Criminal Justice Management

Discussion Questions

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Chapter 1

  1. How are court organizations substantially different from police and corrections organizations? How might this difference affect the behavior of the actors within these organizational settings?
  2. Why is policing mostly a local affair and how is that affected by organizational and community factors? Explain your answer.
  3. How is policing similar at city, county, and state levels? Provide examples.
  4. Why are courts more like informal work groups than bureaucracies? Explain your answer.
  5. How do jails and prisons differ from each other and in what ways are they similar? Give an example.
  6. What are the greatest differences between probation and parole? Give some examples.
  7. What are the common characteristics of the clients in all criminal justice agencies? How might these commonalities affect their treatment by criminal justice actors?

© Peter Collins

Chapter 2

  1. After reviewing how public service in criminal justice might be different, list and describe the ways in which it is similar to service in the private sector.
  2. If government activity is more likely to be honest when under public scrutiny, discuss the ways in which jails or prisons might become more “open” to the public.
  3. Why are the values of “democratic accountability” and “neutral competence” in conflict? What is their appeal and what is their weakness? Can you describe any current examples of either value being emphasized in public service today?
  4. As mentioned in the text there is numerous environmental factors that criminal justice managers must confront. What, then, are some tactics that those same managers might employ to control their environment? How might they be proactive in this endeavor?
  5. Why do you think that old modes of management, by the top only, might be outdated? Explain your answer.
  6. Who is likely to know most about how the organization operates – the top-level managers or the lower level workers? Explain your reasoning.
  7. What are some ways in which SLBs make policy in police or court organizations? Give an example.
  8. In addition to their shared vision to enforce and uphold the law, what drives criminal justice organizations and their actors, both formally and informally?  
  9. Using the web links provided at the end of the chapter, analyze the various organizational mission statements and design your own mission statement as if you were working for or managing a criminal justice agency of your choice.
  10. Using the web links provided at the end of the chapter, chose one and describe the various organizational actors and the various formal and informal goals that they may or may not reflect.

© Peter Collins

Chapter 3

  1. What might motivate unethical behavior by criminal justice actors? Why?
  2. What is the difference between the official deviance and noble cause motivations? Give an example.
  3. How might the “smell of victims’ blood” and the “tower” be associated with unethical behavior by criminal justice actors? Give an example.
  4. Under what circumstances are abuse of force and sexual/gender harassment more likely to occur and why? Explain.
  5. How is ethics different from morality? Why? Explain your answer.
  6. What is the difference between informal and formally sanctioned ethical lapses in behavior? Give an example.
  7. What is the difference between deontological and teleological ethical systems for the control of ethical practices in criminal justice? Give an example.
  8. How do the different origins of ethics affect people’s view of them? What origins seem most suited for ensuring that criminal justice staff and administrators adhere to ethical codes? Why?
  9. How are the means and ends of criminal justice work tied up in the discussion of ethics? What is the importance of each? Explain your answer.

© Peter Collins

Chapter 4

  1. Why does Van Riper argue that an administrative state is more sophisticated and functional if there is a money economy, and at least a modest semblance of quantitative data and technique? Do you think that an administrative state existed before the computer, at the turn of the 20th century, or at the founding of the country? Explain why and why not.
  2. What portions of traditional management theory apply to the operation of courts? Explain your answer.
  3. How do the five major components of a system work together? Give an example of a system and explain your answer.
  4. What portions of human relations theories apply to the operation of police and corrections? Explain your answer.
  5. How would Maslow's theory of human needs apply to explain the behavior of staff and inmates in a juvenile correctional institution? Give an example.

© Peter Collins

Chapter 5

  1. Why and how would the style of communication vary when the issue is service versus protection in policing? Explain your reasoning.
  2. Why are barriers to communication within and between organizations sometimes a good thing? Explain your answer.
  3. What are the best methods for surmounting organizational barriers to communication within the organization? List and explain your answers.
  4. What are the best methods for surmounting the organizational barriers to communication between organizations? List and explain your answers.
  5. What is an approach to improving the flow of “negative” communications within the organization? Give a “real world” example of this method.
  6. What set of organizational theories serves as the underpinning for many recommendations for improvements in communications? Why is this so?
  7. If you had to devise a “system” for enhancing communication within a criminal justice organization, what would be the components of that system?

© Peter Collins

Chapter 6

  1. How does socialization affect the role that criminal justice workers adopt? Give an example.
  2. What are the main components of the human service and the custodial roles for corrections?
  3. What are the main components of the service and the protection roles for policing?
  4. Why would the use of coercion be inefficient in most situations encountered in the criminal justice environment? Explain your answer.
  5. Which types of power tend to fit into the roles? Why would this be so?
  6. How is the socialization for lawyers in the criminal courts substantially different than it is for the police and corrections workers?
  7. Do you think that inmates would rank legitimacy first and coercion next to last if they were asked what were the most important bases for correctional power? Why or why not?
  8. Do you think that probation and parole officers would respond similarly to the correctional officers in Hepburn's study? Explain why or why not.
  9. How do you think police officers can reduce stress to ensure they do not engage in angry aggression? Give an example.

