Justice Organizations Research Articles

Internet for International Criminal Justice Organizations

Increasing pressure to reduce operational cost and the simultaneously arising demand to make more and more information available to a wider audience are the main motivation for using Internet as basis for publishing material. The project described in this contribution is an ongoing co-operation between the United Nations Centre for International Crime Prevention and the University of Vienna which is aimed at providing an Internet platform for the distribution of United Nations information related to crime prevention and criminal justice. It is shown how the technology is applied by an international organisation as basis for disseminating information and how the available information can be used by researches for analysis. The implemented system, UNCJIN (United Nations Crime and Justice Information Network), today has been received very well in the community and serves as a valuable basis for research requiring international data, such as country reports and statistics.

A Comparison of Canadian Native Youth Justice Committees and Navajo Peacemakers

Aboriginal Youth Justice Committees and Peacemakers are unique court-related initiatives designed and operated by indigenous peoples in Canada and the United States. To develop a theory about the impact of colonialism on Native justice organizations, these two initiatives were examined in terms of their organizational structures, operational technologies, developmental issues, and ideologies. These two organizations were similar in their modified indigenous culture-based structures and in the developmental issues of resistance they faced. This suggests that a colonial-based social Darwinistic ideology had impact on their development. The organizations chose to respond using a discourse of organizational effectiveness rather than of discrimination, thereby not endangering their resource-dependent relationship with the state.

Drug Use and Offending Behaviour Among Young People Excluded from School

Increasing concern is being placed upon the long-term outcomes of pupils excluded from school and their possible increasing involvement in drug use and crime. Data presented in this paper explore levels of drug USE and offending behaviour of a sample of 14-Z6-year-olds excluded from school. Interviews were conducted with 86 school excludes attending Pupil Referral Units (education centres for young people excluded from school) in North West London during 1996, as part of an ongoing evaluation of a drugs education intervention being delivered by the Home Office Drug Prevention Initiative. The majority of the excludes lived in single parent families with nearly two-thirds having no adult wage earner. Over half of subjects were from ethnic minority backgrounds. Offending behaviour among the sample was high. Nearly all had committed a criminal offence, with nearly half having committed an assault or wounding, and nearly a third having committed a burglary. Levels of lifetime, current drug use, and the range of drugs used were also high among the sample. Over three-quarters of the excludees (78%) had used an illicit drug, with 38% having used a drug other than cannabis. Nine per cent reported lifetime use of cocaine and 5% use of crack cocaine. The data would suggest that young people attending Pupil Referral Units are a high risk group in terms of drug use and offending and would be an appropriate group for targeted interventions, although developing such interventions is likely to be challenging. Subjects had long histories of persistent truanting, previous exclusions and contact with social welfare and criminal justice organizations. However, bearing in mind the extent of their previous drug taking and criminal behaviour, this group might particularly benefit from early interventions, prior to the onset of these problematic behaviours.

A Comparison of Native Culture, Non‐Native Culture and New Management Ideology

AbstractBased on a case study of a Native‐operated criminal justice organization, this article uses Hofstede'sfive dimensions of national cultural differences to examine the connections between cultural values and management practices. It concludes that Hofstede's dimensions can provide insights into the differences between Native and non‐Native cultures and how Native organizations may draw on traditional cultural values to improve organizational effectiveness. In general, Native cultures are described as collectivist, egalitarian, adaptive, and tolerant. The argument is made that the cultural context in which Native organizations operate is in many ways more compatible with the new management ideology than is the society in which this ideology prevails.RésuméFondée sur une étude de cas d'un organisme de justice pénale géré par les autochtones, la présente recherche examine les liens entre des valeurs culturelles et des pratiques de gestion en se référant aux cinq dimensions des différences culturelles nationales de Hofstede. Elle con‐clut que ces dimensions peuvent jeter une lumière nou‐velle sur les différences entre cultures autochtones et allochtones, et sur la façon dont les organismes autochtones peuvent tirer parti de leurs valeurs culturelles traditionnelles pour rehausser I'efficacité orga‐nisationnelle. En général, les cultures autochtones sont perçues comme collectivistes, égalitaires, flexibles et tolérantes. Nous proposons l'idée que le contexte cul‐turel dans lequel fonctionnent les organismes autochtones est à de nombreux égards plus compatible avec la nouvelle idéologic de gestion que ne Vest la société où prévaut cette idéologic.

Participative management and correctional personnel: A study of the perceived atmosphere for participation in correctional decision making and its impact on employee stress and thoughts about quitting

Participatory management has been identified in the empirical literature as a technique to alleviate job related stress in criminal justice organizations. Although many advantages have been noted, few criminal justice agencies have developed programs to capitalize on the benefits of employee participation in decision making. This article focuses on the perceptions of correctional officers regarding their participation in decision making and the relationship between organizational stress, physical stress, and thoughts about quitting the job. Four hundred eighty-six employees were surveyed from seven correctional institutions in the Southeast United States. A structural model, which explained 31 percent of the variation, showed that as employee participation increased, physical and occupational stress decreased. Thoughts about quitting were associated with higher levels of physical stress, occupational stress, and the perception of a negative atmosphere for participation. The results lend support for the use and development of participatory management programs in the field of corrections.

