What is the relationship between theory, research, practice and criminal justice policy?
Criminal justice policy and the practice of criminal justice policy comes from research based on theories. Criminal justice policy research seeks to provide assessment and analysis of crime and provide strategies for its reduction. Criminal justice researchers can make their work more relevant to criminal justice policy makers by understanding the politics, power, and policy dynamics that govern how these agencies operate. Criminal justice policy also uses language that has inherent social and moral connotations such as criminals, delinquency, community dysfunction, social isolation, individual and environmental criminogenic factors. Criminological theories focus on personal and societal causes of poverty and crime. Criminal justice policy is geared toward controlling social dysfunction. The cause of dysfunction, and various theories propose, are internal and external factors such as lack of political power, poverty mentality, lack of economic viability, lack of educational achievement, single female head of household families, absent fathers, and so on (Garrison).
Some criminologist devote their research to justice and social control are concerned with how the agencies of justice operate. Criminal justice experts cannot begin to design effective programs of crime prevention or rehabilitation without understanding the nature and cause of crime (Seigel 2011, page 5-6). Practice is defined as to live according to the customs and teachings of. From the criminal justice policy standpoint in relations to practice; the people who practice the law must do research in order to fully understand how to decrease crime. A theory is a belief, policy, or procedure proposed or followed as the basis of action as defined by Webster. By