Research Topic Serious Mental Illness in the Criminal Justice System Research Question Following the above worrying statistics and revelations, the research question will be “what viable options can be adopted to address the criminalization of mental health disorders?’’ Paper Instructions The paper will be NO SHORTER than 3 pages but NO MORE than 5 pages long (not including cover page and reference page).  I will ask you to come up with a research problem and design.  You will be expected to explain the process involved in this task.  The idea is that by the time you get to this assignment, you will have an understanding of the concepts involved and an ability to articulate them in writing.   This paper should contain your research question/hypothesis, an abstract, an introduction/problem statement, and a literature review. Your Research Question/Hypothesis: Your specific research question(s) or hypotheses should be stated in your introductory paragraph and in your abstract. Abstract: Your proposal will begin with an abstract of your proposed study (one paragraph). This is basically a summary of your proposal and it includes your research question. Introduction/problem statement (1-2 paragraphs): After the abstract, research proposals generally begin with an introductory section that describes the research problem and establishes its significance. This section answers the following kinds of questions: What exactly do you want to study? Why is it worth studying? Does the proposed study have theoretical and/or practical significance? Does it contribute to a new understanding of a phenomenon (e.g., does it address new or little-known material or does it treat familiar material in a new way or does it challenge an existing understanding or extend existing knowledge)? Literature Review (2-3 pages): This section is a review of the literature on your topic. It is basically a term/research paper on your topic and tells the reader information that has already been discovered regarding your topic. The research problem or objective needs to be situated within the context of other scholarship in the area(s). The literature review presents a discussion of the most important research and theoretical work relating to the research problem/objective. It addresses the following kinds of questions: What have others said about this area(s)? What theories address it and what do these say? What research has been done (or not done) previously? Are there consistent findings or do past studies disagree? Are there flaws or gaps in the previous research that your study will seek to remedy? Three sources are required. All 3 sources must be from an academic journal, not books, newspaper articles, or magazine articles. You may use these as additional sources beyond the required 3 journal articles. This section requires in-text citations in APA format. You must document your sources using the social sciences standard citation method, APA. This method is actually s.

1. Research Topic
Serious Mental Illness in the Criminal Justice System
Research Question
Following the above worrying statistics and revelations, the
research question will be “what viable options can be adopted to
address the criminalization of mental health disorders?’’
Paper Instructions
The paper will be NO SHORTER than 3 pages but NO MORE
than 5 pages long (not including cover page and reference
page). I will ask you to come up with a research problem and
design. You will be expected to explain the process involved in
this task. The idea is that by the time you get to this
assignment, you will have an understanding of the concepts
involved and an ability to articulate them in writing.
This paper should contain your research question/hypothesis, an
abstract, an introduction/problem statement, and a literature
review. Your Research Question/Hypothesis: Your specific
research question(s) or hypotheses should be stated in your
introductory paragraph and in your abstract. Abstract: Your
proposal will begin with an abstract of your proposed study
(one paragraph). This is basically a summary of your proposal
and it includes your research question. Introduction/problem
statement (1-2 paragraphs): After the abstract, research
proposals generally begin with an introductory section that
describes the research problem and establishes its significance.
This section answers the following kinds of questions: What
exactly do you want to study? Why is it worth studying? Does
the proposed study have theoretical and/or practical

2. significance? Does it contribute to a new understanding of a
phenomenon (e.g., does it address new or little-known material
or does it treat familiar material in a new way or does it
challenge an existing understanding or extend existing
knowledge)?
Literature Review (2-3 pages): This section is a review of the
literature on your topic. It is basically a term/research paper on
your topic and tells the reader information that has already been
discovered regarding your topic. The research problem or
objective needs to be situated within the context of other
scholarship in the area(s). The literature review presents a
discussion of the most important research and theoretical work
relating to the research problem/objective. It addresses the
following kinds of questions: What have others said about this
area(s)? What theories address it and what do these say? What
research has been done (or not done) previously? Are there
consistent findings or do past studies disagree? Are there flaws
or gaps in the previous research that your study will seek to
remedy? Three sources are required.
All 3 sources must be from an academic journal, not books,
newspaper articles, or magazine articles. You may use these as
additional sources beyond the required 3 journal articles. This
section requires in-text citations in APA format. You must
document your sources using the social sciences standard
citation method, APA. This method is actually simpler than
MLA.
I have attached an academic journal to be used as one of the
sources for this paper. I have also attached the cite for it for the
references page.
Schnittker, J., Massoglia, M., & Uggen, C. (2012). Out and
down: Incarceration and psychiatric disorders.
Journal of Health and Social Behavior,

