Criminal Justice

Criminal Justice

This paper will describe my understanding of the text and of the lectures provided in the class. Unlike most classes, where I understood only my view of the text, this class was geared so each student would understand each other's view. 3 An organization is a collective that has some boundary and internal structure that engages in activities related to some complex set of goals. Members of organizations attempt to meet their psychological, ego and emotional needs within the organization. Criminal justice organizations are particularly unique compared to other public or private sector organizations because of the governmental granted authority. Management within these organizations can be defined as the process by which the elements of a group are integrated, coordinated and/or utilized so as to efficiently achieve the organization's objectives. In Law enforcement and correctional organizations, the front line officers manage people. This is especially true in the control of inmates. In these organizations, we must consider the hierarchy to be inverted. The front line officers, not limited to sergeants and lieutenants, influence the direction of the organization. Leaders in criminal justice establish direction by developing a vision of the future, align people through shared values and vision, and motivate and inspire people to move them toward the shared vision. Leaders will challenge existing processes and systems, focus on the future of the basic assumptions, values, and beliefs and create the basis for structural or programmatic change. 4 Conversely, leadership in corrections is often more complex. Prison and jail overcrowding, along with the increasing number of geriatric, mentally ill and an influx of younger and more violent inmates requires the managers of the organization to increase the training and motivation of line officers in order to deal with problems. In law enforcement agencies, leaderships must recognize the need for more community policing programs. These criminal justice organizations must look inside themselves and adapt change in order to meet their goals and objectives. The goals of organizations not only provide direction but also serve as constraints or limits. An example in the criminal justice model would be for an agency to make more arrests to meet the public outcry, but also to insure the judicial and correctional systems handle the increase in business. Organizations have very common structural dimensions. But some models are different, such as centralized and decentralized. In