Research Essay

Read the following articles on disabilities and the criminal justice system:

Jones, Jessica. 2007. ‘Persons With Intellectual Disabilities in the Criminal Justice System: Review of Issues’. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology vol. 51 (6): 723-733.

Rubin, Paula N. and Susan W. McCampbell. 1994. ‘The Americans with Disabilities Act and Criminal Justice: Providing Inmate Services’. National Institute of Justice: Research in Action July.

Harry, Bruce and Park Elliott Dietz. 1985. ‘Offenders in a Silent World: Hearing Impairment and Deafness in Relation to Criminality, Incompetence, and Insanity’. Bulletin of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law 13, no. 1: 85-96.

Based on the knowledge you have gained about people from diverse groups and their interaction with the criminal justice system, consider the issue of disability and criminal justice. Select a group considered ‘disabled,’ such as hearing impaired, vision impaired, developmentally impaired, or another (select only one), and research their experience with the criminal justice system. Then, write a researched response to the following question:

What challenges does this group face with the criminal justice system? What data is available about their involvement in the criminal justice system? What reforms are necessary to better respond to this group’s needs in the criminal justice system?

You should consider this from the perspective of both offenders and victims from that group.

Students are required to write between 1900-2100 words in response to the question. Penalties for exceeding 2100 words will be calculated at 5% deducted from the final grade for every 10% or part thereof of the word count that is exceeded. This means that a penalty is deducted as soon as the word count is exceeded. Submissions less than 1900 words will not be graded. Students may struggle, however, to adequately respond to the issues presented in the question if they write too few words. Papers should be submitted through Moodle.

Papers should be written in 12 point, Times New Roman with 1.5 line spacing. A cover page with the student’s details, the total word count, and the question should be included. No running header or footer is required. The paper will also require a reference list/ bibliography of the works cited in the paper. Papers should refer to a minimum of 15 academic sources (books, journal articles, and similar). References should be in Chicago style. If, in the view of the instructor, a submission does not evidence sufficient effort to conform to Chicago style it will receive an automatic zero and be returned to the student without comment or feedback. Papers must be written in an academic voice, with a research essay structure. Reference lists and the cover page are not part of the word count.