The criminal justice system is affected by the genal problem of identifying the population at risk, requiring intervention by the system. The criminal justice researchers are expected to investigate potential ways to access all communities and conduct studies on hard-to-reach individuals. Statistics indicate that most of the criminal justice cases are based on easy to identify individuals and have limitations that are evident to all persons. For the hard-to-reach population, their issues are more pronounced but less renowned. Such problems make it difficult for criminal justice to determine where researchers will access the community and interact with the hard-to-reach individuals. The following research will explore some of these challenges that affect how criminal justice systems create connections with the hard-to-reach populations and possible ways to overcome the obstacles.
Challenges researchers face when establishing connections with the hard-to-reach populations
The hard-to-reach population refers to the groups and sub-groups of the community that are difficult to achieve. The hard-to-reach individuals are located in regions that are difficult to access, thereby reducing the efficiency of researching these regions. According to Rockliffe, Chorley, Marlow, & Forster, (2018), the hard-to-reach population is affected by factors which impair their ability to participate in research programs. Physical and geographical issues affect research elements among the hard-to-reach the community, including geographical location, and economic situations.
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The criminal justice system is expected to research how hard-to-reach populations are affected by legal cases. The criminal justice system faces detrimental issues when exploring and comparing these groups, impairs the system’s existential issues. Arguably, the criminal justice field research cannot establish proper connections with the hard-to-reach people. These challenges are inclusive of the following:
Poor Economic stability
The regions in hard-to-reach areas are affected by the significant challenge in the economic perspectives. According to Bonevski, Randell, Paul, Chapman, Twyman, Bryant, & Hughes, (2014), these communities strive to meet their financial needs and cannot create time for research activities. The need to meet their financial obligations reduces time spared to participate in studies. The hard-to-reach population may have constrained salaries, which requires them to operate on multiple jobs a day. Therefore, their work-life balance is not equal, with more time dedicated on work, and less time on life. As a result, the criminal justice researchers are unable to develop connections with the locals in hard-to-reach populations. The outcomes are that less studies can be conducted for such groups, which impairs their access to criminal justice systems.
Geographical Locations
Geographical issues present the main challenges in criminal justice systems’ approaches towards reaching the hard-to-get groups. According to a study carried out by Curran, Drust, Murphy, Pringle, & Richardson, (2016), most of the hard-to-reach communities living in regions with different geographical elements. For instance, most of the hard-to-reach groups live in mountain regions. Other groups live in areas surrounded by hills and water bodies, impairs criminal justice’s ability to create connections, and assist them. A study carried out by Rockliffe, et al., (2018) shows that people living in the mountain region have fewer chances of getting internet and phone coverage. This means that they are at risk of poor communication and connection with the criminal justice system purposed to help them with their legal matters. The challenge is significantly more pronounced in groups living in remote areas, near forests, and mountains. The nature of their geographical setting causes significant communication and connection issues, which inhibits the criminal justice system from proper operations.
Language Issues
Another existential issue that affects how criminal justice creates a connection with the hard to reach population is language differences. Most of the communities that live in difficult-to-access regions often use a centralized language that is not based on English. According to Shaghaghi, Bhopal, & Sheikh, (2011), language presents a significant issue since people cannot communicate properly. This affects how individuals can interact with each other and present ideologies among the criminal justice system and the hard to reach individuals. The lack of communication affects how individuals can explain their situation and ways they can be helped. According to Bonevski, et al., (2014), criminal justice personnel should develop trust with individuals through contact with the hard-to-reach people and populations. The differences in languages impair the lack of this communication. This contributes to the poor service delivery by the criminal justice system, leading to poor outcomes in sorting their cases.
Social Challenges
Socialization is one of the crucial elements that contribute to developing good relationships with people from any group. According to Rockliffe, et al., (2018), forging social connections helps people have deep conversations and interactions to express their issues to search for support. The lack of proper socialization with individuals living in hard to reach regions means that they are less accessible. This means that the criminal justice systems cannot collaborate appropriately with the people in these regions, which contributes the impaired connection. As a result, it becomes difficult to extend criminal justice services to these groups.
Structure and Culture
People who live in hard-to-reach areas have a defined social structure and culture that guides their lifestyles. According to Curran, et al., (2016), most of these individuals have established systems to deal with any issues they face and reconcile people who conflict. Introducing a new system presents challenges to the already implemented system, interfering with their overall cultural strategy. As a result, the criminal justice system cannot execute any process that will reduce conflict and improve legislative agencies’ access. Therefore, the differences in structure and culture can interfere with the criminal justice system’s ability and reduce the system’s chances, helping them have proper legislative procedures.
