Criminal Justice System

Criminal Justice System

1. Police

   • Accessible at a police station
     • Spend large amounts of time away from it
     • Parts of the station may be hard to access
     • Access to senior officers may be difficult
   • May view the researcher as an outsider
     • May not cooperate
       • Overt participant observation and interviews could prove difficult
       • Cover participant observation is difficult because the researcher is not a police officer
   • Officers are used to paperwork
     • May complete a questionnaire if they have time

2. Courts

   • Access
     • Possible
     • Not in the jury room
       • Jurors cannot be questioned about the discussions in the jury room
   • Legal terminology difficult for researcher not trained in law
   • Documents such as media reports may be available

3. Prisons

   • Access
     • Very difficult
       • Covert participant observation near imposssible
   • Safety of researcher during interviews is an issue
   • Offenders easy to locate
     • May be unavailable
       • Court proceedings
       • Police inquiries
     • Unethical
       • Prisoners could pass on 'guilty knowledge'
   • Likely to have lower literacy levels
     • Questionnaires and interviews need to be carefully planned