“FIRST FEED THE FACE”: ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AND COMMUNITY FOOD SECURITY

Environmental justice and community food security represent parallel though largely separate movements whose linkage would help establish a new community development, environmental, and empowerment‐based discourse. Environmental justice has been limited by its risk discrimination focus, even as environmental justice organizations have shifted to a broader social justice orientation, eclipsing their earlier environmental focus. Community food security advocacy, while offering a concrete example of linked agendas and constituencies, has yet to effectively outreach to environmental justice groups. Coalition building efforts, such as the Community Food Security Empowerment Act, presents that opportunity.

Social selection and mental health service utilization among mentally ill parolees: a research agenda.

The purpose of this article is to describe a conceptual and methodological approach to research on mental health service utilization by parolees with mental illness. This approach can be used by researchers and policy makers to understand and improve the interface between criminal justice and mental health organizations. We justify the need for research on this population; discuss the conceptual framework which draws on social selection and organizational theory; describe methodological problems; and discuss implications of the research.

International Economic Organisations and the Third World.

The Third World in the World Economy. Regimes, International Economic Organizations and Development Diplomacy. The International Monetary Fund in the Third World. The World Bank and the Third World. The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and the Third World. The United Nations Conference on Trade an Development and the Third World. Justice, Efficiency and International Economic Organizations.

Strange Bedfellows: A Call for Reordering National Priorities from Three Social Justice Perspectives

The end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet military threat have presented a historic opportunity to address long-neglected domestic needs and to revive the U.S. economy. A coalition of more than 100 human services, education, arms control, civil rights, justice, religious, environmental, and municipal and state government organizations, called the Invest in America Working Group, joined together to urge Congress and the administration to reorder the nation's fiscal priorities. The participation of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) in this coalition is based on the association's official policy on peace and social justice, approved in August 1993 by its Delegate Assembly. The policy is based on a commitment to disarmament and economic conversion and calls on U.S. leaders to its military budget substantially over the next 10 years and to divert most of the savings to respond to the mounting social needs in our nation (NASW, 1993, p. 203). At the heart of the concern about the appropriate balance of public expenditures for domestic versus military programs are social justice questions about the proportionate distribution of common goods. This article addresses issues of fairness in the distribution of resources and the justice of claims and demands made for them. It interprets the Invest in America policy from the perspectives of three justice theories: libertarianism, utilitarianism, and egalitarianism. Support for the policy can be garnered from all three perspectives, and it is important for social workers to form coalitions with people of diverse perspectives to promote social change. A Proposal for Redirecting Federal Resources Goals The goals of Invest in America are to reduce defense spending; fund human services; and revive a stagnant economy by revising current budget, tax, and appropriations policies. To that end, in 1991 the coalition urged Congress and the president to adopt three basic principles (Invest in America, 1991): 1. reduce defense expenditures in fiscal year (FY) 1993 significantly below the levels projected in the president's FY 1992 five-year plan and use these savings for needed public investment that can redress unmet domestic needs, build human capital, and promote long-term economic growth 2. allow for the transfer of funds from defense to domestic discretionary spending programs in FY 1993 while maintaining the overall deficit reduction goals set forth in the budget agreement 3. not use defense savings or other discretionary funds for cutting taxes; instead, finance any personal income tax relief package by shifting the tax burden to upper-income taxpayers. Justice Claim Human Needs, Legal Right, and Fairness. The justice claim raised by the Invest in America position is that all citizens have a valid claim for a share of the resources needed to ensure the provision of adequate food, clothing, and shelter. This claim is grounded in human needs, which are defined by Braybrooke (1987) as provisions that, if not provided with appropriate frequency, would reduce functioning so drastically that the result would be a shortening of one's life. Gewirth (1978) purported that humans have a generic right to well-being that includes access to essential basic goods, resources to plan for the future, and additional goods to fulfill one's purpose and capabilities. Beverly and McSweeney (1987) explicated a justice principle that places priority on the basic needs that are required for being human. The claim raised by the call to redirect federal expenditures is that human needs are not being met because military expenditures are draining the resources of society (Bluestone & Harrison, 1982; Children's Defense Fund, 1986; Iatridis, 1988; Mahoney, 1982; Sivard, 1991). The social work profession's concern about and commitment to people who do not have adequate resources to meet their basic human needs are based on a set of values that includes the worth and dignity of each person and the egalitarian as well as the intuitive notion that people should at least have the basics (Rawls, 1971). …

Building a new South: a guide to Southern social justice organizations

Building a new South: a guide to Southern social justice organizations

“He said, she said”: Sexual harassment in the fractured criminal justice work place

This article addresses the critical problem of sexual harassment in criminal justice agencies. The authors assess empirically the incidents of sexual harassment in criminal justice organizations, and discuss why sexual harassment is more prevalent in criminal justice agencies than in other public agencies.

