Criminal Justice
Empirical evidence from research provides the analysis and assessment of crimes, which in return creates the opportunity to establish strategies for reduction or prevention. In the criminal justice system environment, researchers provide empirical evidence, which influence the decision-making process in order to meet the needs of the policy-makers. Primarily, policy making in the criminal justice sector is the result of the vertical and horizontal dynamics of the decision-making system in which several factors are being considered. In this sense, decision-making can be associated with the exercise of political power. Multiple forces influence policy and one of which is empirical research. The only aspect of empirical evidence that makes it a minor influencing factor in the decision-making and policy making is the fact that the processes involve in research is linear while the decision-making process is not. Empirical evidence only suggests that there are inconsistencies in every decision.
For instance, if the empirical researcher is attempting to measure or define the context of criminality and or the outcomes of breaking the law, and relate them to one another, the research process will eventually result in unnecessary variations in outcomes. If there is a variation in outcomes, the evidence found in the empirical study will only add more factors for consideration in the decision-making process. Hence, the multiplicity of factors will likely to delay the decision-making process, notwithstanding the policy-making process. Therefore, empirical evidence should only play the part of being contextual reference that will provide insights for the decision-making process and not entirely a basis thereof. On the other hand, the influence of power in the decision and policy making process should be limited, otherwise the outcome of the decision or policy will not likely to render beneficial effect towards the genera population, hence, politics should only play the role of a guiding principle in the process.
