Non-Verbal Communication in Criminal Justice

In the field of criminal justice it is crucial for employees to understand the importance of oral and written communication. No matter what an individual’s position happens to be, they will have to orally communicate with internal staff such as co-workers, supervisors, deputies, security, judicial officers, as well as external members like clients, defendants, victims, jurors, as well as the general public. Additionally, in today’s computerized world chances are these same positions will be expected to communicate daily in writing, too. Whether it is factually writing an incident report or verbally explaining to a juror what their responsibility is during a trial, these professionals must clearly express important information. Oral and written communication obviously have their place in this domain, but communication does not end here, that’s why this paper will elaborate on the subject of the importance of nonverbal communication and point out how this information will help criminal justice professionals to succeed. It will break down the subject into categories and elaborate on the different environments this material will support various encounters in the judicial system.
According to the pioneer in the study of nonverbal communication, Ray Birdwhistell, he has approximated that only thirty percent of the communication is actually verbal. (Lytle, J. S., 1984). In this Criminal Justice Communication course, we were informed that it is believed the communication cues we rely on are as follows: fifty-five percent are facial expressions, thirty-eight percent are tone of voice, and only seven percent are actual words that are spoken. (Wallace, H., & Robertson, C., 2009). Although the method of nonverbal communication is not an exact science, it is still important to understand what body language, facial expressions, hand gestures, and personal distance are conveying; this breakdown of interpretation is also known as soft skills. As criminal justice professionals

References: Grubb, Hemby, R, K. (2003). Effective Communication for Criminal Justice Professionals. Belmont, CA 94002-: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning. Hollerbach, D. (2006). Improving Nonverbal Communication: A Guide for Upcoming Criminal Justice Professionals. Yahoo Voices. Retrieved from http://voices.yahoo.com/improving-nonverbal-communication-guide-upcoming-138589.html Lytle, J.S. (1984). Nonverbal Communication of the Deaf. Association For Communication Administration Bulletin, (50), 53-56. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/ehost/detail?vid=5&sid=193e1f00-5544-4814-8f73-b0af4788cbee%40sessionmgr114&hid=108&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=ufh&AN=18090140 Nowicki, E. (2001). Body Language. Law and Order v. 49, issue 8, pg. 27-28. Retrieved from Lytle, J.S. (1984). Nonverbal Communication of the Deaf. Association for Communication Administration Bulletin, (50), 53-56. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/ehost/detail?vid=5&sid=193e1f00-5544-4814-8f73- Pillai, D., Sheppard, E., and Mitchell, P. (2012). Can People Guess What Happened to Others from Their Reactions? PLoS ONE, 7 (11) DOI: Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0049859 Wallace, H., & Robertson, C. (2009). Written and Interpersonal Communication methods for Law Enforcement (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.