Delegation of Authority

What are some of the types of authority that you might delegate to the various members of your staff? Explain the rationale for each delegation.
What are some of the types of authority that you might delegate to the probation officers in your department? Explain the rationale for each delegation.
What are some of the qualities and skills of the officers that you would assess to ensure that delegation works appropriately? Why?
How and why would this delegation of authority benefit you in your role as the probation administrator?
What are some of the pitfalls that you might come across from this delegation? Why do you consider them as pitfalls?
Explain the steps you would take to make your officers feel more empowered in their jobs. Provide your reasoning.

I don't think this would be a situation in which I would be delegating authority. I would maintain an consultation decision-making process. I would take this approach because I feel that my staff is already overloaded due to the understaffing issue. I wouldn't want to add an additional strain to their load with decsion-making responsibility that they weren't originally hired for. By holding the reins, I could evaluate which staff were not able to meet the additional load, and assign some work to other staff or possibly cover it myself. Having said that, I would be open to suggestions from the staff, including from staff members that wanted to take on additional responsibility, and after evaluating their ability, I might decide to delegate some authority to them. However, that would not be a strategy to deal with the workload situation.

In the cases where I would delegate authority, I would be looking for the following personal qualities: responsibility, initiative (especially in helping others), the skill to make effective reports, and tact. If workers are going to lead, they have to get things done, make sure their people get things done, be able to communicate their results and roadbloacks, and finally, to maintain personal relationships.

Considering that my strategy is not to delegate authority unless there is an appropriate person to delegate it to, I think my model benefits me by knowing that the level of responsibility is going to be high going in. IF there is a suitable canditate for delegation, that will aid me by reducing my workload. In addition, by developing experienced leaders in my office, the office as a whole will become moe efficient.

The greatest potential for negative consequences would be from incorrectly identifying a potential leader who does not have the people skills to maintain the level of influence he should carry. A “leader” that alienates his workforce is going to lower productivity through poor morale and greater turnover.

In using a consultation process, I am letting my PO's know that their knowledge and experience is valued. In my view, part of this process includes discussing with them the methods of my leadership and what I expect from them; this also entails taking their input on what they expect as followers. It is best to identify potential areas of conflict before they occur. I may not agree with any given PO on a work decsion or leadership process, but if we already know that we disagree that there is a process for how that disagreement is handled, and I'm not discipling employees for actions they don't understand are problems.

DISC2

The ability to delegate can be an effective tool for a leader as can the ability to take charge. We see leaders using both strategies in various leadership positions today.
Discuss the use of participative leadership in the following criminal justice leadership positions:

• Judges
  
• Prosecutors
  
• Victim advocates
  
• Prison administrators
  

• Examine the suitability of these positions—judges, prosecutors, victim advocates, and prison administrators—for participative leadership strategies. Compare the strengths and weaknesses of each position.
  

Each of these positions can use participative leadership stratgeies to make better organizational decsions; each has staff to draw upon and provide expertise.
Judges would be expected to use a more directive model, as the class notes use the examples of Hughes and Stone to demonstrate. But judges can certainly take advice from their clerks, who may have the same time in the courtroom as the judge has...or more. However, with the power vested into them by law, judges are perhaps best suited for the authoritarian model.
Prosecutors may be led by the District Attorney, but the environment in which they work, and their shared goals make them excellent candidates for participative leadership strategies. Indeed, the plea bargain process is an example of a participative leadership process in conjunction with external agencies, the public defenders.
Victim's advocates have to use participative leadership strategies due to the nature of their responsibilities. A victim's advocate who ignored the suggestions of their clients, the victims, would not last long.
Prison administrators can use partcipative strategy by taking the experience and expertise of the guards into consideration. This is important due to a field wide shortage of guards, who experience the highest level of job stress and turnover of all professions. It has been suggested that the inmates may also play a part in this process.
Other areas in the CJ system that can use participative leadership strategies are law enforcement agencies, as well as corrective services such as probation and parole officers.

Clearview Police Department: Committee Report for Police Chief Selection Standards

MCJ6405: Organizational Leadership

Week 1: Assignment 4
Clearview Police Department: Committee Report for Police Chief Selection Standards

Problem Statement

The importance of management skills as a qualification for candidates for the office of Chief of Police is less than the importance of leadership skills. However, leadership skills must include a level of proficiency in management skills to be effective.

Introduction

In considering the qualifications this committee should be pursuing for candidates for Police Chief, there has been discussion regarding the primacy of management skills over leadership skills. This report seeks to provide the perspective that while management skills are necessary for effective leadership, it is more important to emphasize leadership skills. To do so, this report seeks to answer the following questions: Which leadership and managerial duties of a police chief should the search committee be aware of in order to make a well-rounded decision? Should the new police chief should be a better manager of tasks and finances and have better business skills? Are management skills are more important than leadership skills in law enforcement? Is it easier for a criminal justice leader to hold a leadership position when possessing both business skills and the necessary law enforcement experience? Can a good manager also be a good leader or vice versa?

Which leadership and managerial duties of a police chief should the search committee be aware of in order to make a well-rounded decision?

To begin with, the members of the committee need to be aware that many of the concepts this report discusses in terms of comparing leadership and management skills are confusing. Yukl suggests that this confusion is caused by the use of imprecise terms such as power, management, administration and supervision (2014, p. 3). Considering that the committee has used the terms “business skills” to describe management skills, then this report shall limit the discussion of management skills as those can be used to describe the performance of operational functions of the organization, such as budget planning, recruitment and hiring, infrastructure maintenance, and performance reviews. In contrast, leadership skills will be discussed in the context of skills that can be used in maintaining the personal relationships and influences to achieve the organization's goals. In order to make a justified selection, the committee needs to be aware that both sets of skills are needed; McCallum lists competence as one of the core characteristics of a leader; “It is important for leaders to understand their job requirements and expectations of their position.” (n.d., p. 2).

The members of the search committee have proposed that the new police chief should be a better manager of tasks and finances and that the department could be run much more efficiently with a chief with better business skills.

The first response to this question is to qualify the use of the term “better”. Is the department's goal to turn in reports in time, or to maintain a lower crime rate? One of the issues presented before the committee was that reporting responsibilities have not been met by the outgoing Chief. In an audit of the Savannah-Chatham County Police Department, researchers from Police Executive Research Forum and from the University of Georgia's Carl Vinson Institute of Government found that civilians could perform some police functions in order to put more police on the street. (Matteucci, 2007, para .18) With this perspective, it is possible that either an Assistant Chief or a civilian Administrative Assistant would be able to handle the bulk of reporting duties; however, the incoming Chief must still be competent enough in management to utilize that aid effectively.

Are management skills are more important than leadership skills in law enforcement? How can fairness and adherence to procedure be maintained?

