- Justice, fair and balancedthe balance is an emblem of justice image by Pali A from Fotolia.com
The criminal justice field is one that can be researched in depth very easily. From corrections to legal statutes, there is no dearth of subjects to choose from. Research in this field is done by a multitude of government agencies, including the Department of Justice and the FBI. Those who work in academia are also interested in researching this fascinating field. Students of criminology or criminal justice in college are generally tasked with researching criminal justice topics. Topics that involve controversy generally guarantee that there is a large amount of information to sort through. - Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the act of the government taking a human life as punishment for a crime committed. It is the epitome of a hot button issue. It's an excellent research topic as there is a plethora of statistical information available. However, as it is such an emotionally charged issue, it's imperative that the sources used are evaluated carefully. If a source is used that has a specific agenda, the data may be in question.
- Another interesting research topic in criminal justice is the topic of drug trafficking. It involves the production and the distribution of drugs. In addition, the money used and the organized crime groups and gangs that are a part of drug trafficking operations are also a potential research topic. Drug trafficking is the most lucrative organized crime operation in the United States. Much of this involves groups in South America, as well as groups here in the United States. Much research has gone into the maritime activities that the groups use to transport cocaine and other drugs.
- The subject of prison reform is another subject that contains many avenues for criminal justice research. It can be approached from a racial or gender standpoint. There are a multitude of nonprofit groups that advocate staunch prison reform; as this is a controversial issue, be alert for signs of bias in any statistics that you use for your criminal justice research. Other areas of research within the topic of prison reform include rehabilitation, mandatory sentences and the abuse of prisoners.
- The criminal justice research that has been done on recidivism is complex. Recidivism is defined as offenders returning to criminal behavior after their release from prison. In developing ideal models of treatment, prison design, sentences and parole, recidivism rates are a huge factor. A topic of study that may be fruitful is the study of whether or not longer sentences are in fact a deterrent for crimes. If so, locating which ones may be an interesting topic to study.
