Throughout the course you have learned many characteristics of criminal justice organizations. The system seems to be perched on the edge of major changes, but are there flaws in the design of CJ

C H A P T E R F O U R T E E N

CHANGE AND INNOVATION

Criminal Justice Organizations: Administration and Management

Learning Objectives

 Understand why change occurs

 Be familiar with the process of organizational change

 Will be able to discuss four significant of a planned change

 Understand the basic ingredients of planning in criminal justice

 Understand personal resistance to change

 Understand organizational resistance to change

Learning Objectives

 Be able to discuss the characteristics of organizations that readily facilitate change

 Be able to describe the process to overcoming resistance to change

 Understand organizational development

 Be able to describe unintended consequences of change

 Be aware of ethical pitfalls resulting from organizational change

Why Change Occurs

 Change can emanate from either inside of outside of an agency’s environment.

 Performance gap – When the agency is performing improperly or below capacity, change is likely.

 Employee turnover creates different expectations.

 Technology – can reveal the need for change, particularly in communications.

 Change is really the bridge between the organization and its environment.

 Unexpected and unintended events can cause change.

The Process of Organizational Change

 The optimal approach is a deliberate and rational process of rational change.

 At best however, administrators process change through a process that is best described by o Bounded rationality o Garbage can theory

 Planned organizational change consists of a set of activities designed to change: o Individuals o Groups o Organizational structures o Organizational processes

The Process of Organizational Change

 Planned change steps o Create a sense of urgency

o Build coalitions across the organization (critical mass)

o Develop a vision

o Communicate the vision and strategy

o Empower the coalition to overcome barriers

o Achieve short term victories

o Use success as the basis for short term wins

o Repeat new programs, policies, and procedures until they become rooted in the culture

Planning in Criminal Justice

 Planning – “any deliberate effort to increase the proportion of goals attained by increasing awareness and understanding of the factors involved” (Dahl, 1959:340).

 The first step in the planned change process.

 Requires, o Review of the agency mission and goals,

o Identification of constraints and opportunities

o Forecasting, and

o Identifying alternatives.

Resistance to Change

 Planning change is technical and relatively straight forward.

 Implementing change involves human relations and is the most difficult aspect of planned change.

 Resistance to change can be intense, especially if the change is perceived to threaten entrenched values, mores, and attitudes.

 Change agents should focus on eliminating, or at least mitigating, the sources of resistance.

Personal Organizational

 Misunderstanding  Failure to see the need  Fear  Lack of identification/

involvement  Habit  Vested interests  Norms  Threats to existing social

systems

 Reward system  Rivalry or conflict  Previous fiscal

commitments  Threat to power balances  Prevailing climate  Poor choice of method  History of unsuccessful

change  Structural rigidity

Resistance to Change Sources

Resistance to Change Characteristics of Innovation

 Lower costs or perceived higher return on investment

 Less complex change that is consistent with existing organizational structure

 Change that comes naturally from inside the organization

 Involving fewer people or processes

Resistance to Change Overcoming Resistance

Resistance to Change Overcoming Resistance

 Three strategies

o Individual – individuals must modify their attitudes, skills, and behaviors.

o Structural and Systems – modifying the basic structure rather than merely changing a few procedures.

o Organizational climate – involves changing multiple dimensions within the organization including the task structure and reward/punishment relationship.

Organizational Development

 Focuses on the environmental influences of an organization.

 Attempts to alter an organization’s values, routines and structures to create an atmosphere for change.

 Organizational development (OD) tends to be more comprehensive and involve an entire organization.

 Often it is necessary to identify a change agent.

Unintended Consequences to Change

The final outcome of change may be different than what was planned.

Reasons for unintended consequences:

o Goals may not be thoroughly understood

o Interventions may be exploited

o Goals may be displaced by a bureaucratic emphasis

Ethics and Organizational Change

 Change can be exploited by individuals inside and outside the organization.

 Be aware that change threatens the lives of all individuals involved.

 Honest and clarity of purpose are keys to insuring an ethical outcome.

