For your Midterm Essay Examination, you will respond to all five questions presented. This exam covers Chapters 1–8, of the assigned textbook. Be sure to go through all of the assigned readings, module notes, PowerPoint presentations, and videos in the Learning & Assessment Activities page before you begin this examination.Each question is worth 20 points. Each answer must be at least 250 words, double-spaced, with citations for stated facts.Complete the Midterm Essay Examination by responding to the following questions:
1. You have been hired, as a consultant, by a large criminal justice agency, which is struggling with organizational transformation issues. You are to identify and discuss the main issues commonly involved with organizational transformation within the context of the various organizational frames. (20 points)
With organizational transformation comes organizational; change. Organizational change can have both negative and positive effects on employees, production, culture, and behavior. Organizational change is very challenging in criminal justice agencies because the relationship that exist between the judicial and legislative systems that each criminal justice agency must adhere to. Decoupling, and communication are some of the issues that criminal justice agencies are presented with. Decoupling refers to the misalignment of organizational goals with ethical codes (Zschoche, 2011). In criminal justice, organizations, which operate under a bureaucratic or closed system, when decoupling occurs it, can be attributed to corrupt or lack of leadership. This type of behavior negatively effects organizational transformation because leaders are engaging in corrupt activities which subordinate employees are also engaged in and the resistance to change that is implemented interrupt these side activities. Communication is a challenging factor because in a bureaucratic organization the communication process is from the top down. This type of communication process requires subordinate employees to follow orders given by their commanding officers and supervisors. If upper level managed is not in alignment with the organizational transformation that is transpiring subordinate employees may also be reluctant to this change. On the other, hand other contributing factors such as incompetent leaders, or lack of respect for leaders can also contribute to challenges that may arise in response to organizational change. “Weber believed that authority and responsibility should rest in a position and not be based on who is holding that position” (Allen & Sawhney, 2014). Som leaders in criminal justice agencies allow the power of their position to be used for maldaptive purpose s which hinders orgaizational transformation.
2. Discuss the major environmental influences on criminal justice organizations. (20 points)
The major influences that impact or effect the criminal justice organizations are political, technological, economic, and social. Political influences include political climate. Political climate and governmental control are the political factors that influence criminal justice organizations because the criminal models that are applied to diverse criminal justice agencies differentiate and create fragmentation in the various organization. The inability to correlate and the lack of cohesion in criminal justice agencies cause conflict in decision making pertaining to prosecuting criminals (Smith, 2003). Technological factors that can influence criminal justice organizations are changes to the infrastructure that alter internal communication, and the use of new social mediums to promote the organization. Economic factors include boostin the economy an the role that criminal justice institutions play in providing employment to people. On the contrary. Criminal justice institutions have been criticized for creating a stigma that hinders the attraction of other investments or businesses because they do not want to operate in close proximity to a prison or jail. According to Kirchoff (2010) “Though many local officials credit prisons with stabilizing their economies, some academic studies say prisons have a lesser impact than believed, or even retard economic development by creating a stigma that makes it more difficult to attract other types of investment”(p 31). The economic impact can either be negative or positive for boosting the economy. The last factor that impacts criminal justice organizations are social related. Currently, social issues of racism and police brutality have resurfaced and have shown to be a continuously and more frequent occurrence as of late. An example where this is applicable is the Mike Brown case that has been nationally recognized and a representation of how the attitude, perceptions, and irrational behavior of officers and contribute to the shooting of an unwarranted teen.
3. Identify and discuss the various steps and barriers to communications and provide examples using criminal justice organizational settings. (20 points
In criminal justice organizations, the common organizational structure is one of bureaucracy. Bureaucratic organizations have a systematic communication process hat requires subordinate employees to receive instructions from the top down. This communication system is heavily influence by administrative system that lies within the organization. The administrative system is upper level management, which includes high rank officers and supervisors. Common barriers in communication can include preconceived ideas, denial of contrary information, use of personal meanings, lack of motivation or interest, non-credibility of the source, lack of communication skills, poor organizational climate, use of complex channels, and communication gap (Stojkovic, Kalinich, & Klofas, 2015). An example of a preconcieved idea can be if an offer is given a direct order from his or her supervising officer and he or she takes it as a personal attack. The denial of conrary information is equivalent to making a false statement then denying that you made the fals statement. The use of personal meanings are making statements thatn apply to one’s personal beleifs or that subject one’s personal beliefs on others. The lack of motivation or interest can stem from a disagreement or disbelief in the task that task or purpose for performing an ordered action. The lack of credibility of a source can be an example of distrust in a supervisor from past experiences. One of the most detrimental factors in the communication process is a lack of communication skills. Some managers, supervisors, and leaders in the criminal justice organizations do not have the communcation skills that are necessary to respectfully and adequately give orders to subordinate staff. This lack of communication creates gaps in the communication system that ultimately have a negative influnce of overall operations in criminal justice institutions.
