In criminal justice organizational settings the effectiveness of the department solely relies on the managers understanding of organizational effectiveness, its measurements, theories, and how to manage their employees. Given that Marion County is the biggest county in the state of Indiana, there are numerous departments and personnel that are involved in its criminal justice system. Within the Marion County Superior Courts, there are different entities used to help supervise offender pre and post-trial. Some of these entities consist of Marion County Community Corrects, Marion County Probation Department, and Marion County Jail. This paper will review the Marion County Probation Department’s organizational design, its effectiveness and recommendations …show more content…
The department has more of a divisional structure. For example, Marion County has two main divisions within the department known as the Adult and Juvenile Divisions. Within those divisions there are many sub units that handle different specialized caseloads such as the Field Team unit, Mental Health, Sex Offender, Pre-Sentence Investigation Writers, Intake (Youth and Adults), Court Team, and Regular Caseload Officers. These different units have supervisors that manage each personnel. Each of these units may receive cases from any of all 24 criminal court divisions. This sometimes leads to personnel having high numbers on their caseloads. As a Probation Officer in the Regular Caseload unit, I supervise over 130 probationers. These high numbers play a huge role in employee burn-outs and turnovers. Different Judges in the each courtroom require different conditions from the offender and each Probation Officer is required to maintain enforcing those …show more content…
This first major concern within the department is the fear of embarrassment and conflict. I completed an internship with department in 2011 under Chief Robert Bingham. The department seemed to run smoothly, employees seem to love coming to work and most of all Chief Bingham was very involved with each Officer and their well-being. The way the department was structured and the policies that were in place, kept the caseload numbers down to less than 80 per Officer and allowed Officers to spend more time with the clients. Also, all officers did not have to be certified for drug and alcohol evaluations because there was a team who specialized in that area. Under the current Chief Christine Kerl, a lot of those practices and policies were removed and new ones were implemented immediately. The department turnover rates have spiked since these changes have occurred. Chief Kerl has been resistant in reverting back to the old policies due to the fear of embarrassment and conflict within the Officers. Several Officers have complained and shared ideas, but most of the time those ideas are
Finally, the Department of Juvenile Justice is gunned in a formal organizational structure because it utilizes specific rules and regulations. These rules and regulations are DJJ’s policies on what to follow. For example, the Department keeps a Probation and Community Intervention Handbook at every desk. This handbook outlines the rules, responsibilities, and regulations that each Officer must follow for Juvenile Probation. Every Probation Officer has certain daily operational guidelines on what needs to be done. Both on duty and off duty, it is up to all of the staff of the Department to work under the handbook’s specific regulations.
Stojkovic, Kalinich, & Klofas. (2012). Criminal justice organizations: Administration and management (5 ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
This paper will address the functionality of the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice. First, it will examine the Agency as a whole and then it will explore the individuality of sectors within the agency. Second, the paper will discuss the different ways that the agency survives and serves the community. The South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice plays a vital role in the success of at risk youth and maintaining a secure structure to assist youth that end up in troublesome situations.
My chosen career path is to become a Juvenile probation officer. Juvenile probation officers work with youths that have been placed on probation and or have been court order to attend an alternative consequence school to continue their education. Most juvenile probation officers work with youths at a particular stage of their probation process, for an example supervision or investigation. This paper will cover information on the juvenile justice system and my career choice by touching bases with my interviewee a Juvenile Probation Officer Shelvin McGill the agency he is employed with as well as its clientele, I will also speak on the job description and responsibilities, his theory-of-use, and briefly touch on why he chooses this line of work, and his educational background.
See last page (court hierarchy). As a Chief P.O. I have administrative responsibilities including personnel evaluations/discipline/work schedules. We have a total of 13 probation officers. I 'm also the liaison to all the Judges, if they have concerns about anything, they tell me and I address it. In addition to administrative responsibilities, I also am in charge of our drug testing lab and the Domestic Assault Response Team. I also am the P.O. for anyone on probation and in our drug court program (45 as of today) that I supervise and hold accountable.
The Criminal Justice System has undergone numerous, yet significant, changes within the last century. In fact, current research reflects the progressive movement from one of rehabilitation to that of punishment and retribution. Such transition reflects issues pertaining to the management and supervision and treatment of offenders. This study will, therefore, consider and evaluate dilemmas within the Criminal Justice System, as well as, issues that have transpired while trying to reduce crime through punishment. Furthermore, the Criminal Justice System will be discussed through a law perspective regarding supervision and management in order to understand the current challenges and issues involving crime.
