Effective Communication Paper
Tynesha Wilson
CJA 304
June 10, 2013
Brian Geoghegan

Effective Communication Paper
People use languages to express ourselves, to get our points, messages, and/or ideas across, and to connect with whomever we are attempting to communicate with. Daily we work and communicate with people who have a variety of needs, values, opinions, or beliefs that are different from our own. How effective we are able to speak and communicate with others in regards to problem solving, the perspectives of others, as well as exchanging ideas depends on our ability to send messages (clearly) while hearing and understanding messages received from others.
Effective verbal messages are messages that are organized and brief, free of jargon and/or slang, and creates no misunderstanding for the person listening. Productive problem solving involves words that are not accusatory, blaming, critical, or judgmental. In nonverbal messages, a person’s tone of voice and body language tells a lot about how a person feels and sometimes what they are thinking. Say for instance an officer asks a rape victim what she was wearing and how she acted around the accused suspect. His/or her ( the officers) tone of voice and body language could mean the difference between the victim speaking out against her assailant or her deciding to keep her mouth closed thereby letting the accused go free. Scorn and accusatory should never be a part of the way we speak to a victim no matter how we feel about the circumstances leading up to the crime.
Continuous rambling and lengthy explanations may confuse or discourage the person listening which can cause the message to lose its impact and/or relevance. This may be the only chance you as the speaker gets to state your point of view or opinion across to the listener(s). At the same time our body language sends off emotions whether we are aware of it or not. This is the way we tend to communicate (through gestures, spatial distance, posture, and facial expressions).
Listening is the key to receiving messages effectively with little to no misunderstandings. This involves psychological (being focused in the mind) as well as the art of hearing what a person says. You, as the listener, has to want to understand, carry an attitude of acceptance and respect for what you are hearing, and have an open mind so you can see things through someone else’s eyes and point of view. When listening, it is best to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes and look at everything with a mind free of our own opinions. Your approval, evaluation, and/or judgment need to be put aside with the hopes of understanding others’ attitudes, reference, and emotions.
Listening allows a person to gain information that we may not have been able to gain access to as well as, helping to understand a conflict or problem as other people may see it. When we gain a better understanding of another’s emotions we are able to understand the person’s attitude, motivation, and behavior. This can lead to the possibility of reaching an agreement. The difference between listening and hearing involves knowing what the person says for instance anybody can hear someone talking but if that person that hears the talking cannot tell you what was expressed in the message or conversation then that person was not listening they were only paying attention to the sound and not the actual words. For example Officer Britt heard a fellow officer say that the suspect got away but, Officer Britt’s inability to listen caused her not to hear that she (the suspect) had been picked up in another jurisdiction causing her (Officer Britt) to waste countless man hours searching for a suspect that had already been apprehended.
The criminal justice system includes corrections, courts, and police. Both the formal and informal channels share in the inefficiency and efficiency of the sending and receiving of information. The chain of command directs the formal channels of upward, downward, and horizontal communication within the levels of command (eHow.com n.d.). Each subordinate’s communication is dictated by directors who also set the atmosphere and structure through procedures and policies (written). In corrections (jail) communication by the captain to an inmate is handed down to the first sergeant, who in turn passes it to another sergeant, who passes it to another correctional officer who then tells that particular inmate.
Upward formal communication is the channel that provides feedback (positive and negative) from subordinates to the directors which may include structured reports and forms. Horizontal formal communication refers to communication of people on the same command level i.e. one correctional officer informing another (officer) why an inmate is in the infirmary.
Informal channels of communication may be perceived as hearsay or “grapevine” talk. This channel involves information that has been passed down from an unknown source which may contain information that is invalid or altered i.e. An inmate tells another inmate that he heard an officer beat another inmate with a club, that inmate that was told tells another inmate, and soon everyone in the jail and/or prison has heard what (supposedly) happened to the inmate.
One major and very noticeable barrier to effective communication in criminal justice organizations are language barriers. The population is ever increasing and with this increase comes people that speak a language other than English. Not every person that works in the criminal justice field native tongue is English also, not every suspect and/or offender speaks our native language (English). This inability to understand your coworkers or even the suspects/offenders that go through the criminal justice system proposes a barrier to effective communication. Another barrier involves not listening effectively. If someone does not listen effectively it can cause complications or misunderstandings. Listening allows a person to gain information or insight that may not be available otherwise. In the criminal justice organization listening can be the line between life and death in any given situation.
Some strategies for overcoming communication barriers in the criminal justice organization include clarifying information received. Not all information that is received is understood, by clarifying information and asking questions misunderstandings can be eliminated before they take place. In regards to language barriers implement a system that allows interpreters to be available around the clock by phone and/or in person. This will improve communication between officers and suspects/offenders as well as coworkers whose native tongue is not English.
Our criminal justice system has come a long way from years passed in regards to the way we communicate with each other and how we communicate effectively. Daily we (in the criminal justice organization) work and communicate with people who have different values, opinions, beliefs, languages, etc. and being able to communicate with those people allows us (people in the criminal justice field) the ability to make the world a safer place for everyone.

eHow. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://eHow.com
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