3. 53
(4), 448-64.
doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.library.berkeley.org/10.1177/0022
146512453928
For example, to cite a textbook after you talk about a theory,
you need only put the author’s last name and year of
publication: His lack of self-control suggests Latent Trait
(Siegel, 2008). Then in your References (bibliography), you
write:
Siegel, L. (2008). Criminology: the core. Belmont, CA:
Thomson Wadsworth.
Also, some databases, such as Proquest, will automatically put
its listed sources in APA format for you. You can also use
citation assistants online or in Microsoft Word. Lastly, you can
always go to the ASC for assistance in writing, paraphrasing,
and referencing. Include only those articles that support the
logic of the argument and/or the proposed research methods. For
instance, if you are interested in studying juvenile delinquency;
the literature review would include studies on that topic, not
domestic violence. Discuss recent developments and potential
avenues for new research. Review the discussion and conclusion
sections of most scholarly articles – the authors will identify
ways to improve and/or expand research of a particular issue.
Using information is a good way to come up with unique
research ideas. Finally, your independent variable and
dependent variable should be the framework to use in
developing the literature review. Remember that your
hypothesis will seek to test the relationship between the two
core variables, so knowing what the literature says about those
two variables will become critical.

4. CONSTRUCTING A PROPOSAL
Designing the Study:
This assignment requires you to complete a research proposal
and to conduct a small research project of your own to serve as
a pilot study. Each section of the paper should be clearly
labeled - Abstract, Introduction/background, Literature review –
etc. Please "bold" these sections and adhere to proper APA
headers. Make sure you have an APA formatted title page and
that your entire paper reflects proper APA in-order to avoid
plagiarism and to provide clarity of discourse.
Your Research Question/Hypothesis:
.
Your specific research question(s) or hypotheses should be
stated in your introductory paragraph and in your abstract. You
will submit your hypothesis to your professor in Week 4 for
approval and/or revision.
Abstract:
Your proposal will begin with an abstract of your proposed
study (one paragraph). This is basically a summary of your
proposal and it includes your research question.
Introduction/problem statement
(1-2 paragraphs): After the abstract, research proposals

5. generally begin with an introductory section that describes
the research problem and establishes its significance. This
section answers the following kinds of questions: What
exactly do you want to study? Why is it worth studying?
Does the proposed study have theoretical and/or practical
significance? Does it contribute to a new understanding of a
phenomenon (e.g., does it address new or little-known
material or does it treat familiar material in a new way or
does it challenge an existing understanding or extend
existing knowledge)?
Literature Review
(2-3 pages): This section is a review of the literature on
your topic. It is basically a term/research paper on your
topic and tells the reader information that has already been
discovered regarding your topic.
The research problem or objective needs to be situated within a
context of
other scholarship in the area(s). The literature review presents a
discussion of the most important research and theoretical work
relating to the research problem/objective.
It addresses the following kinds of questions: What have others
said about this area(s)? What theories address it and what do
these say? What research has been done (or not done)
previously? Are there consistent findings or do past studies
disagree? Are there flaws or gaps in the previous research that
your study will seek to remedy?
Three sources are required. All 3 sources must be from an
academic journal, not books, newspaper articles or magazine
articles. You may use these as additional sources beyond the
required 3 journal articles. .