This report advocates the idea that leadership skills are more important than management skills in law enforcement. This is based on two concepts; the necessity of leadership to maintain high levels of ethics, and the idea that organizational goals can not be met with a demoralized work force. This is where the leadership skills of influence use and relationship building come into play. “Many scholars as well as practitioners argue that leadership is one of, if not the most important, factor influencing the ethics and integrity of employees” (Huberts, Kaptein, & Lasthuizen, 2007, p. 590). Wright argues that that ethical behavior in criminal justice organizations is based upon the leadership of those organizations; “ethical behavior within a criminal justice agency is up to the chief executive officer and that individual's management team. “(1999, para 5). Even if line officers behave in a moral manner, they will still be ineffective if they don't strive to do their best. “there is a growing recognition of the need for police executives to treat their employees with the same sense of legitimacy and procedural justice that applies to members of the public. This is sometimes referred to as...'internal procedural justice.'” (Fischer, 2014, p.4). Rosenbaum contends that “workers’ performance is influenced not so much by their pay...but by whether their social and emotional needs are being met in the work environment, (2014, para 10). Gottschalk supports this idea by stating that “supervisors and others in formal positions of power must engage, motivate, and guide... “ and concludes by observing that “it is often argued that leadership represents a crucial determinant of police organizational efficacy” (2011, para. 9).

Is it easier to assume a leadership position in criminal justice for individuals with business skills and also possess the experience necessary to handle important law-enforcement decisions?

It will definitely be easier to assume a leadership position for someone who possesses both management skills, or business skills as they are referred to in this report, and the law enforcement experience necessary to handle important decisions. The necessity of the skills used to perform operational functions has been addressed in the first section of this report. A leader without a minimum competency in the skills cannot be a leader at all. In addition, a leader without the competence to make critical criminal justice decisions will likewise be unable to be a good leader. Experience provides the knowledge that “is important for leaders to

understand their job requirements and expectations of their position” (McCallum, n.d., p. 2).

Could a good manager also be a good leader or vice versa? Should the concepts of leadership and management be considered in isolation from each other?

There is a great deal of overlap in the skillsets. This is not only due to an amount of confusion in terms, but more importantly through the necessity of having both skillsets to be an efficient leader. “Good leaders need to be good managers, with a detailed knowledge of the workings of their organization, facilitating and driving the successful pursuit of organizational goals. “(Gottschalk, 2011, para . 3) Due to this overlap, it is important to understand that the concepts do not work in isolation from each other.

Summary

The qualifications that the committee seeks in a Police Chief should include both management and leadership skills. At the minimum, the candidate should hold a level of management skills to be able to understand and delegate some management tasks to subordinates in order to achieve the department's goals. Although the candidate's leadership skills are more important then the management skillset, especially in maintaining ethical and morale standards, it needs to be noted that these skillsets are not in opposition to each other, but rather complement each other to serve the needs of a strong leader.

References

Fischer, C. (2014). Legitimacy and procedural justice:  A new element of police leadership. Police Executive Research Forum. Retrieved August 20, 2014 from http://www.policeforum.org/assets/docs/Free_Online_Documents/Leadership/legitimacy%20and%20procedural%20justice%20-%20a%20new%20element%20of%20police%20leadership.pdf

Gottschalk, P. (2011). Management challenges in law enforcement: the case of police misconduct and crime. International Journal of Law and Management, 53(3). Retrieved August 22, 2014 from http://search.proquest.com.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/docview/868256452?pq-origsite=summon

Huberts, L. W. J. C. (Leo), Kaptein, M. (Muel), & Lasthuizen, K. (Karin). (2007). A study of the impact of three leadership styles on integrity violations committed by police officers. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 30(4), 587–607. doi:10.1108/13639510710833884

Matteucci, M. (2007, February 28). Audit: Police Department needs overhaul. Savannah Now. Retrieved November 9, 2014 from http://savannahnow.com/intown/2007-02-28/audit-police-department-needs-overhaul

McCallum, D. (n.d.). Leadership within the Florida Department of Corrections. Florida Department of Corrections Retrieved August 15, 2014 from http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/Content/getdoc/5ca27f87-d4c4-4a79-b01f-11cc95e24af9/McCallum-David-paper-pdf.aspx

Wright, K. (1999). Leadership is the key to ethical practice in criminal justice agencies.. Criminal Justice Ethics. Retrieved August 15. 2014 from http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Leadership+Is+the+Key+to+Ethical+Practice+in+Criminal+Justice...-a060060343

Rosenbaum, D.. (2014, April 21). Dennis Rosenbaum presents:Building trust inside and out – The challenge of legitimacy facing police Leaders.”. Presented at the NIJ Research for the Real World Seminar. Retrieved September 21, 2014 from http://nij.gov/multimedia/presenter/presenter-rosenbaum2/pages/presenter-rosenbaum2-transcript.aspx

Yukl, G. (2012). Leadership in Organizations [VitalSouce bookshelf version]. Retrieved November 6, 2014 from http://digitalbookshelf.southuniversity.edu/books/9781256650225/id/ch01tab01

The Question of Leadership Versus Management in the Criminal Justice System

The Question of Leadership Versus Management in the Criminal Justice System

It can be difficult to differentiate between the role of a leader and the role of a manager in the criminal justice system. Leadership is often confused with other concepts; this confusion is caused by the use of often imprecise terms such as power, management, administration and supervision (Yukl, 2014, p. 3) Indeed, to bypass this confusion, the terms leader, manager, and boss are used interchangeably in Yukl's book to indicate people who occupy positions in which they are expected to perform the leadership role. (Yukl, 2014, p. 8) Management can be best used to describe the performance of operational functions of the organization, such as budget planning, recruitment and hiring, infrastructure maintenance, and performance reviews. In contrast, leadership can be described as relationships with subordinates in the organization, and the ability to use influence in these relationships to achieve the organization's goals. However, Yukl notes that the “operational definition of leadership depends to a great extent on the purpose of the researcher” (2014, p. 8)
Effective leadership and effective management often have overlapping roles in the criminal justice system. “Understanding how a bureaucracy functions is critical to an appreciation of the obstacles faced by police leaders” (Perry, 2010, p. 45) The management functions of hiring, firing, and performance review are powerful tools in the motivation and influence of subordinates.

Effective leadership should not conflict with effective management. McCallum lists competence as one of the core characteristics of a leader; “It is important for leaders to understand their job requirements and expectations of their position.” (n.d., p. 2) When a leader's responsibility includes management functions, an effective leader ensures that responsibility is met.

