Chapter 1 Flashcards
The Basic Concepts for Understanding Criminal Justice Orgaizations
What is an organization?
An entity defined by structure, purpose, and activity objectives.
What is management?
A process where elements of a group are coordinated, integrated, and utilized to effectively and efficiently achieve organizational objectives.
What is leadership?
A process that helps to direct and mobilize people and their ideas, with an emphasis on the creation of a vision and inspiring people.
What is a public sector?
The context within which criminal justice administrators function.
What is the open-system theory?
An approach to understanding organizations as being influenced by their environments.
What is complex goals?
A situation in which an organization faces many competing and conflicting purposes.
What is a complex environment?
A situation in which an organization faces many competing and conflicting demands from turbulent external sources.
What is complex internal constituencies?
A situation in which an organization faces many competing and conflicting demands from turbulent external sources.
What three dimensions are organizations structured by?
structure, purpose, and activity.
How are organizations managed?
through a process
How are management functions managed?
they are not limited to a specific office within an organization
What are organizations led through?
vision, motivation, and inspiration
Criminal justice organizations operate within what?
the context of a public status
Criminal justice organizations are constrained and directed by?
civil service protections and union contracts
Criminal justice management and leadership must be aware of what in order to be effective?
Criminal justice organizations operate within the context of a public status and are constrained and directed, in part, by civil service protections and union contracts
Criminal justice organizations both affect and are affected by what?
key elements of their environments
What does a closed-system theory emphasize?
key operational components of an organization
open-system theory hypothesizes what?
that criminal justice organizations are malleable and influenced differentially by elements of the environment
Why do criminal justice organizations have many goals and many competing with one another for limited resources?
they ensure a balanced approach that prioritizes both public safety and individual rights, leading to a more just and effective system.
What makes criminal justice administration complex?
Criminal justice agencies work in environments that are very different and complicated, which makes their jobs a lot harder to do well.
How are criminal justice organizations assessed, in part?
Some of how criminal justice organizations are judged is based on how well they meet the needs of different groups in the places where they work.
What are some examples of internal groups that influence criminal justice organizations?
many internal groups, such as line personnel (e.g., police officers, corrections officers), support staff (e.g., dispatchers, social workers), and other individuals who perform the work within the organization.
How has the power of internal groups within criminal justice organizations changed over time?
These internal groups have become more powerful over the years, likely due to factors like unionization and increased professionalization.
What is currently challenging the power of internal groups within criminal justice organizations?
Concerns about money are now putting these internal groups’ power to the test. This could mean that these groups won’t be able to get as many raises, benefits, or other resources as they used to.
In what ways are the goals of the victim-witness program complex or conflicting?
they aim to both support crime victims and ensure due process rights for defendants, which can sometimes have competing demands.
