The paper will be broken down into four individual sections: Introduction, problem analysis/literature review, recommended solution, and conclusion. To complete the assignment, the student must research the nature of the mental health problem affecting a particular subset of criminal justice professionals, discuss the problem(s) involved, and formulate a plan to best address the prevalence of this problem using empirical evidence from scholarly literature. The “plan” must be specific and include initial steps to set up the policy change or new program, quality assurance measures to ensure effective implementation, data collection mechanisms, and measures for success. The student should write the paper from the perspective of a criminal justice manager in their chosen field who can implement change, and specify the steps, and obstacles, necessary to accomplish their goal.
Using APA standards, in an approximately 8-12 page paper (quality over quantity, length suggestions for each section shown below), the student should:
Section 1: Introduction – Identify and frame the problem. Provide an overview of the mental health issue including its nature and extent, and discuss why this is an important criminal justice related problem (1-2 pages).
Section 2: Conduct a literature review on the topic that includes evidence regarding the extent of the problem and how it is (or is not) currently being addressed. This review should consist of scholarly literature – journal articles, books, government reports. Websites, newspapers, and other printed materials may help frame the problem, BUT they should not be used to form your evidence base. The literature review should focus on both the problem and scholarly research that evaluates or establishes a foundation for the proposed solution. If there are limited solutions available, then students may need to select solutions from other areas and apply them to their problem. For example, there are limited interventions specifically directed at reducing officer cynicism, but a student may choose to modify peer support programs or resiliency training to also address sources of cynicism (3-5 pages).
Section 3: Recommendation – the student will use the empirical evidence to formulate a recommended solution (policy/program/initiative) to address the mental health issue. The plan should be realistic and include both short-term and long-term steps to build toward both long-term and short-term goals. In order to successfully complete the assignment, the student must discuss possible obstacles, ways to overcome these obstacles, counter arguments (i.e. what would adversaries say) and how these counter arguments may best be addressed (3-5 pages).
Section 4: Conclusion – The student will summarize the salient points of their argument and recommendations for the future (approx. 1 paragraph to 1 page).
The first draft of the paper is due for peer review by a fellow student Sunday, April 21, 2024. This paper must be submitted to the professor by email. The paper will be given to a fellow student for peer review. It should be very close to a final product – but it will not be graded by the professor. Another student will provide feedback to improve the paper before it is due to the professor (see guidelines for peer review below).
The final paper is due by Wednesday, May 8th at 11:59pm via Blackboard Turnitin.
