Assignments and Writing Tips
Writing Winning Reports and Papers
Within the spectrum of Criminal Justice; the ability to write effectively is crucial. Every time someone's life liberty or property is affected by what a CJ practitioner does - or doesn't do - there must be documentation.
Patrol officers in both Law Enforcement and Security are generally evaluated by their reports: there is generally little opportunity for supervisors to see what they have done on the job. They produce nothing which is tangible. Their work product is reduced to writing.
The same is true with probation officers, parole officers and others such as case workers or counselors who prepare reports for judicial review.
Investigators write constantly. Their reports represent their work.
Simply put, those who work in Criminal Justice should bear in mind that:
"You are what you write."
Students are also evaluated on the basis of their written work.
For both students and practitioners alike the ability to write effectively determines to a large degree how well they will succeed. If one follows the career path of students and practitioners it becomes quite obvious that:
"Those who write well get ahead. Those who do not stay behind."
Anyone who wishes to succeed in Criminal Justice must be able to impress those who read their written reports, papers, memos,etc.
In the movie PREDATOR, Jesse Ventura said " I ain't got time to bleed". Contemporary managers who perform approximately 570 or more tasks in any given day say : " I ain't got time to read". They are simply too busy to bother with verbose, non-stimulating text. If no one reads something - why write it?
The keys to writing are to attract the attention of the reader and deliver the message in a clear and concise manner.
Communications Concepts
Writing is a form of communication. Think of it as being like a letter. Letters or other forms of communication consist of three basic phases:
Introduction
Body
Closing
The Introduction must be strong and engage the reader's interest. It should not, however, begin with a question unless one is writing a newspaper article. Such an approach is too journalistic and inappropriate for academic or professional writing.
The Body contains the bulk of the information. The Body can be made more 'reader-friendly' through the use of 'bullets' or 'bullet points'. These are simply asterisks, dots or even numbers in front of each point that the writer is trying to make.
Within a paper or article - or letter or memo - the technique works the same. The topic is introduced with a sentence or paragraph. Then the key points are listed below.
This is also known as "column format" as the points are listed in a column.
'Bullets' in an academic paper might look like this:
Standards within organizations serve a variety of purposes. These are for both personnel employed by the organization as well as external stakeholders such as customers, clients or the communities that the organization serves. Some of the common reasons for standards are:
* as a form of benchmarking from which the organization can be compared to similar organizations
* to provide for internal quality assurance when developing procedures
* to defend against negligence claims
* as a form of promotion to potential customers
Using 'bullets' makes the text easier to read and helps the writer to organize their thoughts. When using 'bullets' an outline is being constructed that is later added to. Having this structure; this 'skeleton' enables the writer to add 'the meat' - without forgetting key pieces!
Reports written by police or security officers who are interviewing a victim or witness should also be written in 'bullet format'. An interview with "Jones" might look like this:
Jones told me that:
* He was awake at 6:00pm.
* He was alone at home.
* He heard what he believed to be 3 people shouting.
Note that reports are written in the past tense and first person to avoid confusion. Sentences should be short and simple. Keeping it simple helps reduce the probability of error.
Academic papers are much more formal and are written in the third person.
The Closing must also be strong. It must impact the reader. People remember most vividly what they read, hear or see last.
Having a good Introduction and Closing is vital to impressing the reader. One must remember to:
"Start strong - end strong"
"3, 3 and 30"
A concept used in brochure - or resume - design is that people look at a brochure for approximately 3 seconds before deciding to pick it up.
They then peruse the front cover for 3 seconds before deciding to read it.
If they decide to read it, they scan the contents for 30 seconds.
Both brochures and resumes should list the most important details first. They should also "end strong"; leaving the reader with what the writer thinks is most important. In a resume this could be a listing of 4-6 key courses that the writer took. Listing the most important one first and the next most important one last makes them stand out in the reader's mind.
In an academic paper the beginning would be the Introduction or the Abstract. The end would be the Conclusion. The writer should pay particular attention to these parts. Remember the saying:
"Start strong - end strong"
Visual enhancement can be attained via using supported side headings as is done on this page. Supported side headings (underlined) help direct the reader's eye to the topic.
Perhaps more importantly, they help the writer to organize his/her thoughts. Using side headings to list topics aids the writer when developing a paper. The headings keep the writer focused on the topic they are writing about. The headings form the outline. And outlines are a necessity for organizing writing.
The reader is the final judge of what has been written. Writing for the reader, the 'audience' is crucial. If a specific style or documentation system is expected by the reader; the writer should accommodate them. For report writers there may be a computerized system which requires a certain style of writing to enter the data.
For students and academicians there are other standards and styles. In the Behavioral Sciences, the American Psychological Association has set the standard for documentation. Academic papers in Criminal Justice should be written in APA style. Learning the style takes time and practice. Purdue University's English Department has an online guide. Visit http://owl.english.purdue.edu/workshops/pp/index.html for a PowerPoint presentation on APA style.
Writing is something like shooting: if one looks at the sights for a period of time one's vision blurs. It is good to glance away and then get back to the sights. Taking a break from writing can also help. Let the head clear a little and then get back to it.
Writing a little at a time may be the best course of action for many of us. Organize thoughts in an outline and add to them.