Topic for Thesis

[Brant711]

Hey everyone, I'm about to start a thesis in Graduate school and I was looking to get some advice.

I was wondering what are some common research or (hot) topics discussed in the Criminal justice/Law Enforcement field. I have some ideas but I feel that I will run short as I start working on them.

Any help here is much appreciated. Thanks.

[RO56]

Hey everyone, I'm about to start a thesis in Graduate school and I was looking to get some advice.

I was wondering what are some common research or (hot) topics discussed in the Criminal justice/Law Enforcement field. I have some ideas but I feel that I will run short as I start working on them.

Any help here is much appreciated. Thanks.

Perhaps I can offer a suggestion:

Why don't you write your thesis on the recent increase in the number of people who register on police-related forums, then ask the "cops" on these relatively anonymous internet sites to provide the content for their homework?



Just kidding ... we get a lot of people on here who think we are a panacea for their entire undergraduate degree.

You want a hot LE-related topic? Pick ANYTHING related to ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION.

[K-9MALY]

The Patriot Act and how it collides with personal liberty and conditions of a free state.

I love racial profiling as a topic...got quite in depth on my own college final paper with that.

Determinant and Undeterminant sentencing of people and how it correlates to the overcrowding or revolving door in prison.

There is a whole gamet of topics, pick one that you feel you would enjoy researching, and providing a new slant or theory on.

[squeeeg]

I know somebody that did his on juvenile delinquency and the recidivism rate in the county that he worked at. You can also talk to some of you instructors for guidance.

[Kimble]

I did mine on why people choose to create counterfeit U.S. currency, how its done, and how the U.S. government works to combat it (I was doing an internship with Secret Service at the time ).

[koban4max]

I did mine regarding why kids (youth) do crimes. I got an A for it.:D

[manahmanah]

I think a good idea would be on how TASERS have saved many more lives than they have taken.

[BP348]

I'm doing mine on Social Disorganization and fear of victimization.

I originally wanted to do mine on Illegal Immigration but that was a Political science thing not a criminology thing.

Depending on the school there are thousands of topics you can choose from. Find something that your interested in and run with it.

[oscarmitre]

Hey everyone, I'm about to start a thesis in Graduate school and I was looking to get some advice.

I was wondering what are some common research or (hot) topics discussed in the Criminal justice/Law Enforcement field. I have some ideas but I feel that I will run short as I start working on them.

Any help here is much appreciated. Thanks.

If you fix your research question on a HOT topic you're going to bump against everyone else who had the same idea. Your professor/instructor is going to get glazed eyes reading fourteen major papers on Broken Windows and Zero Tolerance - just using them as an example. I don't know what reading you've done but why not go back and read some of the classic of the cj sector? Niederhoffer is one I'd recommend. Us cops are probably not the best people to advise you, we deal with the job as it comes up and we don't get much time to reflect on the finer points (unless we're studying or teaching).

Having said that, what about an update on some previous issues that may have been dormant for some time? The militarisation of policing in the US is one that lasts and in the last few years it's not so much militarisation regarding SWAT and weaponry (which was the focus of an earlier study) but the seeming reduction in discretion being used by officers; their willingness to intervene in political situations, usually on the side of the more conservative aspect of an issue. Is this a product of the huge changes in US society since 9/11? Are US cops less tolerant of expressions of dissent post 9/11? Has the NYPD exceeded the range of a domestic police force protecting a city by having what might be called "intelligence agents" in foreign countries (the UK for example) and by operating almost like another FBI? Have the major departments - NY, LA, Chicago etc. - been co-opted by the federal government in the GWOT? Is this a good thing? Shouldn't the local authorities control their own police agencies rather than see them under the way of the federal authorities?

Have a read of this thread http://www.forums.realpolice.net/showthread.php?t=63326 -would this have happened before 9/11?

[TPDHellhound]

I'm doing mine on Social Disorganization and fear of victimization.

I originally wanted to do mine on Illegal Immigration but that was a Political science thing not a criminology thing.

Depending on the school there are thousands of topics you can choose from. Find something that your interested in and run with it.

+1

Maybe how the law and the Courts protect the suspect more than the victim... and how that concept has paralyzed out justice system.

[Rabbit23]

I think a good idea would be on how TASERS have saved many more lives than they have taken.

I did mine on less lethal weapons (current and in development) and aced the paper. You'd be suprised what some of these brainiacs and inventors are thinking up.

[Stan Switek]

I did mine on "rhetoric and the art of persuasion in police work." :rolleyes:

[SargL]

Have you thought about doing your thesis on the REAL ID ACT? This topic is really heating up, and several states are already rebelling. The cost estimates for the act are 11 billion nationwide. Here in California, the cost is estimated to be 500 million to make our licenses comply with the requirements of the act. I can envision a number of issues you could argue and investigate, such as cost vs. actual benefit, alternatives, status quo, etc.

I recently did a paper regarding California’s requirement of proving legal residency before issuing a driver’s license, which is directly associated with the REAL ID ACT. There is a significant volume of information available on this topic.