Leadership responsibilities are not necessarily tied to official job descriptions in criminal justice agencies. Cowper states that police departments tend to be organized with rank structures and many law enforcement directors desire respect for the chain of command (2000, p. 229) However, it should be understood that almost every line officer plays a leadership role through their duties in dealing with the public. Vinzant & Crothers discuss street level leadership in a community policing model, although their discussion of the police use of “power, policy-making, and decision-making” apply to every beat cop; “Leadership theory provides a lens through which the evolving role of the police officer can be viewed and described in operational, realistic terms.(Vinzant & Crothers, 1994, p.195)

Due to the many varied interpretations and explanations of what leadership consists of, a leader can not put too much of an emphasis on any given model or philosophy, but must employ whichever tool gets the job done. Yukl discusses two bases of understanding leadership The first would be leadership as a specialized role; .”The person with primary responsibility to perform the specialized leadership role is designated as the 'leader.'”(Yukl, 2014, p. 4) This specialization typology lends itself to more formal role assignments in which a leader can use the authority of position to influence followers. In contrast, a leadership model in which the concept of influence outweighs the position of authority is the model of shared influence. This model lends itself into more organic structures in that leadership is more of an informal “influence process that occurs naturally within a social system and is diffused among the members” of a group.(Yukl, 2014, p. 4) An effective leader would use this model in an organization in which the abilities of the members are suited for independent operation towards the goals of an agency. The salient point returns however to the focus on achieving the organization's goals by using whichever leadership tools are best suited to the task.

References

Cowper, T. J. (2000). The myth of the “military model” of leadership in law enforcement. Police Quarterly, 3(3), 228–246. Retrieved August 10, 2014 from http://pqx.sagepub.com/content/3/3/228.short

McCallum, D. (n.d.). Leadership within the Florida Department of Corrections. Florida Department of Corrections Retrieved August 15, 2014 from http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/Content/getdoc/5ca27f87-d4c4-4a79-b01f-11cc95e24af9/McCallum-David-paper-pdf.aspx

Perry, A. E. (2010). The evolution of police organizations and leadership in the United States: potential political and social implications. (Doctoral dissertation) Retrieved August 10, 2014 from http://iris.lib.neu.edu/law_pol_soc_diss/20/

Vinzant, J., & Crothers, L. (1994). Street-level leadership: The role of patrol officers in community policing. Criminal Justice Review, 19(2), 189–211. Retrieved August 23, 2014 from http://cjr.sagepub.com/content/19/2/189.short

Yukl, G. (2012). Leadership in Organizations [VitalSouce bookshelf version].
Retrieved November 6, 2014 from http://digitalbookshelf.southuniversity.edu/books/9781256650225/id/ch01tab01

Management Philosophies

• How can Paul and Stephen's management philosophies affect the work patterns in their respective facilities?
  

Since we don't know whether their shared management philosophy is based on participative or authoritarian principles, we will have to look at the environments that they work in to compare how these philosophies would work. Paul works in a prison with experienced, educated, and well qualified staff; a participative management model would work better in this work environment. Stephen works in a prison in which staff is both over-worked and partly volunteer in nature, an authoritarian or hierarchical model of leadership would be better suited to this prison. If Stephen is attempting to employ a management philosophy which is unsuited for his environment, it will definitely add stress to his workload. Finally, if Stephen is underperforming based on a mismatch of philosphy and work pattern, it will have an effect on prison behavior as a whole;“Staff and offenders look at supervisors’ actions over time. Sustained performance is the only way to win respect and trust and to send the message that the values the manager or supervisor enforces must be taken seriously.” (Campbell, 2006, p. 38)

• How could work pattern and size of the organizational unit affect Paul and Stephen differently? How could it affect the desired management philosophy?
  

Stephen is working with a staff that has a workload that is two and three quarters greater than Paul's staff needs to maintain based on inmate/staff ratios. In addition, Stephen's prison is overcrowded, with more then double the capacity the prison was designed to secure, while Paul's prison is only 5% over capacity. Farkas identifies not only the unique nature of correctional employment, but the factors that make it a high stress occupation, including the stress created by working in a low resource environment.(2001, p.20) A leader that emphasizes with his line troops will internalize their distress to some point, regardless of management philosophy.

• How could the prisons that Paul and Stephen work in differ with regard to crises? How could this influence their management philosophy?
  

“the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports correctional officers have one of the highest rates of on-the-job injuries, mainly because of inmate assaults. (Stallworth, 2013, para. 2) Paul works in a mixed security facility with a lower staff to inmate ratio; his management philosophy does not have to be “on a war footing”. Stephen, whose prison is understaffed and overcrowded with “dead-enders”, is dealing with a high level of tension. Although correctional officers should always be prepared for the possibility of assaults by inmates, officers in Stephen's prison are more likely to become involved in a crisis situation. Stephen's management philosophy must take this into consideration.



For both Stephen and Paul, no matter which model their management philosophy is most aligned with, their major obligation is to be a strong leader. “Strong leaders inspire loyalty, encourage personal achievement, gain consensus and commitment to the organizational mission, promote dedication and hard work, foster care for one another, moderate job stress, and expect moral and ethical behavior. “ (Wright, 1999, para. 6 )

Campbell, N. (2006). Correctional leadership competencies for the 21st century: Manager and supervisor levels. National Institute of Corrections, DOJ. Retrieved August 15, 2014 from http://static.nicic.gov/Library/020475.pdf

Farkas, M. A. (2001). Correctional officers: What factors influence work attitudes? Corrections Management Quarterly, 5(2), 20. Retrieved September 5, 2014 from

http://search.proquest.com.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/docview/214563384/BAF2FB352AED49D6PQ/3?accountid=87314

Stallworth, R. (2013, June 11). The war beyond the walls:We are under attack inside the walls and now outside of them as well. CorrectionsOne. Retrieved August 17, 2014, from http://www.correctionsone.com/officer-safety/articles/6270478-The-war-beyond-the-walls/

Wright, K. (1999, June 22). Leadership is the key to ethical practice in criminal justice agencies. Criminal Justice Ethics. Retrieved August 15, 2014 from http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Leadership+Is+the+Key+to+Ethical+Practice+in+Criminal+Justice...-a060060343

Autobiography for Organizational Leadership

I am studying full time, as an older student I have cleared the decks to be able to do so. I am over half-way through my Master's. I'm working on my thesis, which is exploring possible differences in handling of the FBI's COINTELPRO operations between the Ku Klux Klan and the New Left and political reasons for any possible differences. I am going to have to put this on the back burner for now, as I am taking both classes for this quarter during this section, and will be pretty busy!

I enrolled in the program on a Homeland Security basis, with the goal of goal of making myself useful with a national security job, but have since decided to pursue my PhD. The focus of my studies is the effects that politics has on national security. I didn't change to a politically oriented program because I think any actual changes are done within organization's culture, and I wanted to understand how we as a country protect ourselves internally. My experience in LE is peripheral, having worked recently as a patrol security guard.