1. Information regarding the Department of Corrections’ investigation of complaints related to several correctional officers will spread throughout the institution along certain channels (Stojkovic, Kalinich, Klofas, 2008). Starting with the prison warden this information will need to be efficient and accurate as it travels throughout the organization. Being that the prison warden will be the first to be informed of this information, the chain of command would be downward communication. This type of communication allows a clear passageway for the information to be sent to subordinates and provides for an effective management of the tone and delegation of the message (Stojkovic et al., 2008). The channels that are chosen in regards to the
The criminal justice system has become an ad hoc medical and social service delivery institution with more than eight million offenders under correctional control. Offenders have more physical, substance-abuse disorders, social and psychological deficits than the general population. According to Estelle versus Gamble, correctional institutions are required to provide reasonable care for all offenders who are incarcerated. Other issues such as psychological and social services have become a burden. A recent survey of prison administrators sheds light on the capacity of offenders that needed medical, psychological, and social services for offenders. The survey also dissected the analysis of the organizational factors that may affect whether an
The criminal justice system is composed of four categories: law enforcement, legal counsel, courts, and corrections. I am going to focus on one of these subjects and the problems or issues that are within the corrections part of criminal justice usually refers to the events that occur after being sentenced in a court of law. During the past few decades many problems have arisen in this area, solutions have been discussed and put into use over the years as well. However, there are still problems that are being dealt with in today’s corrections.
One major problem of prison overcrowding is the effect it has on prison organizational stability. The more prisoners and people put in jail have made it harder for prison guards and staff to monitor and control them. The entire prison system must make enormous changes in order to accommodate for the number of inmates versus the number of prison guards (O’Leary). This often results in a misclassification of offenders. Many who come through the system are classified based on the amount of space available instead of on the security level and programs that would be most suitable for them (Howard). “It is not uncommon to find inmates, classified as medium security, incarcerated in maximum security institutions, while other inmates are in medium security who were previously considered candidates for maximum security” (Howard). Misclassifying offenders often leads to “slow progress through the corrections system as well as a slow exit” (Howard). This in turn only prolongs and increases the overcrowding problem (Howard). The corrections programs should be reformed to meet the needs of the inmates rather than the inmates having to adjust to meet the requirements of the system. Offenders need to be on specific rehabilitation programs that are customized to fit their needs, such as alcohol and drug abuse programs and so forth.
For those who work in the federal probation system, there are many skills needed. The knowledge used by these individuals and the abilities they can offer to their field are vital if they are going to be successful in what they do and in caring for offenders who are on probation and need to be monitored closely but also treated with respect and decency. Probation and supervision are not the only areas where these individuals are needed, however, because they can also work in pretrial services, corrections, counseling, and case management. The skills they use in one of those disciplines often transfer over to other disciplines, but not every individual is good at more than one area of work. The environment in which these workers operate is one of pressure and stress, and that environment is always changing. That makes it something worth focusing on and working for, and also shows just how dynamic the workers must be in order to remain calm in the face of stressful events and situations with which they must deal - often on a daily basis.
A wide range of diversity in the field of criminal justice studies is of great importance. As a second-year graduate student, I was given an opportunity to work closely with U.S Probation and Pretrial Services as an intern. This internship allowed me to further my knowledge in correctional studies and provided the necessary resources to complete my master’s thesis. I was also exposed to various policies and procedures pertaining to probation practices while gaining a vast amount of knowledge assisting with investigations, liaisons between state and local agencies, and the intricacies of offender case management. Furthermore, I was able to form close relationships with employees of the agency who have assisted in my current career endeavors.
Write a 300- to 500-word executive summary in which you analyze organizational behavior concepts associated with common managerial practices involved in day-to-day operations within criminal justice settings. Be sure to identify professional standards and values that apply across various components of the criminal justice system on a national level.
In order for departments to provide high quality and unbiased service, departments need to have integrity and hold individuals accountable for their behaviors and/or actions. For this to be effective, it needs to start at the top and work its way down the chain of command. Once officers see ranking officers being a good role model the officers would fall into place. However, if the top of the chain of command does not make a good role model then the officers will feel that they could do what they want since the
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