Corporate Social Responsibility in Organizations and the Community - Research Paper Example

Public Policy Paper Proposal Latisha Barker PPA 699: Public Policy Development Mark Pantaleo March 9, Introduction The contemporary society requires a series of policies to control the way people live and relate to us. This is very essential in reducing criminal activities. At the same time, policies help maintain the social order in the society hence keeps the society united. The process of policy making helps the society as a whole to create realistic goals together with a way forward that it could use to achieve its goals and targets. In this paper, an attempt is made to formulate policies that ensure corporate social responsibility (John F. Kennedy School of Government & Harvard University, 1940). The governments of the United States (local, state and federal) participate significantly in addressing crime issues. The governments have a moral and social responsibility to ensure observance of all regulations and laws, and to develop a safe and harmonious American society. In most cases, the federal government is responsible for initiating the basic features of law development and enforcement (Lagarde, 1994). The federal governments also play critical roles in the provision of resources to the state and local institutions, whose key function is to adopt and implement the law. The research also analyzes the survey data that explains the public policy issue of crime in the present political context. A key survey finding illustrates that the Democrats are likely to increase the levels of crime. On the same note, the African American and also the Suburban democrats greatly explain that reduction in the crime levels is the most important issues that should be addressed by the governments of the United States (Woll, 1974). This finding is very unique and interesting, because the suburban democrats did not illustrate in the survey that the crime levels are increasing. Problem Identification Policies can be made to govern or control any concept or issue in the society. Usually, the reason for the policy making is a problem in the society that requires a solution which can only be achieved by setting up goals and objectives. In our society, there are a number of problems which cannot be solved on an individual basis. They require the input of a group which potentially is the whole community. It is the responsibility of the society to ensure that its moral values are upheld. It is often only logical that if an elder member of the society finds teenagers misbehaving, they should correct them and probably see to it that the teenagers revere their mistakes (Jay, 2014). However, the contemporary society denotes everything in a different manner. People like minding their own business hence there is seemingly no one to watch over the others especially the teenagers. This necessitates for a cause of action so as to maintain the morality of the society. A number of policies have been documented regarding the morality of the society being an issue of corporate responsibility. Two of them which are meant to maintain the cooperate society are as follows (John F. Kennedy School of Government & Harvard University, 1940). The majority of American politicians campaign on the platform of law and order. They generally campaign on the political promises of addressing the crime issue, and also giving harsh penalties for the individuals who are found guilty in relation to criminal activities. Very many scholars engage in debates on the effectiveness of the anti-crime programs adopted by the United States governments. A key instance occurred in the 1990s during the administration of Bill Clinton from the Democrats political wing. The Democrats took credit for the drastic reduction in the rates of violent crime. The reason for the credit was given as a strong national economy, and the crime bill that was passed during early 1990s. Political critics, however, explain other factors that caused reduction in crime rates; for instance, demographics and increased prison numbers. The population of the age bracket that is likely to participate in crime, reduced considerably. Also, a lot of new prisons were developed. It is not very easy to describe why the crime levels decreases or increases (Jay, 2014). Crime Perceptions The perception of increasing crime rate is worse and very prevalent among white residents of America. 61.4% of White Americans illustrate that the present crime levels is higher than the previous year levels. The Latinos and African Americans were very hopeful, because less percentages of their population predicted higher crime levels. 16.9% of Latinos and 18.3% of African Americans illustrated higher crime levels in the present year. However, critical levels have been raised because the actual crime levels have reduced. It is also paradoxical, because minority societies bear the greatest effects of crime, than their white counterparts (In Hupe & In Hill, 2012). Several sociological factors illustrate the greater tendencies of the white population to forecast increasing crime levels. One hypothesis explains that the mass media is majorly to blame. The rhetoric from certain key political leaders also enhances the crime perceptions among the whites. Even though there is great perception influence by the politicians and the media, issues are raised why the Americans who are white are more willing to accept the notion that crime rate is rising, in contrast to other groups like African Americans and Latinos. This notion should be further addressed through public policy frameworks and studies (Largade, 1994). A relatively higher proportion of Democrats believed that the crime levels have increased, in comparison to the Republicans and the independents. 