The ability of people within an organization to lead, whether from a formal or an informal position, is critical to that organization's success in meeting it's goals. When I took the CJ Admin course, I found the leadership discussions to be the basis for understanding that course, as everything eventually leads back to somebody taking responsibility for making decisions and getting things done correctly. I held the billet of platoon sergeant for a few months while in the Marine Corps, and found that leadership is both the most morally rewarding thing a person can do and at the same time one of the most frightening things a person can do; for myself, as an introvert, it is also an exhausting task. I look forward to an expanded understanding of the concept of leadership, as well as a focus on it's application in the LE community, from taking this class.

Course Bibliography

Week 1

Kain, E. (2011, August 3). The inexplicable war on lemonade stands. Forbes. Retrieved August 8, 2014 from http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2011/08/03/the-inexplicable-war-on-lemonade-stands/

Rasmussen, S. (2014, August 4). Nanny-state mindset leads to police brutality. Real Clear Politics. Retrieved August 8, 2014 from http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2014/08/04/nanny-state_mindset_leads_to_police_brutality_123537.html

Stojkovic, S. (2014). Criminal justice organizations [VitalSouce bookshelf version]. Retrieved August 8, 2014 from http://digitalbookshelf.southuniversity.edu/books/9781305465695/outline/2

Zhao, J., Thurman, Q., & He, N. (1999). Sources of job satisfaction among police officers: A test of demographic and work environment models. Justice Quarterly, 16(1), 153–173. doi:10.1080/07418829900094091

I selected these links for the discussion on how I would re-organize my police force. I selected news stories to illustrate a current trend in law enforcement that I feel undermines the criminal justice system. As the organization of any agency depends on the goals of the agancy, I selected stories that would support the focus in goals I would set in that situation.

Week 2

Campbell, N. (2006). Correctional leadership competencies for the 21st century: Manager and supervisor levels. National Institute of Corrections, DOJ. Retrieved August 15, 2014 from http://static.nicic.gov/Library/020475.pdf

McCallum, D. (n.d.). Leadership within the Florida Department of Corrections. Florida Department of Corrections Retrieved August 15, 2014 from http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/Content/getdoc/5ca27f87-d4c4-4a79-b01f-11cc95e24af9/McCallum-David-paper-pdf.aspx

Stallworth, R. (2013, June 11). The war beyond the walls:We are under attack inside the walls and now outside of them as well. CorrectionsOne. Retrieved August 17, 2014, from http://www.correctionsone.com/officer-safety/articles/6270478-The-war-beyond-the-walls/

The COPS Office. (2009, September).Police labor relations: Interest-based problem-solving and the power of collaboration.Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, DOJ. Retrieved August 15, 2014 from http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/html/dispatch/September_2009/labor_relations.htm

The COPS Office. (2011). The impact of the economic downturn on American police agencies. Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, DOJ. Retrieved August 15, 2014 from http://cops.usdoj.gov/files/RIC/Publications/e101113406_Economic%20Impact.pdf

WATCH: Surveillance video of strong-arm robbery tied to Michael Brown. (2014) Fox News. Retrieved August 15, 2014 fromhttp://nation.foxnews.com/2014/08/15/watch-surveillance-video-strong-arm-robbery-tied-michael-brown

Wright, K. (1999, June 22). Leadership is the key to ethical practice in criminal justice agencies. Criminal Justice Ethics. Retrieved August 15, 2014 from http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Leadership+Is+the+Key+to+Ethical+Practice+in+Criminal+Justice...-a060060343

Week 2 was about factors that affect the goals of organizations, including ethics, resources, morale, public perception (including propaganda conducted against the organization); the discussion also pursued differences in leadership models. The week culminated with a paper focused on morale issues within the prison system.

Week 3

Bjelopera, J., & Finklea, K. M. (2014). Domestic Federal law enforcement coordination: Through the lens of the Southwest border. Congressional Research Service. Retrieved August 22, 2014 from http://fas.org/sgp/crs/homesec/R43583.pdf

Bodor, T., Thompson, F., & Demirçivi, F. (2003). Criminal justice cultures in the United States: A context for understanding aspects of organizational change. Center for Technology in Government. Retrieved August 19, 2014 from https://ctg.albany.edu/publications/journals/hpa_2004_criminal/hpa_2004_criminal.pdf

Louthan, W. C. (1974). Relationships Among Police, Court, and Correctional Agencies. Policy Studies Journal, 3(1), 30–37. Retrieved August 22, 2014 from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1541-0072.1974.tb01124.x/abstract

Miller, W. (1973). Ideology and criminal justice policy: Some current issues. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 64(2). Retrieved August 19, 2014 from http://www.hhs.csus.edu/Homepages/CJ/BikleB/Miller%20-%20Ideology%20and%20Criminal%20Justice%20Policy.htm

O'Leary, V., and Newman, D. (1970, July). Conflict resolution in criminal justice.

Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 7:2 pp. 99-119, doi: 10.1177/002242787000700201

Welsh, W. N., & Pontell, H. N. (1991). Counties in court: Interorganizational adaptations to jail litigation in California. Law and Society Review, 73–101. Retreived August 21, 2014 from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3053890

Week 3 discussion revolved around organizational conflict; both within an agency, and between organizations. I chose sources that gave examples of conflict as well as sources that illustrated how that conflict was resolved. I also chose sources that explained how specific conflict originated.

Week 4

Ebbesen, E. and Konecni, V. (1985). Criticisms of the criminal justice system: A decision making analysis. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 3(2), 177–194. Retrived August 29, 2014 from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pbh&AN=12584413&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Harris, P. M., Petersen, R. D., & Rapoza, S. (2001). Between probation and revocation: A study of intermediate sanctions decision-making. Journal of Criminal Justice, 29(4), 307–318. doi:10.1016/S0047-2352(01)00090-3

Jones, M., & Kerbs, J. J. (2007). Probation and parole officers and discretionary decision-making: responses to technical and criminal violations. Federal Probation, 71(1), 9–15,60. Retrived August 29, 2014 from http://search.proquest.com.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/docview/213979040?pq-origsite=summon

Payne, B. K., & DeMichele, M. (2011). Probation Philosophies and Workload Considerations. American Journal of Criminal Justice: AJCJ, 36(1), 29–43. doi:10.1007/s12103-010-9101-3

Schwalbe, C. S., & Maschi, T. (2009). Investigating probation strategies with juvenile offenders: The influence of officers’ attitudes and youth characteristics. Law and Human Behavior, 33(5), 357–67. doi:http://dx.doi.org.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/10.1007/s10979-008-9158-4

Shook, J. J., & Sarri, R. C. (2007). Structured decision making in juvenile justice: Judges’ and probation officers’ perceptions and use. Children and Youth Services Review, 29(10), 1335–1351. doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2007.05.008

In week 4, we investigated decsion-making in organizations and the factors that affected that. The week 4 paper centered on the reorganization of a juvenile agency based on setting goals and exploring the decision-making process that affects those goals. I selected sources that dealt with the factors that decision-makers had to consider within community corrections organizations.

