180 Interesting Criminal Justice Research Topics

The study of law often seems difficult at the beginning since the subject appears quite new to most students. Unlike math or even history, which is taught in school, you get introduced to the law as a subject mostly in your bachelor's degree course. Needless to say, criminal justice, which is one of the crucial sections of legal studies, will also seem a bit challenging to students when they start.

If you are a law student who has been assigned to write a research paper on a criminal justice topic, you need to be very careful while choosing the topic. The criminal justice research topic, you choose, has a significant impact on the overall quality of the paper. But before we give you several suggestions for criminal justice research topics, there are few things you need to know.

What is Criminal Justice Research Paper?

Criminal justice can be defined as a generic term that refers to the laws, institutions, procedures, and policies at play before, during, and after the commission of a crime. If you are a law student, there are high chances that you will be asked to prepare a criminal justice research paper for your course. While the choice of topic may be important, you also need to know a few things about writing a criminal justice research paper.

Criminal Justice Research Paper Outline

Before you start writing a research paper, you need to prepare the criminal justice research paper outline, which will help you organise your thoughts. Moreover, the outline serves as the template for your entire paper and reminds you to include all the crucial details in the paper. When you have an outline for your paper, it is easier for you to comply with the format of the paper.

As you may already know, the basic outline of a research paper includes the following elements:

The introduction

• A brief introduction to the topic or issue
• The methodology used for the paper
• The thesis statement
• Literature review
• A brief explanation of the relevance of the research

The body

• Detailed information about the main points of your argument
• Highlighting your points by using on paragraph each

The conclusion

• A brief summary of all the main points and/or facts discussed in the body
• Reiteration of the thesis statement
• Closing thoughts

When you prepare the criminal justice research paper, try to stick to the outline at all cost. However, you also need to adhere to the formatting guidelines while drafting the paper.

Criminal Justice Research Topic Format

Generally, when you are told to write a research paper, your instructor tells you which formatting style to use. In most cases, the research papers in criminal justice are formatted in APA style. So, when you start drafting the paper, try to keep these following elements as per the instructed formatting guidelines.

• Margins
• Title page
• The numbering of pages and paragraphs
• Spacing between line
• Indentation
• Alignment of the text
• Titles of the books, magazines, newspapers, journals etc.
• Table of contents

It is recommended to keep the APA manual (or the handbook of the instructed formatting style) at your disposal.

Criminal Justice Research Paper Topics

As mentioned before, the topic of your criminal justice research paper will have a significant impact on the success of the paper. If you cannot think of any bright ideas for the criminal justice research topic, you can take inspiration from the following suggestions:

1. Criminal justice debate topics

• Hate crime towards a race or a religion
• War crimes committed by the United States
• The link between crime and people with mental health problems
• The significance of capital punishment in today’s justice system
• Rape culture and victim’s rights
• Prevention of gun violence in the context of gun control
• The link between organised crime and political corruption
• Juvenile detention reform
• Child maltreatment and criminal behaviour
• The representation of domestic abuse on the media

2. Criminal justice research proposal topics

• How bias in the system impacts criminal justice?
• Illegal genetics research and the consequences
• The portrayals of serial killers in media
• The role of criminal justice administration if crime control
• The impact of social media on the crime rate
• Identity theft and its prevention policies
• How does criminal justice affect public health?
• A legal perspective on cybercrime
• Sex offender registry – what are the pros and cons?
• The latest innovations in experimental criminology

3. Criminal justice thesis topics

• The role and functions of forensic science in modern criminal justice
• How does the witness protection program function?
• How to differentiate civil and criminal cases?
• Is the restorative justice model the best one for criminal justice?
• Should juries be cross-sectional representations of the community?
• Should there be compulsory minimum sentences for criminal offences?
• What are the rights of criminals and prisoners?
• Should we remove the special system of juvenile justice?
• Should capital punishment be abolished?
• Is plea bargaining a legitimate way of settling criminal cases?

4. Criminology research paper topics

• Violence against the homeless
• Explore the link between unemployment and the crime in Australia
• The significance of community correction amongst youths
• Laws protecting the victims of domestic abuse
• What can be done to prevent elder abuse?
• The unethical sides of law enforcement
• Does education has anything to do with the crime level?
• The significance of gender on the type of law violation
• How does owning a firearm correspond with law violation?
• How does the immigrant status of a person correlate with law violation?

5. Criminal justice essay topics argumentative

• Is there a link between family status and law violation?
• Does the crime rate depend on the neighbourhood?
• How do biological factors relate to law violation?
• What motivates a person to kill another?
• Different takes on the prevention policies around prostitution
• Different ways of detection and prevention of terrorism
• The implications of hate crime in criminal justice
• Should the police practice discretion while enforcing the law?
• Sexual assaults in schools and workplaces
• The link between substance abuse and crime

6. Criminal law topics for research paper

• Is the death penalty effective in crime deterrence?
• Is Extradition law fair?
• Is eyewitness testimony really helpful in an investigation?
• Drug testing on the school ground
• Is the modern justice system racist?
• How can one protect him/her from a false accusation?
• Can restrictive housing help decongest prisons?
• The pros and cons of decriminalisation of marijuana
• Between reform and punishment, which one offers more benefits?
• Is restorative justice model the best criminal justice tool?

7. Judicial system research topics

• Write a case study on jailhouse informants
• The consequences of false confession
• Study the process of jury selection
• Discuss the problems surrounding intellectual property law
• The significance of the international criminal court in the fight against crime against humanity
• Study international criminal law
• Gender justice and gender equality in a country
• Unwarranted arrests and human rights
• The difference between murder and homicide
• How can marginalised communities have swift access to justice?