Rationalizing the Social Organization of Justice: Response to McIntosh

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Rationalizing the Social Organization of Justice: Response to McIntosh: [Commentary

The title of our book, Rationalizing Justice, conveys a double meaning about the delivery of legal services in the late 20th century. First, the organizational rationalization of the delivery of justice in the federal district courts transforms the evaluative criteria of this political institution from a concern with adjudication to administration. Second, the administratively efficient delivery of quantifiable outcomes rationalizes the political core of this institution. Thus, our book is about the organizational and political rationalization of justice in the American court system, using federal district data as a case study for explanation. We begin our analysis of rationalizing justice with the hypothesis that the organizational structure of the federal courts confronts environmental pressures that translate into increasing demands for service' in a context of diminishing resources.2 Further, we hypothesize that this double-bind will transform the structure of the court from an institution organized around adjudication to an institution organized around administration. To test our hypotheses we make a general causal assumption ... that environmental characteristics of courts are independent variables, and that output characteristics are dependent variables, with task structure, resources and organization of courts as intervening variables (at 9-10).

The Unimportance of In-House Research in a Professional Criminal Justice Organization

This article examines the role of and potential for in-house research as a factor in policy-making and decision-making in a large nonprofit criminal justice organization. Interviews with top administrators, program managers, and research personnel, together with a review of documents and project memoranda, reveal the enigmatic situation of a professional organization in which in-house evaluation and other in-house research efforts are accorded relatively little value. The authors examine factors that are important in understanding use and nonuse of in-house research in the organization, present conclusions and recommendations regarding the situation, and describe efforts to address relevant problems.

Counties in Court: Interorganizational Adaptations to Jail Litigation in California

Criminal justice systems have been described as fragmented and decentralized “nonsystems,” but sudden changes in the environments of criminal justice organizations may affect the loose coupling that normally characterizes such agencies. Court orders against county jails create pressures to tighten the loose coupling among local organizational subsystems: the jail, law enforcement, courts, probation, and county government. Using interviews with key officials, court documents, and other archival data, we examined changes in interorganizational relations in three California counties under court orders to reform local jails. While court orders eventually resulted in tighter coupling of the subsystems and more proactive interagency responses, the more reactive mode of response characteristic of loosely coupled subsystems initially led to increased interagency conflict. Adaptations were influenced by the legal, political, and organizational environments of each jurisdiction.

The quest for environmental equity: Mobilizing the African‐American community for social change

Abstract There is considerable evidence that pollution and other forms of environmental degradation take a heavy toll on African‐American communities. African Americans, however, have not been attracted to mainstream environmental groups. Grassroots environmental groups—with their emphasis on environmental justice—have attracted a larger following within African‐American communities. The 1980s have seen the struggle for environmental equity take on a civil rights meaning. Using preexisting social justice and grassroots organizations for leadership, black community residents have begun to challenge government and private industries that would turn their areas into the nation's dumping grounds for all types of health‐threatening toxins.

Accommodating Innovation In A Juvenile Court

In an attempt to reduce the number of adjudicated juveniles being committed to the state for placement, the juvenile court in Wayne CountyMichigan implemented three intensive supervision programs to serve as alternatives to commitment. A four-year, randomized evaluation of the programs found them to be cost-effective. An analysis of court processes, however, suggested that the programs gradually came to supplement rather than to displace commitments as intended. The results of this study illustrate how juvenile justice organizations adapt to the presence of alternative programs in ways that dilute their impact.

The virtuosos of policing

This paper reports the findings of a nationwide survey undertaken in order to address the issue of who the experts are in the field of law enforcement management. The results reflect the opinion of the leadership of the nation’s most prominent practitioner and academic professional criminal justice and law enforcement organizations. Thirty-seven individuals emerge as the leading law enforcement management experts-the virtuosos. Of these, eight are characterized as the nation’s elite.

Victim-Offender Mediation: A Survey of Program Characteristics and Perceptions of Effectiveness

Victim-offender mediation as a dispositional alternative is a fairly recent addition to the juvenile justice system. The number of mediation programs has been increasing during the past decade, but little is evident about the design and implementation of these programs. This article reports findings from a survey of 240 juvenile justice organizations in the United States. Program designs, goals, and perceptions of effectiveness are discussed.

Criminal Justice Theory: Anarchy Reigns

This paper develops the argument that more emphasis should be placed on theory development and exposing students to theory within criminal justice studies programs as an important element of professional preparation for future criminal justice practitioners. Theory courses in criminal justice studies have often emphasized criminology theory to the exclusion of theory drawn from other areas which might be more appropriate to an understanding of criminal justice organizations, the development of law, concepts of justice, etc. The atheoretical policy orientation of criminal justice research has placed little emphasis on theory formulation and testing. In order to secure our place in the university community as a legitimate area of study for the future and to provide a body of knowledge appropriate for the practice of criminal justice, more attention to theory is in our best interest and in the interest of our students at this time.