Management Styles in the Criminal Justice System
Introduction
All managers and practitioners in the prisons system are responsible for ensuring correctional practices are compliant with both international and national law. The Management Systems Approach is the most effective in the criminal justice system in ensuring such compliance. In the criminal justice system, the approach promotes cohesiveness and unity without sacrificing effectiveness and efficiency. The various management styles to be employed under the approach include transformational, transactional, autocratic, democratic and bureaucratic. The efficacy of each of these styles may be determined by the gender of the manager. This paper will delve into each of the management styles providing a summary of each, suiting one gender to each of the styles and elaborating past experiences with varying managers in the criminal justice system.
In the changing world and diversity in the managerial world, several theories have been used to increase the performance of organizations. An example of such a theory is the transformational leadership theory. According to Winkler (2010), in transformational leadership, there is a high level of interaction between the leader and the follower. As such, the leader takes into account the needs of his followers and may in the process promote motivation among the followers. When motivation is increased the relationship between the leader and the followers develops further. The transformational leadership theory focuses on the ability of the leader to be able to raise the needs or expectation levels of a subordinate or an employee (Gill, 2006). As such, the subordinate may be able to achieve goals that would not ordinarily be achieved if a normal transactional leadership style was adopted.
One aspect that is central to transformational leadership is charisma (Winkler, 2010). Charisma is essential as it ensures that a leader develops into a role model that followers can identify with and relate. They set goals and moral standards based on the leader’s level of charisma. According to Gill (2006), a charismatic leader’s ability to have a vision is also important in that it helps provide a source of inspiration to the followers. It is important to note that such a vision needs to be authentic from the leader to enhance follower commitment. Another important aspect of transformational leadership is the focus on individual needs of the followers. The leader advises and guides followers in participating in the management of the organization by considering their opinions and suggestions (Winkler, 2010). The transformative leader engages the followers to participate more in problem solving by promoting their innovative and creative ideas. The ability of the leader to arouse team spirit through inspirational motivation can be achieved by use of emotional appeals and symbols that help the followers to be willing to do more (Robbins & Coulter, 1999).
Transformational leadership as a management style puts emphasis on certain feminine aspects such as empowerment and collaboration which makes it better suited for women than men (Sindhura & Chaluvadi, 2015). Additionally, most women leaders’ accomplishments have been through great obstacles and as such offers good inspiration and motivation for the followers, as the leadership and managerial experience has been focused naturally to be suited for men (Sindhura & Chaluvadi, 2015). As such, a woman adopting a transformational leadership style would be more suited to manage a prison or correctional facility where there have been instances of poor collaboration among prison staff and seemingly over-empowered prisoners.
Transactional Leadership
Most of the traditional forms of leadership and management can be associated with the transactional leadership theory. In the transactional leadership theory, the level of interaction between the leader and the follower is less compared to the transformational leadership theory. According to Martins (2015), in transactional leadership theory, the leader's main focus is on the task to be completed. As such, the leader uses certain predetermined approaches that are necessary for the fulfillment of the objective or goal of the organization. Some ways that the transactional leader can use to gain compliance from the followers may include developing a reward and punishment system (Sindhura & Chaluvadi, 2015). If individuals perform well, they may receive a bonus. In the case of lateness or poor quality work, the followers may be punished via pay cuts fines or suspension. Since the level of interaction between the followers and the leader is less, the main forms of communication may be through emails and letters which ensure little face to face communication.
In the process of working, the leader will provide a set of rules and regulations that will allow followers to carry out a given task. Once this is done, the leader steps aside and waits for the results. The leader may intervene in situations where the followers may go off track (Martins, 2015). Additionally, when a task is completed the relationship between the leader and the follower may cease to exist (Lussier and Achua, 2012). Consequently, transactional leadership is more focused on the short-term vision rather than the long term outcome of the leader-follower relationship. Increasing focus on transformational leadership may sometimes overwhelm the effectiveness that transactional leadership may have in an organization. However, transactional leadership may be significant in an organization since it improves employee commitment, general organizational behavior and trust in the leader.
Transactional leadership is more suited to female managers and leaders as compared to men. This is so because female managers tend to motivate their followers and subordinates using positive reward-based incentives. Men tend to employ strictness and lesser effective threatening management styles (Sindhura & Chaluvadi, 2015). In transactional leadership style, the men would align more with the negative punishment aspect if that style and it would not be as effective as when women use it and concentrate on rewarding productive subordinates.
In a criminal justice setting, a female manager may employ transactional leadership style to encourage subordinates say police officers at a station to report to work more punctually, collaborate more with their partners and conduct more routine patrols in dangerous neighborhoods with the aim of ensuring public safety.
Autocratic management style
The autocratic management style is one in which the leader or the manager makes decisions alone or with minimal input from the subordinates or other managers. The manager then conveys the decision to the subordinates and they have to adhere to the decision as it was made. The manager uses his or her position and job responsibilities to not only control the energies of the subordinates but also monitor them for proper completion of duties (Lussier & Achua, 2012). All this is often done under close scrutiny. The style was commonly used in the olden days when leaders controlled empires and tribes. However, the management style is prevalent in the modern systems especially with the disciplined forces such as the army and the police who are a critical component of the criminal justice system.
The autocratic style of management is best suited for organizations that are rigid. It is a very paternalistic management style which can often lead to great resentment and strain among the subordinates (Gill, 2006). Some of the areas it is best suited include the military or disciplined forces, construction and manufacturing circles.