4. The chief of the department has asked you to explain the pros and cons of both the Quality Circle Program and the Management by Objective Program before deciding which program to adopt in the department as a motivational tool to improve organizational goals and outcomes. Describe what recent research has revealed regarding the effectiveness of both these programs. (20 points)Quality Circle Program and the Management by Objective Programs are tow programs that have positive and negative effects on criminal justice organizations. Quality circles are meetings between non-supervisory staff that are designed to analyzed and evaluate issues that occur with techniques, policies, and on the job that create conflict and have a negative effect on overall operations. These meetings give officers and criminal justice personnel the opportunity to voice their opinions of solutions to problems that are a challenge for officers on their level of supervision. In addition, this also gives nonsupervisory officers the opportunity to create cohesion within their units. Another positive component of quality circles is the ability for everyone who is participating in the quality circle to get an opportunity to be the leader of the circle. This is significant because in criminal justice agencies the chain of command is the ultimate communication process which does not give lower level officers and personnel the opportunity to use their position of power without gaining permission or being ordered from their superior officer. Collectively quality circles improve unit cohesiveness, gives all officers the opportunities to verbalize their concerns and solutions to problems that they face when performing everyday job duties, and organize unit activates in a more efficient manner (Hatry & Greiner, 1986). The cons of the quality circle are not including supervisors in the meetings may create variations of job tasks that differ from the procedures that are highlighted in policies. This challenges the authority that supervisors have because officers may begin to exert their power of authority in a manner that extends beyond their abilities. Resistance to implementation and the change of standard policies is also a con to quality circles because it displays how superior officers can reject the idea of change when they are not secure with a decision that is being made without their contribution. Hence, though there are some cons to quality circles the pros outweigh the cons greatly.
5. Explain how leadership investment strategies are critical to criminal justice organizations. Why do so few criminal justice organizations not invest in them? (20 points)
Leadership investment opportunities are crucial to criminal justice agencies because they continue to bridge the gap that has formed and continues to grow larger as technology is incorporated into communication. Leadership investment strategies are also significant because it assist leaders that are not comfortable with generational differences by informing them about how generational differences have an impact on people’s personalities, and understanding of job performance. Despite technological changes, leadership continues to be a human component to business and operations. If leaders become dehumanized and do not display emotions or human characteristics, theme communication in criminal justice organizations will cease and overall operations will fail. Little organization invests in leadership strategies because of the comfort and past practices that have been applied to criminal justice agencies. In closed systems and bureaucratic organizations, the leadership duties and actions are already static. Seminars and teachings from guest speakers are frequently viewed as outside information that is not applicable to the job duties that are being performed. Another issue is the inability to keep leaders engaged in the strategies because of lack of interest. According to Crispo (2011) the digital age is a distraction that negatively affects student’s level of attentiveness in leadership courses. The lack of cohesion and the cost of leadership initiatives are deemed as inapplicable and waste of funds. Truthfully, leadership initiatives can be useful if they are aligned with the organizational goals of cranial justice agencies. Suggestions would be a training or guest speaker who has a background in cranial justice and can engage the audience.
References
Allen, J., & Sawhney, R. (2014). Chapter 2: Open versus closed systems. In J. Allen, & R. Sawhney, Administration and management in criminal justice: A service quality approach (pp. 26-67). Sage publications.
Crispo, A. W. (2011). The Age of Electronic Fascination: Can’t Live With it and Can’t Live Without! Culture & Religion Journal , 1-6.
Hatry, H. P., & Greiner, J. M. (1986). Improving the Use if Quaklity Circles in Police Departments.
Kirchhoff, S. M. (2010). Economic Impacts of Prison Growth. Congressional Research Service.
Smith, L. J. (2003). The organizational environment and its influence on state criminal justice systems within the United States and the offender reintegration process. Criminal Justice Studies , 97-112.
Stojkovic, S., Kalinich, D., & Klofas, J. (2015). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Zschoche, R. (2011). A Multilevel Mosel of Police Corruption:Anomie, Decoupling, and moral Disingagement. Criminology and Criminal justice Commons , 1-266.
