Communication in Criminal Justice Settings Paper PDF

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Page 1 Communication in Criminal Justice Settings Paper

Imanje Mobley CJS/205 02/29/16 Dominick Casciotta, Jr.

Page 2 Communication in Criminal Justice Settings Paper When we think of communication, we tend just to think of the words that come out of our mouth, but there is so much more than just that. We also have to think of how we say it. Only 10% of communication involves the words we speak. The other 90% is made up of body language and voice intonation, and listening. Body language is nonverbal communication that is important, even if you are not talking. Body language includes making eye contact, the movement of your head, the way you walk, and hand gestures. Voice intonation, or the tone of voice, is the how you the words come out of your mouth. Whether it is fast, slow, high, low, or even your local talk. Gibson, Johnson, & West, 2014, "Module 1: Human Communication Basics, Verbal and Non-Verbal Messages"). Listening, to most people, is not seen as a part of communication, but it is. Without listening, you would not be able to communicate back to the person, like asking further questions or gaining any knowledge from the other person. In any criminal justice setting, communication, whether verbal or nonverbal, is critical. Without it, the criminal judicial system would not be about justice because in order bring justice, you need communication between officers, the community, and the courts. Effective communication in various criminal justice settings is very critical, whether you realize it or not. Officer's ability to communicate accurately with the public directly affects every other action they perform while on duty. The tone of voice officer uses, their pitch, and choice of words all send strong messages to the public. (Gibson, Johnson, & West, 2014, "Module 2: Report Writing in Law Enforcement, Introduction"). Also, it can make a difference in how to control situations. Whether it is an interview with a suspect, or talking to a victim's family, or speaking to a whole community. With a victim's family, a cop will show empathy to show them that they care and feel sorry for what they are going through at the time. When interviewing a suspect, a cop would

Page 3 sound serious, with a stern voice. Giving a public speech involves you being loud and serious enough so the crowd can hear and take you seriously. With all, the officer has to be able to listen, so they could know how to respond back to the public or other members of the bureau. However, an officer present themselves has a significant impact on their individual images and also affects people's view of their agency. (Gibson, Johnson, & West, 2014. "Module 2: Report Writing in Law Enforcement, Talking to People"). An officer would not be able to communicate effectively without the help of nonverbal communication. An officer could sound authoritative, but if their body language is different, then that could be a problem. For both to be effective, you have to have the appropriate body language for what you are trying to say. When communicating, there are potential barriers. Some are cultural diversity, selfesteem and anxiety, and listening skills. Different cultures sustain their languages, values, beliefs, and social expectations. Cultural differences are problematic when cultural borders are crossed because one culture is not going to understand the other culture when talking to each other. Even if you understand the verbal communications of a different culture, the same gestures have a different meaning. For example, a thumb up is considered good in America, but you would not use it in other countries like Thailand, where it is very offensive. The beckoning arms wave, to the United States of America, means come here, while to people in Singapore, it means death is coming. So the intended message is still disfigured and not transmitted correctly. Self-esteem and anxiety, are two things that can lead to a communication barrier called communication apprehension. It is defined as an individual level of fear or anxiety associated with either real or anticipated communication with another person or persons (ericdigest.org, 2016). Lots of things can happen that leads to communication apprehension. For example being teased as a child, ridiculed in front of a whole crowd, or if you are just simply shy and quiet. (Hybschmann

Page 4 Publishing Inc., 2004). Listening skills are a part of effective communication. If you hear what another person says, rather than listening to it, you will contribute nothing to the communication process and may cause misunderstandings, mistakes, frustration, and less successful conflict resolution. A strategy to overcome this barrier is to practice active listening. Active listening is done when a person makes a conscious effort to hear not only the words that another person is saying but, more importantly, the total message being sent. For officers, if they listen, they will acquire additional facts that allow them to form accurate judgements about incidents or individuals. To do this, it is critical that they pay very close attention to the other person. (Gibson, Johnson, & West, 2014, "Module 2: Report Writing in Law Enforcement, Active Listening"). In a court, there are appropriate communication skills needed to be successful in court. Nonverbal is slightly more important than verbal communication even though both is important in court. With lawyers, they have to help the defendant out, which means that sometimes they have to make that person look innocent, even though they can be guilty. For them, it is easy to lie with their words, but the body language can tell a lot. Sweaty palms, changing the tone of voice, or rubbing their nose, can tell people like the judge or jury that a lawyer is lying. One difference between officer communication and court communication is the clothes. It is mandatory for officers to wear their uniforms, but you can wear anything when you go to court, and what you wear can also communicate to others. Defendants who come with a clean, ironed suit, is more likely to look innocent that someone who wore baggy ripped up jeans with a white tank top. Showing up with the wrong apparel, can tell a judge that you just do not care about what you did or what sentence you are getting. If you are a judge and trying to be serious about a case, you

Page 5 have to sit straight up and make eye contact with whoever is speaking or who you are speaking to at the moment.

Page 6 Reference page Gibson, J., Johnson, K., & West, D. (2014). CJ Communications in the USA (2nd ed.). Retrieved From https://phoenix.vitalsource.com/#/books/978-1-938087-10-3/cfi/6/12. Gibson, J., Johnson, K., & West, D. (2014). CJ Communications in the USA (2nd ed.). Retrieved From https://phoenix.vitalsource.com/#/books/978-1-938087-103/cfi/6/16[;vnd.vst.idref=ch03]. Hybschmann Publishing Inc. (2004). Communication Barriers. Retrieved from http://www.hybschmann.net/commbarr.html Gibson, J., Johnson, K., & West, D. (2014). CJ Communications in the USA (2nd ed.). Retrieved From https://phoenix.vitalsource.com/#/books/978-1-938087-103/cfi/6/16[;vnd.vst.idref=ch03]. ericdigest.org. (2016). Communication Apprehension: The Quiet Student in Your Classroom. ERIC Digest. Retrieved from http://www.ericdigests.org/pre-...