47% of Democrats illustrate rise in crime rates, while the proportion of Republicans and Independents are 24.1 and 24.1 respectively. A large proportion of the African Americans believe that the crime level in 2014 was higher than the previous year’s 2013. The African American Democrats had the highest percentage at 90.4, followed by 83.3% Republicans, and finally the Independent African Americans at 77.4% (Jay, 2014). The residents of urban areas are generally likely to illustrate increased levels of crime. This explanation is accurate because urban areas experience higher crime rates, and also the media’s intense focus on the sensational crimes. The Republicans have continuously advocated for punitive approaches, despite having lower crime perception levels (Jay, 2014). Policy Options Anyone who finds another member of the society committing a crime or in a compromising situation should be able to intervene either by correcting or calling for help from the law enforcement unit depending on the weight of the matter. Therefore, anyone who does not make an attempt to correct a social misdemeanor if proven a witness and having not provided evidence of their positive actions will be partisan to the damages the problem cause to the society. Hence, therefore they would be required to pay a small fee whose value would be channeled into running the corporate social responsibility campaign (John F. Kennedy School of Government & Harvard University, 1940). Also as a society that is challenged by a number of problems such as crime and poverty, each member would be required, as a way of raising the community standards to have self-sufficiency by at least opening a business or doing something that pays back to the society. In order to effect this, various members of the law enforcement would be sent to survey once in a while and collect information. If found you will be guilty of avoiding responsibility hence subject to a small fine. Any revenues collected as fines would be channeled back into the society to compensate for the irresponsibility of the various members (In Hupe & In Hill, 2012). Crime Perception as a Policy Issue The white population is likely to support the idea that crime reduction is a very important issue that should be addressed by the President and also Congress of the United States. 58% of the white residents agree with the statement, as compared to 21% and 17.3% of the Latinos and African Americans respectively. Democrats also illustrate strong support for crime reduction, by relevant agencies. People with college degrees illustrate that crime is not the most significant issue to be handled by the political leadership. The democrats again explained that crime is a policy issue that is more significant than healthcare, terrorism and economy (Largarde, 1994). People within the age brackets of 40 and 60 years generally explain that the politicians are not doing enough to address the crime issues. 45% of this population bracket strongly supports the notion. The older members of the society are mainly concerned about crime, and want more to be done on preventing crime. 47.1% of the urban residents also explain that the political leadership is not taking appropriate measures to hinder crime. The urban areas are greatly hit by criminal activities, than the rural and suburban areas. 45.4% of the democrats also illustrate that he politicians are not adequately addressing crime. The rate is much higher than the Republicans and Independents 25.4% and 23.8% respectively. 54% of the women population illustrate that the president and Congress are not effectively adopting measures that hinder crime (Jay, 2014). Preventing crime is more favored than fighting crime, by significant demographics like women and the Democrats. Crime prevention explain proactive social policies that address crime in areas of; education, anti-gang initiatives and healthcare. The media sources also have great influence on the public policy in the areas of crime. There exists general belief that news from the media sources distorts the crime challenges through concentrating greatly on the police actions (In Hupe & In Hill, 2012). If viewers are continuously given information on kidnappings, murders, theft and rape; then it shows that the criminal activities are on the rise and cannot be effectively controlled. The viewers also believe that the society they live in is very dangerous. There is a common preposition in America. The preposition describes that two individuals in every three, who believe that crime is a serious problem, received the information from the television. Policy Areas The most controversial explanation for the reduction in crime levels is based on the Supreme Court decision. Roe v. Wade (1973) explained that unwanted children who are raised in poor households are generally likely to embrace crime. Following the decision, many females decided to initiate abortions, instead of giving birth to the unwanted children. The increased abortion levels, led to the additional result of minimizing crime levels during the 1980s and 1990s. This explanation has attracted intense controversy, due to the sensitivity involved. Gun control entails the policies that are directed towards regulating firearms usage and ownership. The supporters of gun control explain that tighter control minimizes the gun numbers that are available on streets and thus reduce level of violent crime. The critics of the policy on gun control explain that the Constitution prevents federal government from controlling firearms due to the Second Amendment. The Second Amendment guarantees the right of people to possess arms. Majority of the critics also explain that the gun control negatively affects the Americans who are law abiding. The laws will not prevent individuals who are very likely to engage in crimes. As from the 1980s, the United Sates federal government prioritized the war on drugs at the national. The reason for this is that high levels of drug use have two negative issues; it generates health problems, and also it enhances the levels of violent crime. To effectively address the drug problem, the government has adopted laws that have harsh penalties for drug dealers. The laws have also ensured adequate hindrance to the illegal drug entry into America. The federal government has not entirely succeeded in controlling drug use and illegal drug use, despite the resources and efforts utilized. This made several critics to explain that the ant-drug policy adopted by that United States has completely failed. A good proportion of the critics illustrate that the control and war on drugs has developed additional problems and minimal solutions. The basic minimums and the extreme sentences given to individuals for possessing illegal substances have enhanced the overcrowding challenges in the prisons. The result of prison overcrowding enhances the relapse levels. The inmates are thus more likely to engage in criminal activities again, because the prison system is overstretched and hence cannot give adequate training and counseling to the entire inmate