Although it is minimally used in business circles, there are times when the autocratic management style is suitable. The management style could be suited for the police force when the leader deems it necessary to control his or her subordinates from danger or when there is a little margin of error, and a task has to be completed in a strict, certain way (Winkler, 2010). For instance, the management style may be useful when applied by a police commander to authorize inexperienced policemen on how to handle criminals to avoid being hurt or losing the criminals.
Men are more effective in roles that require the employment of the autocratic style of management. This is so because men are authoritative by nature, less likely to be moved by emotions and they have a tendency to enforce punishments better when rules are not followed. In military settings, male commanders perform better in autocratic roles compared to women who tend to be emotional and thus ineffective in enforcing issues that the subordinates resist (Lussier & Achua, 2012). In the criminal justice system, a man would be the most effective police commander, especially when handling excited rookie policemen and unbecoming behaviors among members of his department.
Democratic management style
The democratic style of management is also known as participative leadership or management. It is a leadership style in which members of an organization participate actively in the decision-making process, and their contributions are implemented in the decisions made. According to Robbins and Coulter, (1999) the democratic management style is one of the most effective management styles in the era of increased democratization and personal expression. Some of the characteristics of democratic management style include encouraging the subordinates to share ideas and opinions although the manager has a significant degree of authority in the final decisions. The members’ opinions are sought, and their contributions are rewarded to encourage further participation.
The democratic style of management tends to yield decisions of better quality, and there are more solutions to problems. The style also increases the productivity of the members since they feel that their presence is valued by the organization. Although it has numerous benefits and is touted as the management style of the 21st century, the democratic style of management has some serious shortcomings (Gill, 2006). It can be time-consuming and may not be appropriate when decisions have to be made fast or where there is a high level of resistance, and things have to be done in a strict manner.
The democratic style of management is best suited for women who tend to involve more people in the process of making decisions. The women tend to listen more and are expressive in nature, and they would, therefore, be at the frontline to encourage their subordinates to participate in decision-making.
In the criminal justice system, a woman manager at a troublesome correctional facility riddled with a myriad of issues such as corruption, go-slows, low staff morale, unruly prisoners among others would be the best manager. The woman is likely to engage prison staff and other stakeholders to make decisions that address all issues through the participation of all affected parties.
Bureaucratic management style
The bureaucratic style of management is one that is based on the official fixation of duties under a hierarchy of authority. It is a management style that is suited for an environment where the manager does not need much innovation and creativity from the subordinates. The following are the main features of bureaucratic leadership or management. Firstly, there is a hierarchy or organized authority in which the people occupying the lower ranks of authority answer to those in the upper ranks. Secondly, there is the fixation of duties whereby people attend to specific roles and responsibilities designated according to their ranks. Thirdly the requirement for people to be technical experts in their roles is greatly emphasized, and all the people have to adhere to a defined system of rules. The technical rules control the manner way in which a manager and the subordinates work while the behavioral rules dictate how the scope of the behavior of each rank.
According to Sindhura and Chaluvadi, (2015) men would suit more in bureaucratic management style because they are authoritative, strict and like to operate in a way in a hierarchical order. Moreover, men also tend to favor hierarchical systems where powers and roles are clearly defined, and there is minimal room for ambiguities.
Evaluating a manager
My current manager, who is a woman, employs the transformational style of management. In her role, she is always trying to be the perfect role model. She is constantly encouraging the subordinates to perform better, to acquire more education and rise to higher levels of personal and organizational growth. She is a very charismatic woman who likes to engage us in the decision-making processes and to make us feel like equals which boosts our esteem and makes us desire to rise in our careers.
She has a clear vision of where she wants the organization to be in the next five years and has communicated her vision to us. She has made us believe in the vision and work towards it as a team. On several occasions, she states that she is satisfied to see the growth of her subordinates as much as she likes to seek the growth of the organization.
Conclusion
There are several styles of management namely transformational, transactional, autocratic, bureaucratic, and democratic. The more forceful styles where the power and decision-making rests with the manager are the bureaucratic and the autocratic styles which are suited for male managers due to their natural love for authority and established power structures. The other styles such as transactional, transformational and democratic roles involve delegation of more powers and decision-making capabilities to the subordinates. These roles suit women better because they can apply positive-oriented incentives, and aregenerally more emotionally and expressive in comparison to men.
References
Winkler, I. (2010). Contemporary leadership theories: Enhancing the understanding of the complexity, subjectivity, and dynamic of leadership. Heidelburg: Springer.
Gill, R. (2006). Redefining leadership: A new model. In Theory and practice of leadership (pp. 63-95). London: Sage Productions.
Martin, J. (2015). Transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership styles of academic library leaders: An exploratory examination of gender, experience, and institution type. portal: Libraries and the Academy, 15(2), 331-351.
Sindhura, N. & Chaluvadi, L. (2015) Differences in Leadership Styles between Genders: Outcomes and Effectiveness of Women in Leadership Roles. MBA Student Scholarship. Paper 35. http://scholarsarchive.jwu.edu/mba_student/35
Robbins, S. R. & Coulter, M. (1999) Management, 6th Edition, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.
Lussier, R. N., & Achua, C. F. (2004). Leadership: Theory, application, skill development. Australia: Thomson Learning / South-Western.