Week 5

Nicholson-Crotty, S., Peterson, D. A. M., & Ramirez, M. D. (2009). Dynamic representation(s): Federal criminal justice policy and an alternative dimension of public mood. Political Behavior, 31(4), 629–655. doi:10.1007/s11109-009-9085-1

Petersilia, J. (1987). The influence of criminal justice research. RAND, Santa Monica, CA. Retrieved September 3, 2014 from https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/106799NCJRS.pdf

Pratt, T., Gau, J., & Franklin, T. (2011). Key ideas in criminology and criminal justice. SAGE Publications. Retrieved September 3, 2014 from http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/36811_6.pdf

Sarre, R. (1999). Beyond “What Works?”A 25 year jubilee retrospective. Presented at the History of Crime, Policing and Punishment Conference, Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology. Retrieved September 3, 2014 from http://192.190.66.70/media_library/conferences/hcpp/sarre.pdf

Willis, J. J. (2013). Improving police: What’s craft got to do with it? Ideas in American Policing, 16. Retrieved August 10, 2014 from https://www.policefoundation.org/sites/g/files/g798246/f/201306/IAP16_Willis_2.pdf

The Week 5 discussion was varied; however, three issues could be said to dominate, how public opinion affects criminal justice agencies, how research has affected how criminal justice agencies are organized, and the process of change within agencies. I selected sources on that basis.

Week 6 – Summary

How did you determine the sources for the data?

I use two types of searches for sources; in the first, I use the “Library Resources” page from the “My Academics” on the SUO website, finally selecting only peer-reviewed studies. In the second, I use Bing Search and look for peer-reviewed studies, but I mainly look for government or think tank research when using Bing.

I use a program called Zotero to save my research results; when using the SUO “Library Resources” pages, I can use 1 clcik functionality to save the study to my research library. Zotero allows me to set tags to sources, so that I can skim a study for relevance, tag it for further reading ( as an example, I could tag a source I intend to use for this week's discussion as “wk6disc1”), and quickly move on to further research. (Zotero can also save web pages)

Where did you concentrate the majority of your research?

I have moved from using the Bing search to now using the Library Resources/Zotero combination for the ease of use. In addition, by using peer-based studies, the information I use is more likely to be accurate (and thus accepted by those reviewing my work)

I do find that I have a tendency to collect more material then I use, and to skim material that I know I won't use for the current project. On the other hand, I can save any info I find interesting to my Zotero database for possible later use.

How did you analyze the data to convert to information to capture the main points of the material?

Unfortunately, due to the compressed time nature of the online program, most of the time I am scanning a study for a a support for a point I am trying to make. I very rarely read the entire study. I have gone back later to read a study and find that I used an argument out of context three times in 5 courses. I do try to use support quotes that are quantitive/objective as opposed to those based on judgement, but I don't hesitate to use point-of-view perspective as long as I identify it as such.

Finally...

If anyone is interested in Zotero, their website is

https://www.zotero.org/

I haven't quite learned how to share my library yet, but I think you can see it at

https://www.zotero.org/stevedisme/items

For those interested in networking, I'm at

http://www.linkedin.com/in/stevedurchin/

I'm sorry I haven't interacted with everyone in the class, it was a BIG class this time around. Thanks to everybody for their insights!

Kurz Manor and Longview: Organizational Reforms Proposal for Private Prisons Management LLC

Kurz Manor and Longview: Organizational Reforms Proposal for Private Prisons Management LLC

Private Prisons Management is faced with several issues at it's two prison units, Kurz Manor and Longview. Kurz Manor has allowed several escapes and is staffed by inexperienced correctional officers. Longview is plagued by inmate violence. Both units suffer from low morale and high turnover. These problems can be addressed by organizational development of Private Prisons Management as a whole, from the corporate level to the two units themselves. The first step in this process is to identify the models of organization we will be achieving, and the theories those models are based upon. It is then necessary to identify the sources of resistance that may be expected to oppose these changes, and to foresee ways of overcoming that opposition. Methods of increasing the effectiveness of the organization and methods of building trust and team support of staff will need to be included in this discussion. Finally, proposed reforms will need to identify methods of increasing job morale.

To begin, it must be recognized that the history of correctional methods in the United States reveals a “noncoherent jumble” of polices; as correctional policy is based upon the will of the people, which, as Carlson contends, has varied in both attitude and expectation over time. (2001, p. 1) However, as Doble and Klein report, it remains a constant that the public is preoccupied with personal safety. (2009, p. 293) In order to make the most effective use of our limited resources (specifically in experienced officers) to achieve the goal of keeping the public safe, a hierarchal corporate model of responsibility branching down into the prison units will be implemented. The intention is to give first line supervisors the greatest amount of discretion at the beginning of the organizational change, and as line staff gains experience and competence, formally transfer greater discretionary power to the line officers themselves. Current staff will be distributed between the two prison units, with the more experienced officers selected as first-line supervisors. In addition, Kurz Manor will be redesignated and staffed as a supermax prison, as Pizarro & Narag suggest that “prison administrators assert that supermax prisons are effective management tools because they serve as a general deterrent within the correctional population”. (2008, p. 29) Using a supermax model for the more dangerous inmates will also increase levels of safety for staff, public, and other inmates. The organizational model with be paired with a control model for prison management. Salinas explains the control method in DiIulio’s typology of prison management as based upon punishment; this punishment must be swift and visible to other inmates in order to create and maintain prison order. (2009, p.22) Considering the current lack of discipline and control in both prison units, it must be understood that the safety of the public, the safety of the prison staff, the safety of the inmates themselves, and the reputation of the company cannot not be maintained in prisons where escapes and inmate violence are common occurrences. According to Maziarka, a common measure of effective prison management is the level of inmate misconduct.(2013, p.1), so we will be base our reforms on this concept. Escapes and inmate violence reflect a lack of current compliance to that measurement. One reason the criminal justice system uses private prisons is to provide management expertise, as Jing explains the instrumental perspective argument.(2010, p.264) If the company cannot meet it's requirements to the state, we will lose the contract. Finally, we can not lose sight of the underlying reasons we need to maintain a controlled prison environment; Mackenzie compares the justice theory model and the incapacitation model theory in that the former is based on retributive notions of deserved punishment and that in the latter as simply as stating that offenders cannot commit crimes against the public while they are in prison. Mackenzie summarizes thus, “It is also generally accepted that some individuals should be incarcerated for long periods of time both as retribution for the seriousness of their offenses and because they pose threats if released. (2001, pp. 9-10)

It can be anticipated that we may receive opposition from the officer's union, the inmates' organizations, personal opposition from guards whose interests or power relationships have been upset. We must recognize the interests and the influence of the unions, which Doob & Gartner assert work to preserve jobs for their members, oppose attempts to cut correctional budgets, or assert the importance of imprisonment as a response to crime. (2011, p. 789) However, we should collaborate with the unions and recognize the “positive role unions can and do play in working with management to solve problems, implement change, make reforms, and handle crises.” (the COPS Office, 2009, para. 2) In dealing with personal opposition from guards whose interests may be affected (such as by reassignment to a unit whose location is inconvenient) we should make an effort to identify and mitigate such conflicts if possible, We should also be wary of situations in which the personal interests are not so pure:

