this paper. You should not talk about specific police programs in specific locations or try to suggest whether these ideas are valid because your focus is on discussing the concepts and theories only. Traditional criminological theories such as strain, differential association, social learning, and labeling are used to explain criminal and delinquent behavior, not specific police policies and programs or behaviors, and therefore are NOT appropriate for this paper.
When choosing the policing concepts and/or theories, you should also have the foresight of having enough materials in the literature on the validity of the concepts or effectiveness of related police policies/programs, because your second paper, due at the end of the semester, will be focused on the empirical evidence portion of the concepts/theories. This is another reason why you should not use traditional criminological theories as your concepts, which are seldom used in guiding police activities or evaluating police programs.