Psychology for law enforcement Essay Example for Free

Psychology for law doment EssayStarting a airal Science building block (BSU) in local law enforcement would benefit the community in many beas. Criminology and psychology conking unitedly can garter in understanding crime that is happening in our society as wellnessy as in our own communities giving remedy means of attending to victims, law enforcement as hearty as the criminals. The study of behavior began in the late 1800s but it was through the work of B. F. Skinner. Behavior theory is the basis for behavior modification and one approached used in institutionalized and non institutionalized settings for ever-changing behavior. The primary thesis is that all behavior is learned and can be unlearned. The approach is concerned with noticeable behavior in contrast to the traditional psychoanalytic emphasis on deep, underlying personality chore that must be uncovered and treated. Behavior theory is based on the belief that it is not the unconscious that is important but , rather, the behavior, which can be observed and manipulated. It is assumed that neurotic symptoms and some deviant behavior are acquired through an unfortunate quirk of learning and are rewarding to the patient.The undesirable behavior can be eliminated, modified, or replaced by taking away the reward value or by rewarding a more appropriate behavior that is incompatible with the deviant one. It is argued that behavior is controlled by its consequences. In dealing without delay with behaviors that are undesirable, behavioral therapy attempts to change the persons long-established patterns of response to himself or herself and to others (Schwartz, 1989). The starting of the BSU would only help to strengthen this theory.The unit should be staffed with respective(prenominal)s that have an educational background that had strength in the area of cordial psychology for the unit to give greatest benefit. Social psychology is the scientific study of how the thoughts, feelings and beha viors of one individual are influenced by the real, imagined, or inferred behavior or characteristics of other people. The focus of social psychology is on social cognition, attitudes, social influence and social action (Miller, 1984).Certified psychologists in counseling should be co-ordinated in requirements for employment. Depending on the budget for the program at least 2 psychologists on call for small departments to having a full time psychologist with a staff working for larger departments. This type of unit should be considered a focus on taproom of crime in and around the community. Peacemaking criminology would be the efforts of this unit. With this it focuses on the legal community rather than the repression of crime.Although crime prevention often means different things to different people, practitioners in the public health community have delineated three frequent approaches that I would deal to use for this discussion primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention (Moore, 1995). Primary prevention attempts to keep criminal behavior from arising in the first place it is order at the entire community and not just at individuals who are seeking or who sine qua non treatment.Secondary prevention concentrates on early identification and treatment of vulnerable or at luck youths, and tertiary prevention entails interventions that protect society from offenders and that reduce the likelihood of recidivist behavior. The nigh effective prevention strategy is one that combines all three modalities. Efforts to address the social disorganization often found in inner-city areas will also be required.We need to put an end to racially segregated and densely inhabit housing projects that concentrate poor minorities, socially isolating them from the middle class and depriving them of the resources necessary for stable communities absolute families and positive role models that reinforce conventional values and provide networks of informal social control . Well funded investments like a Behavioral Science building block can better refer the part of society most in need to the social programs best suited for the individual or individuals (Barkan, 1997).Community based corrections, facilities and programs from those that whitethorn be located in the community but are not, strictly speaking, community based much(prenominal) as BSU will help the society as a whole. The degree to which a corrections ancestor is community based can be measured by the frequency, quality and duration of community relationships as well as by the number of commitments to large state institutions, the extent to which other community service are used, and the degree of involvement by local groups and individuals.Some community correctional centers comprise a wide variety of programs including residential and nonresidential facilities (Miller, 1984). The BSU can help to bridge the gap law enforcement has with these larger community correctional centers. Socia l scientists continue to work toward understanding the causes of crime. Some look for a general theory to explain all crime some of those approaches that look at the social structure or social structure theory. What we do know about crime is that men commit the most, but that some crimes have been increasing among women.We know that most crimes are committed by persons who are mobile residentially and who live in a large city. . We know that among juveniles, those who are bonded closely to their families and schools are less possible to commit delinquent acts or crimes than those who are not bonded. We know that those who are unemployed and hovering at the butt end of societys social class structure are more likely to be gnarly in berth crimes than those who are at the top of the social structure.But that knowledge of the serious property crimes as defined by the FBI must be considered along with data about white turn back crime. This is where the Behavioral Science Unit would be very helpful to local law enforcement the most. Helping the officers to better understand just who they are trained to deal with, criminals (Messner Rosenfeld, 2001). Biologists and chemists were not the only professionals to link behavior to fleshly characteristics. Some early psychologists attempted to explain criminal behavior by means of the inherited characteristic we call intelligence.But the social psychologist look at environment, social interaction as well as biological to look for answers to behaviors and possible ways of deterrence. A society that permits deviation can expect ostracise deviation or crime. Laws emerge because societies understand the need to institute a more formal system of rules of social control. Behavioral theory helps to make the formal system flow more easily and work more efficiently. Laws emerge out of this consensus.Laws are enacted by the group in power as a means of controlling those not in powers. Criminals do not differ necessarily from non criminals, but the deflexion may be in the way society reacts to their behavior. That is why a Behavior Science Unit incorporated into law enforcement offices will only increase the efficiency of the ability of that department to effectively enforce the laws our society has created and to connect the community to these offices in an effort to improve crime in and around the ring communities.