...winners are often agency members who are skilled at political wars but who are not necessarily excellent or productive workers. As a result, good employees who foresee they will become losers may take early retirements, change jobs, or continue to accept their paychecks while opting out of the productive process. Moreover, mediocre employees with friends in high places may find rewarding niches in the system within new organizational arrangements as a result of their allegiance (sucking up) to the “friends.” (Stojkovic, 2014, p. 440)

The method for overcoming opposition from pro-inmate organizations will simply be the correlation between lax control polices and inmate misconduct, escape, and violence. We should also remember that these organizations support policy which ignores the “safety and concerns” of correctional staff. (Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, 2002, para.5)
There are several methods of increasing the effectiveness of the organization as well as building trust and team support of staff. The first is to utilize participative leadership within the hierarchy; while this seems a contradiction in terms, a formal method of addressing line concerns can be built into any organization. Even one of the most autocratic organizations in the American system, the United States Marine Corps, uses a “request mast” process that allows the line Marine to address any level of command. The next most important tool we can use is training; One of the issues that contributes to lax discipline is a lack of training. Training must emphasize officer safety, as safety is also a morale issue (which will be discussed shortly). Campbell asserts that team building needs to done with the understanding that the goals and purposes of the organization are made clear. ( 2006, p.151)

Job morale is an integral part of our goals; it contributes to high turnover which leads to inexperience which leads to lax prison control. Micieli describes a correctional officer's life as one filled with confrontation, mendaciousness and force and one in which the officer is daily challenged mentally, physically, and on integrity. (2008, p. 5) Farkas identifies not only the unique nature of correctional employment, but the factors that make it a high stress occupation, including the stress created by working in a low resource environment.(2001, p.20) One area of organizational focus should be controlling prison gangs. Carlson asserts that any veteran corrections officer will identify the greatest challenge to prison management is controlling gangs (2001, p. 10) This should improve morale. Ways of improving officer pay should be re-examined. Finally, it is imperative to implement a stress management program similar to the one out lined by Finn in Addressing Correctional Officer Stress: Programs and Strategies. Issues and Practices. (2000)
In conclusion, to address the lax control in our prison units that lead to inmate escapes and violence requires that our corporation and it's prison units be reorganized. This organization needs to be based on the goals of a prison and on the realities that comprise the situation. By identifying the problems of low resources and lax resources and the factors that cause those situations, and by identifying the sources of resistance to potential change, we can map out the tools and methods we will use to make effective change to the organization at all levels which will allow us to attain our goals in an efficient manner.

References

Campbell, N. (2006). Correctional Leadership Competencies for the 21st Century: Manager and Supervisor Levels. National Institute of Corrections. Retrieved August 15, 2014 from http://static.nicic.gov/Library/020475.pdf

Carlson, P. M. (2001). Prison interventions: Evolving strategies to control security threat groups. Corrections Management Quarterly, 5(1), 10. Retrieved September 5, 2014 from http://search.proquest.com.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/docview/214557581/8808E7AE2A4941FDPQ/2?accountid=87314

Carlson, P. M. (2001). Something to lose: A balanced and reality-based rationale for institutional programming. Corrections Management Quarterly, 5(4), 25. Retrieved September 5, 2014 from

http://search.proquest.com.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/docview/214558117/90B453A87C804C7APQ/3?accountid=87314

Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. (2002). Association ignores public safety, maligns staff to promote inmates’ issues. NYS Department of Correctional Services. Retrieved August 17, 2014, from http://www.doccs.ny.gov/PressRel/2002/gangi.html

Doble, J., & Klein, J. (2009). Punishing criminals, the public’s view: An Alabama survey. Federal Sentencing Reporter, 21(4), 291–293. doi:http://dx.doi.org.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/10.1525/fsr.2009.21.4.291

Doob, A. N., & Gartner, R. (2011). American imprisonment and prison officers’ unions. Criminology & Public Policy, 10(3), 781–790. doi:10.1111/j.1745-9133.2011.00746.x

Farkas, M. A. (2001). Correctional officers: What factors influence work attitudes? Corrections Management Quarterly, 5(2), 20. Retrieved September 5, 2014 from

http://search.proquest.com.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/docview/214563384/BAF2FB352AED49D6PQ/3?accountid=87314

Finn, P. (2000). Addressing Correctional Officer Stress: Programs and Strategies. Issues and Practices. U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs. Retrieved August 16, 2014 from http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED449457

Jing, Y. (2010). Prison privatization: a perspective on core governmental functions. Crime, Law and Social Change, 54(3-4), 263–278. doi:http://dx.doi.org.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/10.1007/s10611-010-9254-5

Mackenzie, D. (2001). Sentencing and Corrections in the 21st Century: Setting the Stage for the Future. Evaluation Research Group Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice. Retrieved September 3, 2014 from https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/189106-2.pdf

Maziarka, K. (2013). Managing Misconduct: Prison Management Meets Inmate Behavior. Journal of the Institute of Justice and International Studies, (13), J1–X. Retrieved September 4, 2014 http://search.proquest.com.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/docview/1511121910?pq-origsite=summon

Micieli, J. (2008). Stress and the Effects of Working in a High Security Prison. Rockville, MD: National Institute of Justice. Retrieved August 16, 2014 from http://www.nyscorrections.org/224105.pdf

Pizarro, J. M., & Narag, R. E. (2008). Supermax Prisons: What We Know, What We Do Not Know, and Where We Are Going. The Prison Journal, 88(1), 23–42. doi:10.1177/0032885507310530

Salinas, G. (2009, Summer). A Preliminary Analysis: Prison Models and PrisonManagement Models and the Texas Prison System. Texas State University. Retrieved September 4, 2014 from https://www.academia.edu/1195462/A_Preliminary_Analysis_Prison_Models_and_Prison_Management_Models_and_the_Texas_Prison_System

The COPS Office. (2009, September).Police labor relations: Interest-based problem-solving and the power of collaboration.Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, DOJ. Retrieved August 15, 2014 from http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/html/dispatch/September_2009/labor_relations.htm

Stojkovic, S. (2014). Criminal justice organizations [VitalSouce bookshelf version].

CJ Admin Week 5 Discussion 1 & 2; Planned Change::Prison Management

A correctional facility uses dominance and violence to keep its prisoners under control so that they do not think of committing crimes once they're out of prison. The employees of this facility are unhappy and think it is unethical to use force with prisoners. However, the public is happy, and they feel safer that their prisoners are being kept under cont

To what extent does an agency's dependence on public opinion impede or encourage planned change? Provide an example of a significant research study done in the criminal justice field. How have the results of this research study revolutionized the working of the criminal justice system?

