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Barriers to Effective Communication

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Barriers to Effective 1

Barriers to Effective Communication
Cyndi White
CJA/304
October 31, 2011
Stewart Stanfield

Barrier to Effective 2
The process of communication and its components When it comes to the criminal justice system, communication plays a very crucial part; it will be the key element for success. Each and every officer, from a rookie all the way up to the chief of police, must be able to speak, listen and understand each person they come in contact with on a daily basis. In the field of Criminal Justice there is no room for any type of poor communication while they are doing their job, it would be a waste time and energy for both parties involved. In 1928 an author named I. A. Richards best summed up the definition of what communication means when he said “Communication takes place when one mind so acts upon its environment that another mind is influenced, and in that other mind an experience occurs which is like the experience in the first mind, and is caused in part by that experience” (Wallace & Roberson, 2009, chapter 2). People need to remember that communication is a process and is not an isolated event that happens. There is believed to be five basic steps to make up the communication process; 1.) transmitting the idea, 2.) sending the idea through a medium, 3.) receiving the message, 4.) understanding the idea, and 5.) providing feedback to the message sender. If a failure does occur during any of these five steps, then the communication process is flawed and then the information will not flow in a smooth, accurate manner. Transmitting the idea is a step that implies some type of formation with one or several thoughts and then having the desire to express one or more of these ideas. Even though some people will have thoughts that will be better off left unsaid to those around them. The next step that was mentioned above is sending

Barriers of Effective 3 the idea through a medium and this is where a message is formed and then sent to who needs to receive it. When transmitting an idea it can be done in many ways such as; orally, by some kind of action or be done in writing. Yet, no matter what way the medium is used to send a message it will more than likely be interpreted in a different way. The third step is receiving the message, and needs to be acted upon in order to be able to act on it. The fourth step, understands the idea, and this is where if the message is not fully understood then it will be impossible to be able to give a feedback. Finally step five is providing feedback to the message sender, and this is the last step in the communication process. This is where the sender receives feedback to let them know that the message was understood.
Differences between listening and hearing in communication When it comes to listening and hearing in communication, a person can listen to what is being said without actually looking at the person that is speaking to them. Yet, in order to hear what is actually being said from someone, a person must clear their mind completely out and pay attention. Another reason that people to do not listen to each is because it is force of habit. A lot time this will start early in childhood, and without a certain environment and training they will never be able to listen to what someone has to say. For officers there are three important steps in the listening process. “First, the officer should try to avoid developing a preconceived notion of the speaker or the message” (Wallace & Roberson, 2009, chapter 4). Secondly, the officer may have to use a language system for different types of cultures. Finally, the officer might need to retain the message that they heard earlier later on. “Tonight there was an incident at the corner

Barrier of Effective 4 of my street where there was a drive by shooting type of situation, and the officers that came to the scene had to listen to each individual on what exactly happened. Since there was more than witness to what happened, each of the officers took each witness one by one and talked to them. This way they were listening and hearing to what was being exactly said by each one of the witnesses. At first all of the witnesses were trying to talk at once, and the officers were having a hard time understanding exactly what happened.” This was a great way of an officer showing the listening and hearing skills that were taught to them.
The formal and informal channels of communication in Criminal Justice organizations “Channels and directions of communication deal with the flow or movement of information from the sender to the recipient” (Wallace & Roberson, 2009 chapter 4). The main two channels that are used in any type of organization would be formal and informal.
Formal channels are the more traditional form of communication that are used within police organizations and will usually follow a chain of command. These normally consist of some form of formal orders or written memorandums. This way it can provide a sense of order and security to the police officers and others. “Formal channels also provide certain advantages to any organization and to law enforcement agencies specifically” (Wallace & Roberson, 2009, chapter 4). First, this will help make sure that all the officers within the department will receive the same information. Second, this will also help make the information clearer and more concise, so that there is less confusion about the message that is being sent. Finally, there will be a paper trail in the case of a court proceeding.

Barriers of Effective 5 Informal channels will be used in the department for a number of different situations. The most common one used is the interaction between the officers and detectives. This will happen if a detective needs to speak with an officer about a case they are working on. This type of channel can also be used with two different departments that need to work together on a case. With these two forms of channels, this will help the movement of communication flow between all that are involved.
Different barriers to effective communication No matter what a person thinks there will always be some kind of barrier to effective communication. “The four basic categories, or types, of obstacles to effective communication are as followed: (1) emotional barriers, (2) physical barriers, (3) semantic barriers, and (4) ineffective barriers” (Wallace & Roberson, 2009, chapter 4). “Each of these barriers can cause either the sender or the receiver to fail to communicate effectively” (Wallace & Roberson, 2009, chapter 4). The first one “Emotional barriers, can happen in either the receiver or the sender. If an officer makes a suggestion and they get laughed at then their message was not received and this could cause them to have some kind of emotional barrier with the other officers. Secondly, physical barriers, comes from an environment which could make communication for the officer more difficult. Such as, the people they work with, equipment malfunctions or even officers searching different areas instead of together. Third, is semantic barriers, is best said by Mark Twain; “The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug”. This is the studying of the meaning of the word and

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The meaning of words that are being spoke about. Finally, the last one is ineffective listening and this is where a person may not be transmitting what is being said to them by the other party. They may also not be interested in what is being said so less they tune the other person out, have a lot on their minds, do not like the person that is speaking to them, and are easily distracted with their surroundings.
Strategies that may be implemented to overcome communication barriers In order to overcome some communication barriers a person or an officer might do some of the following: find an area that would interest them, resist distractions, clear their mind of anything that would cause them not to listen, listen for ideas, and be flexible. More less a person should stop, look and listen to what is going on around them.
Conclusion
Communication skills are a necessity for any one and especially for those that work in the criminal justice field. Without the proper communication, than an officer or detective cannot properly perform their job. Their full attention needs to be on their job and those that they are dealing with.

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References
Roberson, C., & Wallace, H. (2009) Written and Interpersonal Communication. Methods for Law Enforcement. (4th ed.)

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