© Peter Collins

Chapter 7

  1. What theory of management is in sync with the behavioral model of leadership? Why?
  2. How are leadership styles tied to management theories? Explain your answer.
  3. Identify which of the four leadership styles you would (or do) use in a criminal justice setting. Why have you chosen this style? In what situations do you think this style best fits? Are those situations common or uncommon in criminal justice settings?
  4. How does “teaming” affect leadership decisions in organizations? Who is best equipped to make leadership decisions in organizations?
  5. Explain how “permanent failure” in organizations occurs. How would we know if this was occurring in a criminal justice agency?
  6. What is groupthink? List and explain five reasons why it might be more likely to happen in criminal justice organizations versus other public or private sector organizations.

© Peter Collins

Chapter 8

  1. Why is the cost consideration so important in personnel processes? Explain your answer.
  2. How does the cost of each step in the selection process determine when those steps are taken? Explain your answer.
  3. What does the term “job validity” mean and how does it apply to selection and performance appraisal processes? Give an example of how it applies.
  4. Why do correctional workers tend to receive less training than those who work for police departments? What does this difference in training mean for those respective roles?
  5. What are the best methods for selecting and keeping the “water walker” workers in criminal justice? Why don’t all criminal justice organizations engage in more of these strategies?
  6. Why is the selection process different for criminal attorneys than it is for policing and corrections personnel?
  7. How do management theories influence the way that selection, training, and performance appraisals are done in criminal justice agencies? Give an example.

© Peter Collins

Chapter 9

  1. What do the workforce 2000 reports predict for the future? How will you use this information for your current employment plans?
  2. Should those predictions come true, how will employment in this country be affected? Explain your answer.
  3. Why are Americans so “touchy” when discussing affirmative action? How do you feel about it?
  4. What is the difference between formal and informal affirmative action and who tends to be hired under each? Explain your answer.
  5. What benefits might we gain as a society if we were to base affirmative action on considerations of an impoverished background? Why is the basing of affirmative action on “poverty” (either current or when a child) problematic? Explain your answer.
  6. What is reverse discrimination and why is it so harmful? Give an example and explain your answer.

© Peter Collins

Chapter 10

  1. Why is the dichotomy between treatment and security false? What would be a better way of viewing the relationship between treatment and security?
  2. What does Johnson mean by mature coping in corrections? How might this concept apply to other areas of criminal justice? Explain your answer.
  3. What is a niche and how are they related to mature coping? Give an example.
  4. What are the attributes of a treatment/rehabilitation program that is likely to “work”? Explain why.
  5. How do drug courts operate? Write down a list and briefly describe each step.
  6. Does the extant research indicate that drug courts “work”? Cite some examples in your answer.
  7. What sorts of policies exist to determine when the use of force is appropriate in policing? How about in corrections? Explain your answers.
  8. What are the best methods that can be employed in policing and corrections to control the abuse of force? Why? Give an example.
  9. What are standards and accreditation? How are professional organizations involved in promoting standards? If you were a manager, would you want to go through the accreditation process? Why or why not?
  10. What are the advantages that derive from the use of outside agencies to accredit criminal justice agencies? Given these advantages, why don’t most criminal justice organizations get involved in the accreditation process? Explain your answers.

© Peter Collins

Chapter 11

  1. What are the four stages of the budgeting process, and how might politics intrude in each? Give an example for each one.
  2. Why is budgeting regarded as both a science and an art? Explain your answer.
  3. Where is planning likely to falter and why? Explain your answer and offer some examples.
  4. What are the four things to remember about budgeting, and how are they related to the four stages of budgeting and the budgeting approaches discussed in this chapter?
  5. What do you think are the most important matters to consider when developing a plan and a budget for a criminal justice organization? Why?
  6. What groups do you think are most represented in the development of criminal justice plans and budgets? Why? Explain your answer.
  7. What groups do you think are least represented in the development of criminal justice plans and budgets? Why? Explain your answer.
  8. Which budgeting approach appeals to you? Why?
  9. Why is auditing and /or evaluation important in the operation of public and private sector criminal justice? Explain your answer.

© Peter Collins

Chapter 12

  1. What is a decision? What do you think are everyday decisions made by criminal justice actors?
  2. Why is the decision not to act often easier for the criminal justice actor? When is it appropriate, and why, for the manager to encourage more “action” on the part of that actor?
  3. Provide some current examples of logical fallacies used by policy makers. Can you think of any that are specifically directed at criminal justice agencies or actors?
  4. What are some common obstacles to effective decision-making? How might these obstacles be overcome?
  5. Why should scientifically derived information be weighted more heavily by the decision maker than other sources of information?
  6. What are the types of common errors associated with prediction? Which error is most common for criminal justice decision makers and why is that error more ubiquitous?
  7. How might the decision-making environment in criminal justice organizations be improved? Is the ability to make such improvements solely in the hands of criminal justice managers? If not, why not?

© Peter Collins

Chapter 13

  1. How are all of the management topics covered in this book related? Give an example.
  2. Why are all the management topics covered in this book related?
  3. How do criminal justice organizations benefit from traditional management practices? Give an example and explain your answer.
  4. Are any traditional management practices included in the Model Management Practices listed in this chapter? If so, which ones are they?
  5. How do criminal justice organizations benefit from human relations management practices? Give an example and explain your answer.
  6. Identify the human relations management practices included in the Model Management Practices listed in this chapter. List them, and give examples of why each one is important.

© Peter Collins