Sociology Strengths And Weaknesses

Introduction:

Throughout this article review the main points which will be discussed are what I’ve learnt, and comments on the weaknesses and strengths of this article. The strengths and weaknesses will be referring to the research and findings which have been provided by Nina Vaswani, but also I will be providing my own arguments about this criminological writing.

Main findings of the article:

Firstly, one of the main points which I found was the aim of this study which was to provide evidence and research on young men within a prison setting. It was also exploring the bereavement experiences to see if it links to the mental health problems they have and if this can be the main cause of why young men cause crimes. Another main point which

I noticed was how the research was conducted. Vaswani chose to go to a young offender institution, and obtained 81 participants. Vaswani then started the first stage of her study which was a survey which was provided to the 81 participants. After the survey stage, 31 participants remained which took part within private interviews. The participants were asked many questions, where the interviewer would observe their reactions. Both pieces of data were tested differently as the survey was analysed through SPSS statistics. Whereas the interview information was analysed separately and then processed within three different stages (Vaswani, 2014). Another main finding which I identified was within the results as they suggested that bereavement does link to mental health problems, but also shows that people which have been through bereavement resulted in them committing a crime.
This addition piece of evidence which I identified shows that young men do need help to manage their feelings as due to no one intervening this resulted in young men offending or young men re-offending (Vaswani, 2014). I have learnt from this data if young males were provided with the right help with bereavement, then we could possibly prevent many young men offending. This would prevent many crimes from happening or re-occurring (Vaswani, 2014). This article also helped me to determine that if offenders within custody had a death in the family, then they should be provided with help so that they are able to grieve appropriately, but also, be able to attend the funeral to be able to say goodbye. This would provide them with closure to help them with the grieving process. By doing this they will be able to deal with their emotions, and it would help to prevent them from re-offending, as this would help them to settle back into the society when released. I have also recognised within this article has a potential knowledge to understanding crime as we haven’t been provided with knowledge that bereavement could have an affect a young men’s emotional state. Criminologists still need to expand on this topic so that we gain knowledge to positively state that bereavement does contribute to understanding crime. If we were to gain more knowledge to provide that Nina Vaswani information is true then, society could provide help to offenders or young males going through bereavement and mental health problems which would help to prevent crimes from arising again.
While reading this article, I recognised that the author has adopted theories within this article. The first theory which I recognised was the social statisticians as Vaswani’s research was based on observations of young men in custody, which have been or going through a bereavement experience. Vaswani was testing if this experience is linked to the reason of their behaviour, and why they offended. Another theory which I noticed was adopted within the research was social strain and anomie as numerous authors which were added within this research to provide evidence was, Finlay and Jones (Jones, 2000) as they have both stated that ‘’emotional situations which cause distress such as; traumatic bereavements, in childhood or adolescence can be seen as a link to offending and anti-social behaviour.’’ Whereas (network, 2008) have also stated that ‘’ young people which are experiencing or have experienced bereavement can become more vulnerable and have more of a negative behaviour.’’ (Barnardo, 2008) in addition, to social strain and anomie stated that ‘’ many young people which have reported to Barnado’s have stated that bereavement has been a factor to why they offended.’’ All the quotes which I have provided from the research all suggest that bereavement can be a factor to why young men commit crimes. The evidence also provides that bereavement from within the society can be shown as a stress, as offenders are unable to release their feelings.
My views about the article:
The strengths which I have noticed within this article is the author has addressed ethical issues as Vaswani made it known that the participants can leave the study at any time.

Consent was also obtained from each participant which was involved in the study. Another strength was the extensive methodology and background research relating to the topic. As if another criminologist wanted to re-do the study for more extensive knowledge, then it is easy to do so. Another strength while reading the article I notice the layout was basic and easy to understand but with adequate detail. Another strength was the method which was used as I believe surveys and interviews were the easiest way to obtain the information they

require.
The weaknesses which I recognised about was the lack of evidence as it particularly states that ‘’ more studies are required to address these limitations in the evidence base, as no studies have been done on this topic.’’ (Vaswani, 2014) This quote shows that due to no one doing a study there is no background information relating to this topic, so we can’t relate the results from the study to anything so it can’t be said that this article is true. Another weakness within this article is in relation to participants were encouraged to take part or potential participants were approached and notified of the study. This could make the study unreliable due to potential participants were approached they knew the nature of the study, which could impact what the offenders say to the experimenter. Another weakness in relation to participants was the offenders taken part was able to have snacks, and engage in leisure activities while waiting but also due to they were participating within the study they were allowed time away from the duties. (Vaswani, 2014). This weakness as this also can make an impact as offenders could just say what they experimenter wants them to say. This would make the information they have given unreliable, but also rewards them for nothing as they are able to have a break from prison duties.
The improvements which I believe would have improved this research would be Vaswani could have put all the participants in the same conditions, and not stating the treatments. This would have made the results would be more reliable as all participants would have the same amount of knowledge in relation to the study and treated fairly. Another improvement I think would have been the participants should not be approached or encouraged. They should do the study because they want to take part, this would make the results more reliable and honest as this also would make sure that no one has more knowledge than the others. It would make the study more reliable and honest, as all participants will have the same amount of knowledge of the study.
In my opinion, the evidence has showed me that bereavement within adolescence could be a factor to young men offending.

As it has provided a strong argument showing that it does cause an effect because they have a lack of resources to help them with their emotions. This makes them more vulnerable to negative behaviour such as; crime (Vaswani, 2014). Whereas the problem which I have found within the methodology is lack of evidence to provide further results (Vaswani, 2014). As I do believe these results be could unreliable and false due to some participants knowing the nature of the study, and knowing there where special treatments. As these factors could contribute an impact on the answers which were given, and due to lack of evidence from another study, we wouldn’t know if the results are true, as there is nothing to compare them too. As all we have are what other people suggest, which doesn’t provide us with helpful information to be able to understand crime. My opinion of this study is I do believe bereavement is one factor which contributes to young men offending, but I also feel that if there were many other studies which provided strong evidence in relation to this study then I would strongly agree and many others would agree with this

article.
Conclusion:
Within the article, I have shown the main findings. I have also provided the strengths and weaknesses of this article but also my own arguments about this article. From this article the opinion which I have is it does show a real potential of a start to an understanding and knowledge about young men offending having a link to bereavement and mental health. I think that if there is more evidence to back this research, I do believe that in the future it would help many criminologists understand offending in young males, which would also broaden our knowledge in relation to understanding crime.