 Responding immediately to unethical behaviors has considerable symbolic value.

Implications for Criminal Justice Managers

 Stability, predictability and consistency are virtues in most criminal justice organizations.

 Change is often very slow and methodical in criminal justice unless the organization’s survival is threatened.

 Consistency in leadership over the change process is a critical value.

Chapter Summary

 Changes in agencies take place after external groups (citizens, legislators, clients, etc.) believe that the agency is underperforming

 Change can also occur from pressure from internal constituents such as unions.

 Change can take place by carefully planning or because of forces beyond an organization’s control.

 The four significant elements of planned change are individuals, groups, organizational structure, and process.

Chapter Summary

 The basic ingredients of planning in criminal justice are identify agency goals and problems, forecasting contingencies, creating alternative opportunities, and making clear the means-end relationship.

 Personal resistance to change can be caused by the; fear of income or job status loss, need to protect territory, lack of trust in management, fear of new challenges, uncertainty and many others.

 Organizational resistance to change can be caused by; traditions, ideology, past practices, deeply sunk costs, change of large magnitude, or a rigid organizational culture.

Chapter Summary

 Organizations that readily facilitate change tend to have a professional rather than hierarchical structure and a culture of innovation and creativity.

 The processes for overcoming resistance to change include; unfreezing, changing, and refreezing.

 Change strategies should be aimed at individuals, structures and systems, organizational climate, and culture.

 Organizational development is a process that attempts to alter systemic values, routines and structures to eliminate obstacles to change.

Chapter Summary

 Organizational development requires an increased level of trust among members and creating an environment in which authority is based on expertise.

 The final outcome of change may be different than intended.

 Change often creates a new set of problems.

 The ethical pitfalls of change include; creating winners and losers, harmful organizational politics, and the dishonor of past efforts and successes.

Thinking Point and Question

 Upon returning home after attending a conference the Mayor called a meeting and instructed the police department to “become a community policing organization”.

 The Chief responded “We already adhere to many of the precepts of community policing. Mayor, what more do you want us to do?”

 “I want you to go all the way!” The Major responded.

Thinking Point and Question

 Using what you know about the planned change process, resistance to change, and the possibility of unintended consequences, discuss how you would implement the Mayor’s order.

 Give particular attention to the Mayor’s lack of clarity in expressing his request.

C H A P T E R F I F T E E N

RESEARCH IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE ORGANIZATIONS

Criminal Justice Organizations: Administration and Management

Learning Objectives

 Know the difference between basic and applied research

 Understand the ways in which knowledge is utilized by criminal justice organizations

 Describe the nature of social science research and knowledge utilization

 Describe the limitations of data within criminal justice organizations

 Define “In-House Research” and how it can be useful to criminal justice organizations

 Know the various ways of conceptualizing and applying knowledge

Knowledge for What?

 Distinguish between;

o Basic research – seeks to understand fundamental issues of process and structure in ways that may not immediately be useful to practitioners.

o Applied research – to develop knowledge that is directly useful to practitioners.

 The difference lies in the researcher's initial intent.

 It is entirely possible to

o Apply the results from basic research, and

o Use the knowledge from applied research to inform theory.

Criminal Justice Organization Knowledge Utilization

 Lovell (1988) found very little substantive use of research information by practitioners.

 Research is more readily used in organizations that

o Actively conduct their own research

o When management is less crisis oriented

o Are less formal, and

o Encourage decentralized decision making.

The Researcher Knowledge Utilization

 Researchers can encourage the use of research by remaining focused on practitioner needs.

 Dissemination should be through ‘approachable’ media and formats.

 Practitioners must be convinced of the value of research information.

 Researchers and practitioners view the data and results differently.

Social Science Research Knowledge Utilization

 Researchers should be cautious about influencing public policy. o The available research is limited.

o Most of the available research is not definitive enough to authoritatively influence public policy.

 The results from single studies, regardless of how definitive they may seem, are not enough to justify wholesale policy change. o Minneapolis Domestic Violence Experiment

o Ceasefire, COMPSTAT and Exile Projects

Data Knowledge Utilization

 National trend data may not be relevant to local issues.

