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.