population. Even though the federal agencies have not greatly reviewed the drug policies for several years, the federal and local administrations are testing other aspects of punishing the guilty law breakers. In America, certain states do not punish first time offenders or suspects who have small quantities of drugs. The state effectively transfers such offenders to the rehabilitation institutions. It is still unclear, to determine the effects that the adopted policies have on the drug usage and the crime levels (John F. Kennedy School of Government & Harvard University, 1940). The policies related to the medical marijuana are in some cases very controversial. Some scientists explain that the marijuana has the beneficial effects of minimizing certain disease symptoms like; enhancing eyesight for patients with glaucoma, and minimizing the side effects related to chemotherapy. Thus several states have legalized the usage of medical marijuana. The states include; Hawaii, Arizona, Washington, Colorado and California. The appropriate patients are thus able to access marijuana related drugs with the prescription of the doctor. The federal government has, however, differed with these states (Largade, 1994). The federal agencies have continuously explained that the usages of marijuana should be illegal. Crime and Terrorism Adequate relationship exists between crime policy and the concentration of the government on terrorism. From the survey, 64.1% of the respondents explain that the political leaders use a lot of time discussing terrorism. This is despite the majority opinion (71.1% of respondents) identifying crime identification as the most significant issue that the President and Congress should address. The explanation of the intense focus of terrorism resulted due to effects of the 9/11 attacks. The Bush administration initiated “War on Terror” to show the enhanced focus on combating terrorism. Terrorists are a great threat to the Americans, and thus the government must always ensure hyper vigilance. The focus on terrorism has thus led to reduced focus on addressing crimes within the United States (Jay, 2014). Life Cycle of crime Policy In the United States, addressing crime occurs in five key stages. These stages are very effective for either fighting crime or also preventing crime. The stages are; debate and discussions, political action, legislative proposal, regulation and law, and finally compliance. Discussion and debate focuses on the effects of the crime issues under discussion. For example, the high unemployment levels in the American urban centers, results into high levels of crime. One other example involves, the high number of gun possessions, directly leads to the increase in the level of crime related deaths and violence. These issues are subjected to public discussion through mostly the mass media platforms like social media comments and also television or radio debates (Lagarde, 1994). Political action illustrates the influences of political players over the crime issue under debate or discussion. The political leaders usually give statements and also letters through the mass media, to encourage position over certain crime issues. A political leader, like congressman, can decide to issue a press statement to explain his or her support for gun ownership. The explanation may involve giving the residents of United States the ability of defending themselves if need be. The President can also issue a statement to attract support over solutions to crime. Recently, President Obama has strongly supported gun control. The aim of the support is to reduce weapon possession chances by the criminals. Political action may also involve promises on investigations of issues related to crime. The legislative proposal on combating crime is delivered to the Congress for consideration. The Congress is the government arm that is responsible for legislating laws. Thus any proposal for crime reduction law is subjected to analysis by the Congress. All stakeholders in the security sector are given adequate opportunity of participating in the analysis stage at the congress level. The pros and cons of the crime issues is adequately studied, and then a vote is taken. The bill becomes law after being approved by congress and also the President. The law will then address the relevant government agencies to effectively ensure adherence and implementation (Woll, 1974). For example, the police departments are mainly responsible for ensuring observance of various criminal laws, and also recommending appropriate punishment for the offenders. Compliance is the final stage of the policy cycle. All stakeholders must adhere to the policy, and any deviation will attract the appropriately illustrated punishment. The compliance usually requires risk analysis, the introduction of new programs, the adoption of institutional policies, and the adoption of measures that address the crime issue. Any federal policy related to crime must be effectively adopted by governmental agencies at the state and local levels. The state and local government are also given limited authority of formulating policies that area appropriate and unique to the challenges faced by the state of local jurisdiction. Conclusion The main policies and their descriptions are mainly designed to guide and govern the society in its activities in order to ensure a co-operating society with goals to achieve that would improve the average life of every member of the society. Every member is urged to take it upon themselves and try to help the society using the available resources. Taking up responsibility would reduce the incidences of fines which waste a lot of time and have no major positive effect on the society. The policies are hence effective in addressing the crime issues in the society. Policies ensure that people adhere to acceptable standard in the society, thus harmony and coexistence is achieved. References In Hupe, P. L., & In Hill, M. J. (2012). Public policy. John F. Kennedy School of Government.,& Harvard University. (1940). Public policy. New York, etc: Published by J. Wiley for the John Fitzgerald Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, etc.. John, Jay. (2014). Crime and Public Policy. Center on Crime, Media and Justice. Lagarde, P. (1994). Public policy.Tübingen: J.C.B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck. Woll, P. (1974). Public policy. Cambridge, Mass: Winthrop Publishers. Read More