 Survey and summary data cannot be used to determine causality.

 Criminal justice data, for the most part, is often inaccurate, incomplete and untimely.

 Administrators should have the discipline to seek valid (accurate) and reliable (consistent) measures of social phenomena.

In-House Research

 The development of the capacity within organizations to address their own data and research needs.

 Often exists in separate and stand alone units.

 In house research tends to be more readily accepted by practitioners if: o Their research role is well defined, and

o The credibility is based on technical expertise rather than position power.

Knowledge as Truth

 In research, data are often viewed merely as recorded observations.

 Research knowledge is both rational and objective.

 The use of research knowledge by practitioners may be influenced by

o Politics

o Budget concerns

Knowledge as Power

Because research is considered objective, research results can be used as a ‘weapon’ to o Affect change, or

o Cause an agency to adopt a new policy

 This sometimes causes managers to discourage research.

Knowledge as Understanding

 Research can be used to develop deeper understandings of social phenomena.

o Normative re-education strategies – impetus for change comes from collaboration rather than research

o Action research – using research to effect specific change

 Involvement in research tends to encourage the acceptance of its findings.

Knowledge and Research Partnerships

 In recent years criminal justice organization have entered into cooperative agreements with researchers (e.g. universities) to either create or supplement their capacity to conduct research.

 These strategies are helpful if the dynamics of the partnership are well defined.

Knowledge and Failure

 Research reduces the probability of policy failure, but does not eliminate it.

 Failure should not however be considered wholly bad.

 Often the most innovative research findings emanate from failures.

Knowledge and Failure

 Learning from failure o Administrators should be self-reflective.

o Define success more broadly

o Purely rational solutions are not likely

o Modesty can be virtuous.

o Politics and criminal justice reform/practice cannot be separated.

o Planning in isolation is a mistake.

o Program implementation and context matter in criminal justice.

o Involving line personnel is essential.

Advances in Criminal Justice Research

 Three trends

o Growing use of data in the field

o Increased interest in outcome based research among academics

o Federal support for data based decision making

 Programmatic trends

o Problem oriented policing

o Enhanced crime analysis and intelligence activities

o Intelligence led policing

Knowledge The Future of Criminal Justice Administration

 Three themes addressed in this textbook.

o To focus on what we know about criminal justice organizations from multiple perspectives

o A systematic focus when viewing criminal justice administration

o An understanding of criminal justice administration through the integration of theory

Chapter Summary

 Two types of research

o Basic concerned with fundamental uses of process and structure to understand a phenomenon

o Applied research – the use of knowledge that directly impacts practitioners and policy

 Criminal justice organizations use knowledge in three ways

o Instrumental

o Symbolic

o Conceptual

 Researchers are concerned with statistical averages as a way to comprehend the typical.

Chapter Summary

 Practitioners emphasize the atypical in understanding organizational responses to crime.

 Researchers must be careful in how the influence public policy, as definitive answers to crime may be ambiguous and not readily apparent.

 Practitioners should use research to inform but not drive policy.

 Criminal justice data tends to be crude. More valid and reliable variables are needed.

 In-house research means the capacity of an organization to develop its own data and research needs.

Thinking Point and Question

 After several years of discussion and negotiation with the police officers union and elected officials your department has just implemented a four-ten shift schedule.

 This schedule allows police officers to work four consecutive ten hour days and then enjoy a three day weekend every week.

 The new shift schedule was very favorably received and was implemented without incident.

Thinking Point and Question

 A few months later the Chief of Police attended a training session hosted by the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

 At this session a widely respected psychologist reported on his research about the effects of a four- ten work week on police officer productivity and stress.

 He finds that four-ten shifts reduce overall productivity and increase stress related disease (e.g. hypertension and heart disease).

Thinking Point and Question

 The Chief regards the research as credible and asks you to “take a look at it and make any recommendations.”

 Given what you learned in this chapter how would you advise the chief? Explain why.