6. This section requires in-text citations in APA format. You must
document
your sources using the social sciences standard citation
method,
APA
. This method is actually simpler than MLA. For example, to
cite your textbook after you talk about a theory, you need only
put the author’s last name and year of publication:
His lack of self-control suggests Latent Trait (Siegel, 2008).
Then in your References (bibliography), you write:
Siegel, L. (2008).
Criminology: the core
. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth.
To find out the rules for APA style, please refer to the Berkeley
Libguide at:
http://berkeleycollege.libguides.com/content.php?pid=197278&
sid=1650985
You can also look at the APA guide from the library at CUNY
John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
http://www.lib.jjay.cuny.edu/research/apastyle2010.pdf
.
You can also look at the OWL Purdue Writing Lab:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

7. Also, some databases, such as Proquest, will automatically put
its listed sources in APA format for you. You can also use
citation assistants online or in Microsoft Word. Lastly, you can
always go to the ASC for assistance in writing, paraphrasing,
and referencing.
Your professor will be inviting the Writing Center to your class
to conduct a presentation on APA guidelines.
Include only those articles that support the logic of the
argument and/or the proposed research methods. For instance, if
you are interested in studying juvenile delinquency; the
literature review would include studies on that topic, not
domestic violence. Discuss recent developments and potential
avenues for new research. Review the discussion and conclusion
sections of most scholarly articles – the authors will identify
ways to improve and/or expand research of a particular issue.
Using the information is a good way to come up with unique
research ideas. Finally, your independent variable and
dependent variable should be the framework to use in
developing the literature review. Remember that your
hypothesis will seek to test the relationship between the two
core variables, so knowing what the literature says about those
two variables will become critical.
Procedures: Methods Section
(1 -2 Pages)
This section describes how you will conduct your study.
Regardless of the type of research you plan to do, you need to
indicate how you will carry out your study so others may judge
its viability, its worth, etc. For example, for empirical research,
this section includes a description of the subjects (or

8. participants), the measurements, the data-collection methods,
and analysis/analyses (1-2 Pages). Outline how you would
conduct your own study on a topic in criminal justice. This
section should be detailed and provide enough information for
another person to replicate your study based entirely on the
information included in this section. A detailed methods section
would include the following:
a.
Restate Your Hypothesis:
Make sure you provide a clear statement of your research
hypothesis. This will also include identification of the
independent and dependent variables.
A statement of your
hypothesis
. Make sure to state your independent and dependent variables.
For example, Prison-based college programs reduce recidivism.
Prison-based college programs is the IV and recidivism is the
DV
b.
Subjects for study
Describe the subjects (people or objects, e.g. texts) for your
study, considering carefully the type and number you need.
Explain your method of selecting your sample.
Describe the population and how the sample will be drawn.
Discuss the subject(s) in relation to your research question or
hypothesis, to availability, and to your research design. That is,
you need to identify the subjects and make clear whether they

9. will be available and how you will reach them. This section
typically answers the following questions: Who or what will
you study in order to collect data? Is it appropriate to select a
sample from a larger pool? If so, how will you do that? How do
these subjects relate to your research question(s)? How you will
identify members of the population and how you will select the
sample. What sampling method are you using? How many
people will be included? What geographical area are you
focusing upon?
c.
Measurement
.Describe the kinds of measures you intend to use and explain
why you have selected these (have they been used previously?).
A discussion of measurements generally considers the following
questions: What are the key variables in your study? How will
you define and measure them? Do your definitions and
measurements draw on or differ from those of previous research
in this area? You want to consider whether you will use
concurrent, retrospective, direct or indirect product
measurements or some combination of these. Your research
question should guide you in your selection.
Your conceptual and operational definitions of the variables in
your hypothesis will be clearly stated in this section.
Remember a conceptual definition provides an idea regarding
the concept; a operational definition is specific to how the
concept will be measured. For example:
Conceptual:
Success:
one’s ability to succeed
Operation:

10. Success
is measured by no recidivism and/or reduced disciplinary
infractions.
Conceptual:
Inmate:
A person who is incarcerated.
Operational:
Inmate:
A male or female between the ages of 18 and 65 incarcerated for
a minimum of 5 years/maximum of 55 years in a NYS
correctional Facility.
d.
Data-Collection Methods
Describe what you plan to actually do and the kind of research
you will conduct. Your data-collection methods obviously need
to be consistent with your research
problem, your subjects and your measurements. This section
typically considers whether you will utilize surveys, 1:1
interviews, secondary data analysis, ethnography, etc. If you are
conducting a survey or interview, please attach your questions
as an appendix. If you are conducting an ethnography, please
attach your field notes as an appendix.