2

What changes should the management of the above mentioned correctional facility make to keep the employees happy and prevent the public from going against the facility? What are the positive effects of research in the criminal justice profession since the President's Commission in 1967? What are the negative effects?

Because planned change depends on accurate forecasting in order to be unhindered by limited resources (amongst other factors), forecasting must include considerations of public opinion. Public opinion will not only play a part in possible crescive change towards policy in general, but has a direct impact on budgeting and thus on resources. “The rational politician knows that, if their

policy votes deviate too far from the opinion of their constituents, they risk their

electoral futures”(Nicholson-Crotty, Peterson, & Ramirez, 2009, p. 630) Nicholson-Crotty et al continue, “The electoral connection should be particularly strong to deviations in criminal

justice policy from public opinion”. (2009, p.635) Thus effective, rational, planned change must forecast how the public will react to not to just the proposed change but to any consequences the planned change might cause. Criminal justice organizations that can not accurately foresee these issues will likely be beset with resource issues related to budgeting.

In 1975, Douglas Lipton, Robert Martinson, and Judith Wilks published a study of rehabilitation programs and their effectiveness, The Effectiveness of Correctional Treatment: A Survey of Treatment Evaluation Studies . Martinson then wrote an article in The Public Interest in which he stated that “rehabilitative efforts that have been reported so far have had no appreciable effect on recidivism” (Pratt, Gau, & Franklin, 2011, p.72) This point of view was capitalized on by both liberal and conservative policy-makers who opposed the current indeterminate sentencing standards. The influence of conservative policy makers eventually shaped sentencing policy to get tough on crime, and produced specific policies such as “Three Strikes” laws and Truth in Sentencing guidelines. Sarre mentions the Supreme Court finding of Mistretta v. United States, in which the Court upheld federal sentencing guidelines that had removed the goal of rehabilitation from consideration when sentencing convicts. (1999, p.5) It has been argued that these policies have led to overcrowding in prisons ( although the idiotic “War on Drugs” is a more likely culprit for this issue, and I see few things as blatantly dishonest as assigning an ideological blame for overcrowding on sentencing guidelines when the bulk of the increase can be accounted for on drug charges), and it has also been argued that these policies have been responsible for the drop in crime over the last twenty years (although other factors may include demographic changes and higher rates of suburbanization) Petersilia notes not just the controversy caused by Martinson's work, but found it of “critical” influence. (1987, p. vi)

Nicholson-Crotty, S., Peterson, D. A. M., & Ramirez, M. D. (2009). Dynamic representation(s): Federal criminal justice policy and an alternative dimension of public mood. Political Behavior, 31(4), 629–655. doi:10.1007/s11109-009-9085-1

Petersilia, J. (1987). The influence of criminal justice research. RAND, Santa Monica, CA. Retrieved September 3, 2014 from https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/106799NCJRS.pdf

Pratt, T., Gau, J., & Franklin, T. (2011). Key ideas in criminology and criminal justice. SAGE Publications. Retrieved September 3, 2014 from http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/36811_6.pdf

Sarre, R. (1999). Beyond “What Works?”A 25 year jubilee retrospective. Presented at the History of Crime, Policing and Punishment Conference, Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology. Retrieved September 3, 2014 from http://192.190.66.70/media_library/conferences/hcpp/sarre.pdf

Lipton, Martinson, and Wilks

Mistretta v. United States

Why does the rehabilitation crowd constantly pop off about the failure of deterrence, ignore all evidence suggesting the fallibility of rehabilitiation, and remain completely silent on the value of incapicitation?

Considering that prison staff share one overriding goal with the public, that of keeping criminals incapacitated from causing harm to the public at large, it is necessary to bring about organizational development with the goal of maintaining guard morale and job satisfaction while performing their duty to society. Doble and Klein report that the public is preoccupied with personal safety (2009, P.293) If the public's opinion is that control over inmate behavior benefits society, and that perception conforms to prison reality, then a training program and a management initiative must educate guards regarding the benefits of that policy. Salinas identifies the basic objectives of prison staff as maintaining security and order. (2009, p.12)

In DiIulio’s typology of prison management, the control model is based upon punishment; Salinas states that this punishment must be swift and visible to other inmates in order to encourage compliance with prison order. (2009, p.22) Skarbek contends that prison staff can be prevented from maintaining this order by corruption and and by punishment costs (2012, p.96) Indeed, maintaining order is of obvious concern for prison staff, as Stafford points out that CO's have one of the highest rates of on-the-job-injury which is directly tied to inmate violence.( 2013, para. 2) The goal of our organizational development should center on these concerns.

Marquart studied an informal system of force in a Texas prison unit; although it was effective in maintaining control, he found that the the methods were illegal and possibly based on racial grounds.(1986) This study is useful in contrasting methods and highlights the necessity of a formal and legally sanctioned method of use of force.

The positive effects of research have included a more realistic examination rehabilitation, a reductiion in the ideal of rehabilitation as a goal in crime control, a better use of police resources in “hot spot” policing, and the idea of a rational approach using the scientiifc model in improving police services. Willis,with some justification, describes the resistance to such reform from LE agencies, and discusses ways to better mesh research with police experience. He concludes that advancing police reform relies on focusing on what can be gained by unity between LE and researchers, not by focusing on the differences. (2013, p. 11)

The negative effects of research are mainly tied with the continuation of the “poverty pitfall” research coming out of the Chicago School. The “poverty pitfall” is my description of the fundamentally incorrect idea that poverty causes crime. The continuation of this line of thought (and of the similar lines originating in Marxist “thought”) have resulted in a dogma, not a body of research. The negative effects from such include anti-LE propaganda, identity politics, and dishonest journalism in portraying violent criminals as victims.

Doble, J., & Klein, J. (2009). Punishing criminals, the public’s view: An Alabama survey. Federal Sentencing Reporter, 21(4), 291–293. doi:http://dx.doi.org.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/10.1525/fsr.2009.21.4.291

Marquart, J. W. (1986). Prison guards and the use of physical coercion as a mechanism of prisoner control. Criminology, 24(2), 347–366. Retrieved September 4, 2014 from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=i3h&AN=16305288&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Salinas, G. (2009, Summer). A Preliminary Analysis: Prison Models and PrisonManagement Models and the Texas Prison System. Texas State University. Retrieved September 4, 2014 from https://www.academia.edu/1195462/A_Preliminary_Analysis_Prison_Models_and_Prison_Management_Models_and_the_Texas_Prison_System

Skarbek, D. (2012). Prison gangs, norms, and organizations. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 82(1), 96–109. doi:10.1016/j.jebo.2012.01.002

Stallworth, R. (2013, June 11). The war beyond the walls:We are under attack inside the walls and now outside of them as well. CorrectionsOne. Retrieved August 17, 2014, from http://www.correctionsone.com/officer-safety/articles/6270478-The-war-beyond-the-walls/

Willis, J. J. (2013). Improving police: What’s  craft got to do with it? Ideas in American Policing, 16. Retrieved August 10, 2014 from https://www.policefoundation.org/sites/g/files/g798246/f/201306/IAP16_Willis_2.pdf

CJ Admin Week 5 Notes

Mental health courts, juvenile courts, vets courts, sharia courts

Crescive change is inadvertent or unplanned, independent of an organization's control, and may come about in spite of organizational efforts at self-direction. Crescive change can result from environmental influences on an organization or from internal organizational conflict 416

Law enforcement agencies, especially intelligence-gathering agencies, such as the FBI and CIA, kept crucial information to themselves and had informal policies not to share information with other agencies. The commission recommended that such practices be immediately altered for the sake of national security. 416

absolute nonsense – see gorelick wall

  Purposive change results from conscious, deliberate, and planned efforts by organizational members, typically managers.