Technological Issues
Technology is one of the challenges which affect people living in the hard to reach regions. According to Bonevski, et al., (2014), technology is continuously being used in most criminal justice systems to ensure that people can access and report their cases to the legislative agencies through digital networks. The approach has been useful when dealing with people from far geographical regions. However, the hard to reach populations are affected by the lack of technological advancements since they do not use the advanced systems to get legislative agencies. According to studies carried out by Rockliffe, et al., (2018), technical impairments in the hidden regions interfere with access to people and inform them about potential strategies used in conducting investigations. As a result, the personnel is disadvantaged by the lack of these technological advancements.
Mitigating the challenges
There are several ways to overcome these challenges, improving the criminal justice system’s access to the hard to reach populations. These challenges are crucial in that they impair the general ability of the justice system towards accessing information and creating connections with locals in the hidden groups. One of the essential strategies is to set up facilities in hard-to-reach places to communicate and collaborate towards meeting the community’s needs. According to Shaghaghi, Bhopal, & Sheikh, (2011), having a remote facility helps research the hidden populations, ensure their data collection, and provide resources to the city for improved focus. Embracing this strategy will assist in increased access to criminal justice services to the hard-to-reach people.
Another critical approach is interacting with one of the people who live in the region. The people in the area have high knowledge of the region’s culture and structure, which means they have more information to help the criminal justice system develop the required connection. The hard-to-reach people have also become accustomed to their legal structures, which is important for the criminal justice researcher to learn about. Having such understanding allows the researcher to abide by the hard-to-reach people’s rules, while presenting the premise for their study. As a result, collaboration with locals supports the system to properly design a collaborative relationship that can guide the findings of the research.
Another strategy is to learn about the community’s language, cultural values, and social lifestyles. Fitting within the hard-to-reach population requires that the criminal justice be informed about their setting, language, and cultural values. Language is also integral in developing connections with the hard-to-reach communities because understanding between the researcher and the participants is established. Such a strategy allows the criminal justice system to efficiently develop a good rapport with the community and understand some of their needs, challenges, and overall skills they portray. Gaining this knowledge improves how the criminal justice system can extend their services to this population for effective outcomes.
Another essential strategy is to provide individuals with advanced technologies to help in remote procedures. According to Rockliffe, et al., (2018), mobile phones, computers, and the internet can help researchers gather information without traveling to the population’s regions. Arguably, the approach can be relatively expensive but will have significant positive outcomes. The strategy will help the hard-to-reach individuals access information about the community and ensure they gain knowledge for their research.
Finally, training and education can improve the researchers’ ability to develop proper collaboration with the population. The importance of training and knowledge enhances the community’s societal values and allows these groups to provide substantive information that guides criminal justice research outcomes. The education programs should improve the focus on language, which will lead to accurate results. Through education, the researchers can develop appropriate connections with the research participants. Such strategies will be crucial towards improving access to information for proper criminal justice research projects.
Conclusion
The above research explores challenges that affect how criminal justice systems create connections with the hard-to-reach populations and possible ways to overcome the difficulties. The study identifies that one of the significant issues existential in criminal justice is building relationships with the hard-to-reach populations. The research determines aspects inclusive of financial challenges, social problems, language issues, technological elements, and the cultural differences among the different people. Integrating these aspects will mitigate the issues and ensure that the criminal justice system will have desired outcomes. Therefore, criminal justice researchers ought to consider these elements in future studies.
References
Rockliffe, L., Chorley, A. J., Marlow, L. A., & Forster, A. S. (2018). It’s hard to reach the “hard-to-reach”: the challenges of recruiting people who do not access preventative healthcare services into interview studies. International journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being, 13(1), 1479582.
Bonevski, B., Randell, M., Paul, C., Chapman, K., Twyman, L., Bryant, J., ... & Hughes, C. (2014). Reaching the hard-to-reach: a systematic review of strategies for improving health and medical research with socially disadvantaged groups. BMC medical research methodology, 14(1), 42.
Curran, K., Drust, B., Murphy, R., Pringle, A., & Richardson, D. (2016). The challenge and impact of engaging hard-to-reach populations in regular physical activity and health behaviours: an examination of an English Premier League ‘Football in the Community’men's health programme. Public Health, 135, 14-22.
Shaghaghi, A., Bhopal, R. S., & Sheikh, A. (2011). Approaches to recruiting ‘hard-to-reach’populations into research: a review of the literature. Health promotion perspectives, 1(2), 86.
