1) As of now, what is your topic – or, what is the social issue / problem you are studying? 

2) How does your topic relate to law and society? 

3) What is your research question? “How” questions tend to be useful in this regard. Chances are you’ll start off with a question that is too broad; try to zoom in. Then, after that, it probably won’t hurt to zoom in once more. 

4) What are your parameters? In other words, who specifically will you interview? Make sure you are being specific enough here. Keep in mind, in this case diversity isn’t necessarily better. For example, rather than trying to interview lots of different “types of people,” for this project you’ll be better off talking to only people of one “type” (e.g., New York City women who work in public hospitals). If your research question steers you toward “diversity” rather than “specificity,” go back and revise it.

5) What in particular do you expect to learn from your data? What are your interviewees likely to say, etc.? Don’t be lazy about this answer. Think hard. You want to the data you collect to ‘behave’ in ways that are beneficial to the argument you’ll go on to make in your paper. Thus, the more careful you are in selecting the data to collect, the easier it will be to write up your results later. 

6) Does your answer to #5 sufficiently answer the research question from #3? If not, go back and see if you can rework your research question or alter the type of data you’ll collect.

 

Youth Gang Culture

The topic for discussion is youth gang culture which is very prevalent in the United States, particularly in the city of Los Angeles (Kubik, Docherty & Boxer, 2019). The subject is a critical discussion because these gang affiliated children grow to become the modern-day criminals that society struggles to address. Furthermore, the gang culture poses a threat to their lives and education, which means that the chances of a successful life in the absence of crime is nearly impossible (Kubik, Docherty & Boxer, 2019). Furthermore, from a mental standpoint, children in gangs grow to develop severe cases of psychological issues such as PTSD, depression, anxiety, and much more which affects their overall development (Kubik, J., Docherty, & Boxer, 2019).

The rationale behind the subject falling within the topic of law and society is based on the fact that the same community is the one that shall suffer under these future criminal yet begin their life of crime as children.  Therefore, there is a means of uprooting the seed of destruction and violence at a young age. Furthermore, within these gangs, the girls undergo rape and sexual assault as well (O'Brien et al., 2013).  Additionally, the families of these children are held hostage because the gang leaders threaten their lives in case the child seeks to leave the gang lifestyle.

Consequently, in the aspect of the law, the First Amendment of the United States provides for the right to life, and by not protecting these children, the Government is in breach their duty to protect (O'Brien et al., 2013). Furthermore, it is essential to protect the best interest of children from a legal perspective because they are the most vulnerable in the society. Furthermore, from a legal perspective, these children later begin violating criminal laws such as the Penal Code; thus, it is agreeable that the subject falls within the scope of law and society (O'Brien et al., 2013). 

Therefore, the legal question, in this case, is,'" What measures can a community undertake to address the issue of youth gang culture."

The parameters for the research paper shall be limited to teenagers residing in Los Angeles. Therefore, the specific area in which the data shall be collected is within the region are a few high schools that are open to allowing student interviews. Some of the questions shall seek to answer whether they are aware that gangs exist in their area. Another question would refer to their personal views on addressing gang culture, stories that they have heard in their regions regarding gang culture, and much more. Another set of participants shall be the teacher in these schools, especially when seeking to develop proper solutions on how youth gang culture can be addressed due to their experience in child psychology.