Performance gap

 Unexpected and unintended consequences following a routine agency performance may create repercussions that make a performance gap evident. Such routine activities often have the potential to upset the agency's dynamic equilibrium (Chin, 1966; Downs, 1967). For example, the discovery of police corruption will upset the balance and stability of a police agency. Also, prisons may be replete with brutality and corruption or may be managed by inmate gangs, but this corruption or lack of control by the prison staff may not be apparent until it becomes manifest in a riot or an inmate disturbance. 418

The optimal approach to creating substantial change in an agency is to enter into a deliberate and rational process of planned change. A behavioral view suggests, however, that most organizational change is not purely rational or deliberate. Planned change requires that decision makers come to rational decisions. To do so, they must possess all pertinent information and must not be constrained by time or other resource limitations in the planning and decision-making process. 418

 W. Edwards Deming (1986), recognized for developing total quality management (TQM

The basis of successful analysis for decision making and, hence, for planning is a “continuous cycle of formulating the problem, selecting objectives, designing alternatives, collecting data, building models, weighing costs against performance, testing for sensitivity, questioning assumptions and data, reexamining the objectives, … and so on, until satisfaction is achieved or time or money forces a cutoff”

420*421

forecasting

The identification of problems is crucial to planning. Planners who perceive a performance gap need to analyze the root causes of the gap or problem. This process involves looking through a layer of possibilities to extract the probable basic causal factors. For example, we often hear that low morale in a given police agency is causing a low level of productivity. However, morale and productivity are not necessarily causally related (Perrow, 1986). It is more likely that workers with set goals are productive (Hiam, 1999) and will have high morale. 423424

Rational planning requires that an agency's goals are congruent rather than contradictory, are clear and known to agency members or decision makers, and that means–ends relationships are understood (Hudzik and Cordner, 1983). However, goals for criminal justice agencies are often vague and conflicting. Means–ends relationships and methods to achieve agency goals are often unknown or uncertain. Rehabilitation of criminal offenders, for example, can take on several meanings and is but one of many goals of corrections. To the extent that rehabilitation requires a degree of freedom from prison routines for 425426inmates, it may come squarely into conflict with security concerns of the custodial staff 425-426

resistance to change

established routine

unions opposed to the shift can 427428petition the city council or even use the media to get public support against the move to community policing.

change-ready organizations share the following characteristics:

• . High complexity in terms of professional training of organizational members

• 2. High decentralization of power

• 3. Low formalization

• 4. Low stratification in differential distribution of rewards

• 5. Low emphasis on volume (as opposed to quality) of production

• 6. Low emphasis on efficiency in cost of production or service

• 7. High level of job satisfaction among organizational members

429



many states are attempting to build treatment centers for the sex offenders and are being met with severe resistance from the communities in which they plan to locate the centers. Local community members do not want institutions for sex offenders in their backyards. 430



  A change as fundamental as creating community corrections centers may run into resistance from the public. Organizations whose members are unionized face another potentially powerful constraint on change. Management– labor contracts often call for specific behavior on the part of both management and labor. These agreements reinforce particular routines and make them unalterable for the duration of the contract. 431



Organizational development (OD) focuses on the environmental influences of an organization. The process attempts to alter simultaneously a system's values, routines, and structures in an attempt to create an atmosphere in which obstacles to change can be identified and minimized (French, 1969). Also, OD is a planned change effort that involves a total system strategy with the goal of making the organization more efficient (Beckhard, 2006). Traditionally, OD programs have been the responsibility of a single change agent, an individual whose sole role is to promote change within a system. The change agent may come from within an agency—usually from management—or may be a consultant from outside the agency. 436
To paint a drearier picture, winners are often agency members who are skilled at political wars but who are not necessarily excellent or productive workers. As a result, good employees who foresee they will become losers may take early retirements, change jobs, or continue to accept their paychecks while opting out of the productive process. Moreover, mediocre employees with friends in high places may find rewarding niches in the system within new organizational arrangements as a result of their allegiance (sucking up) to the “friends.” 440



Symbolic usage: Use of research to justify a specific decision, such as a budget.



Conceptual usage: Data used to enlighten and inform, yet not used in decision making.



Police departments, courts, and corrections agencies all exist in highly political environments. At the upper levels of organization management in those environments, many questions of policy are strongly tied to questions of value and preference. No matter how defensible a practice may be on research grounds, no one can afford to be seen as insensitive to community standards—whether that means being seen as soft on crime or as excessive in the use of force or other forms of social control. Facts may play a secondary role when decisions are driven by such political considerations. 454



The writing style and narrow dissemination of academic research have been identified as major reasons that some administrators report that research findings are of little use in their decision-making process 454 455



Academic researchers and practitioners may have different views on the value of data. Expertise in methodology and statistics gives researchers confidence that conclusions based on the analysis of data are technically sound and rational; the better the methodology, the greater confidence they have in their conclusions. For practitioners, however, additional expectations may need to be met.



Practitioners must be convinced first of all that research findings are relevant to the problems they face. National studies or research done in other jurisdictions may seem too distant to them, despite the soundness of the methods. Furthermore, because even the best studies must acknowledge their limitations, policy makers may be hesitant to accept their conclusions. Practitioners may be far less comfortable than academics with notions of probability, confidence levels, and statistical significance. Thus, academics need to do a better job communicating the meaning and value of such ideas. 455



For the practitioner, however, it is the outlier rather than the typical case that often demands attention.455



still more basic problem has been raised by some academics, who question whether social science research has reached a level of sophistication sufficient to merit influencing public policy. Elliot (1990) responded to a call for greater influence (see Petersilia, 1993) by sounding a note of caution. He argued that criminologists should be more hesitant to offer advice to policy makers. Although experimental design research of the highest quality has become more common, Elliot notes that such studies are still few in number and that little data on criminal justice have been collected over a long enough period of time to ensure confident conclusions. 456