8. Criminal Justice Research Topics about Court Cases

• How do drug courts work?
• What can be learned from the history of criminal courts?
• What underlying problems do the problem-solving courts address?
• The inner workings of the criminal justice court
• Forgery cases in educational institutions and government organisations
• Discuss a case study involving wildlife harming and exploitation
• What are the prosecution and punishment for robbery?
• How discriminatory is the Australian court system?
• The consequences of the discriminatory portrayal of minority groups in the media
• Discuss a case study of corporate crime

9. Crime and punishment essay topics

• How does social class correspond to the crime rate?
• How does crime mapping help in visualising and analysing crime incident patterns?
• How can we detect and prevent cases of child abuse?
• Discuss the punishments of natural resource theft
• Should theft and shoplifting have stricter punishments?
• How does systematic bias impact criminal justice?
• How does organised crime affect criminal justice?
• Crime control in criminal justice administration
• The role of psychometric examinations in criminal justice
• The hidden pitfalls in the prison system

10. Controversial criminal justice topics

• Sexual abuse and exploitation committed by United Nations peacekeepers
• Child support and incarcerated parents
• Youth offenders and boot camps
• What are the current issues plaguing the Australian law enforcement?
• Discuss a case of fraud in the scientific field
• Celebrity drug abuse
• Comprehensive research on male or female serial killers
• The exposure of children to violence
• Criticise an established criminology theory
• The relationship between crime and intelligence

11. Criminal justice research topics for college students

• Evaluate the key principles of crime prevention
• Discuss internet vigilantism and revenge leaks
• Analyse the significance of parental abduction laws
• Evaluate the procedure of jury selection
• When do Felony disenfranchisement laws apply?
• Identify the risk groups of juvenile recidivism
• What laws can be introduced to protect kids from online predators?
• How do ethics and criminal justice go together?
• How has information-sharing technology helped in the fight against terrorism?
• Drug use and youth arrests

12. Juvenile justice research paper topics

• Discuss the best school programs to prevent juvenile delinquency
• The rehabilitation of juveniles is possible only after they have committed a crime
• Is house arrest better for a juvenile than prison?
• Discuss the link between juvenile crime and drug abuse
• The justice system should focus more on the treatment of young adults than on punishments
• Social workers need to work closely with the justice system while dealing with juvenile delinquents
• How foster care systems often lead the kids to juvenile delinquency?
• What can parents do to raise a child who is delinquent?
• How can bullying lead to a juvenile act of violence?
• Discuss the major reasons why young adults commit a crime

13. Criminal psychology research topics

• How does pornography push a person to commit a crime?
• Discuss a case study related to a criminal with personality disorders
• Evaluate the psychology of a serial killer
• How to identify a person with criminal intentions from his/her behaviour
• How does a role in law enforcement impact on the private life of the individual?
• What is the major reason behind the mass killings in the US?
• Is society neglecting the cases of domestic violence aimed towards men?
• The increasing susceptibility which leads to more home-grown terrorists
• The major factors that influence young adults to become juvenile murderers
• How to minimise the risks of those in special education ending up in the penal system?

14. Criminal investigation research paper topics

• The major problems that law enforcement needs to solve today
• How does aggressive behaviour correlate with criminal tendencies?
• Human trafficking in today’s world
• How different male crimes are from female crime?
• What is the danger of youth gangs?
• How is fieldwork done in criminology?
• What laws and precautions are there against campus crime?
• How does the criminal trial process go?
• Comparison between the legislative frameworks of two different countries
• How are the prosecution laws applied in practice?

15. Criminal justice policy paper topics

• Discuss the different classifications of crime systems
• Does the “War on drugs” really solve the drug problem?
• Is criminal insanity a reason enough for exemption from liability?
• Police brutality in the US
• What is the correlation between race and crime?
• Should all new employees in a company be checked for a criminal background?
• Are the cases of delinquency higher among immigrant children?
• The controversy around the legalisation of prostitution
• Is predictive policing effective?
• Is selective incapacitation an effective policy for reducing crime?

16. Criminal justice literature review topics

• Discuss the current conditions of political prisoners
• Evaluate the roles of jailhouse lawyers
• How one can protect him/her from wrongful conviction?
• Women in prison
• What can be done to reduce the number of drunk driving cases?
• Should there be mandatory sentencing for every crime?
• How to police a protest in today’s date?
• There should be three strikes rule in practice
• The importance of child protective services in ensuring the safety of children
• The significance of civilian review boards

17. Cyber crime research paper topics

• What can parents do to protect their children from cyberbullying and cyberstalking?
• Discuss the potential effect cyber currencies could have on the Australian businesses?
• How is the rise of cyber attacks challenging the existing rules for governing the use of force?
• Identify the major reasons behind the increasing instances of cyberbullying among young adults
• Can school-based intervention programs prevent cyberbullying in adolescents?
• Discuss the legislation around cyber crime
• What are the various viewpoints regarding cyberbullying?
• What types of scams are identified as a cyber crime?
• What are the key concepts of cybersecurity?
• How has cyber security affected the retail industry?

18. Criminal justice term paper topics

• Discuss a case study on kidnapping and ransom
• How can law enforcement minimise prison violence?
• Enforcement and effectiveness of stalking laws
• Discuss the juvenile detention reform
• Abuse of power by the officials in the criminal justice system
• Art-related crimes such as trafficking of antiquities
• A study on crime against animals
• Internet and mental health issues
• Is rational choice theory valid in today’s date?
• Crime in dysfunctional families

Hopefully, now you have enough suggestions for your criminal justice research topics. However, if you still need more help, don’t hesitate to ask for professional assistance.

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