The Analysis of the Criminal Justice Organizations - Term Paper Example

? Leading Group Challenges (College) Leading Group Challenges Introduction Criminal Justice Organizations include various organizations ranging from police, courts, and jails. In addition, there are many private security organizations too. These organizations today are frantically looking fro newer and newer ways to tackle the ever increasing complexity of crimes. The recent years witnessed a considerable change in the criminal justice and related fields due to the sophisticated nature of crime committed by international crime organizations and terrorists. The first such change is the development of new coalitions between public and private organizations. In addition, these organizations gained more important role in homeland security, and hence, got consolidated into the Department of Homeland Security. In addition, there arose a need for all these organizations to implement new strategies to deal with newer versions of crimes. As a result, the leadership of criminal justice organizations is a job that requires a lot of effort because of the large number of challenges faced by the profession today. Responsibilities of a Criminal Justice Organization Leader The first and foremost responsibility of criminal justice organization leaders is to effectively prevent crime. In the effort to perform this basic duty, the leaders will have to manage staff, oversee administration, and promote community relationships. A criminal justice organization leader has the responsibility to manage staff under him. As a part of this, the leader will devise ways to improve the morale of the staff. In addition, it is for the leader to ensure proper and timely training and professional development to his staff. Also, keeping up ethics throughout the operations of the team is the duty of the leader. So, the leader should be a good role model, leading the team showing examples. In addition, the position of leader always requires smooth relation with community and media. When there is a high profile case or a legal jargon, the media often turns to the leader for explanations. So, it is for the leader to be an effective communicator. As a part of the profession, the leader will have to interact with law enforcement officials, counselors, teachers, social workers, lawyers, judges, and federal officers. Present day challenges for leaders in Criminal Justice Organizations According to social disorganization theory, community distress leads to social disorganization through the weakening of basic relationships and erosion of shared cultures. In other words, as Thabit points out, the loss of urban social structure has led to a decline in social control, thus leading to an increase in crime rates; thus, the challenges faced by leaders in Criminal Justice Organizations too are a result of the weakening or absence of social norms. Legal and political challenges. It is for the criminal justice agencies to deal with legal and political pressures, both within and outside the system. For example, criminal justice is not a task that is performed by a single agency. In fact, it requires the cooperation of various agencies ranging from police, courts, prisons, and at times, private agencies. As a result, sometimes, there arises confusion when there is a change in law or in the attitude of any organization. For example, as Gallagher and Holmes (2008) point out, different political parties might have different outlook regarding various criminal and social issues. In addition, different judges and prosecutors who come time to time may possess considerably different outlooks. So, if the leaders of various organizations are not kept informed about the changes in laws, attitudes, alliances, and modalities of approach, it becomes a matter of improper functioning. So, in total, it is for the leaders of criminal justice organizations to stay informed about the policy changes and basic policy differences. In addition, it becomes a challenge to keep the staff tuned to the changes that take place every now and then, including laws and political pressures. Power conflicts. As the criminal justice system is a web of various organizations, there is a relatively high possibility of conflicts, especially when the outlooks of the organizations are different. A simple example is when police officers arrest a person charged with crime, it does not have the right to decide the quantum of punishment, or to decide if the criminal is really guilty. These responsibilities are vested in the courts. In addition, it is for the prison officials to carry out the punishment provided by the court in a proper manner. However, when these various agencies do no have the same goals, there is the possibility of conflict. To illustrate, according to O’Leary and Newman (1970), when police forces arrest a criminal with the sole intention to eradicate criminals from society, the best approach according to a court would be to rehabilitate the offender within the society. Thus, it becomes evident that conflict of power is a common phenomenon among these various organizations. This is especially so because these all organizations possess considerable amount of power in their field of operation. So, in total, leading these organizations means to ensure proper use of the power vested in them. In other words, leaders should ensure the balancing of power among organizations with fairness. The next issue is the problem of communication in organizations. There are many barriers that prevent proper communication. The first one is individual barrier or ones ability to communicate a message. In addition, it also means ones ability to understand a specific message in the right way. The second point is organizational hindrances. One has to admit that all criminal justice organizations have their own specific communication jargons as a part of their culture. This makes communication among agencies a difficult task. In addition, this results in poor communication with the general public. So, there comes the next major challenge for leaders. It is for the leaders to remove these communication barriers from both individual and organizational spheres ensuring proper communication. Issues Related to budgeting and Staffing In fact, the most important challenge for criminal justice organization leaders is to manage their affairs with declining funds. Like other agencies, criminal justice organizations too are dependant on government for funds. However, when there is a budget cut, there will be a decline in the number of staff. This makes the operations of the organization a difficult task. One has to remember the fact that criminal justice organizations like police and jail have to deal with criminals, and handling dangerous situations with less staff and equipment is a difficult task. For example, as reported in ‘Crime in America.Net’ (2010), there is the plan to reduce the criminal justice costs by $ 200 million. This means reduced payment on probation and parole supervision; and this will also result in reduced number of prisoners and reduced number of arrests. Thus, it becomes evident that though there is a rise in the number and complexity of crime, criminal justice organizations are forced to manage their affairs with reduced budget, and consequently, reduced equipments and reduced staff. This is the next major challenge faced by criminal justice organization leaders. Declining Safety and Morale From the above circumstances, it is evident that the works of criminal justice organizations have become more dangerous. Worsening the problem, the organizations are getting less staff and less equipment. Despite all these shortcomings, a failure or a minute mistake from the part of the security agencies leads to considerable public criticism. For example, when a criminal escapes, police is termed ineffective by the public and the media. When the same criminal dies in an effort to capture him, there arises the allegation that criminal justice organizations are taking lives. Thus, there arises the next major challenge for leaders; to manage complex and dangerous situations with reduced staff and equipment, at the same time ensuring the safety of the staff and the public. In addition, this kind of antagonism leads to a decline in morale among the staff. So, the next major challenge is to keep the morale of the staff alive. Cyber crime Cyber crimes are a new category that makes all criminal justice organizations puzzled. There are two issues associated with cyber crime. Firstly, when criminal justice organizations have jurisdictional limits, the cyber crime does not have. The second major issue is that it is highly difficult to identify the perpetrators in cyber crimes, especially when criminal justice organizations do not have adequate funds and staff to equip themselves with latest technology. So, according to the 1999 Report on cyberstalking, tackling cyber crime is the next major challenge for criminal justice organization leaders. Steps to secure future Collaboration and coordination in the criminal justice system By structure, the powers of criminal justice system are spread across different parts of the government. The branches of government that create laws, enforce laws, and interpret laws are all independent from each other. Now, to avoid the future smooth functioning of these various organizations, it is necessary to ensure collaboration and coordination of all these, ensuring there are no ‘turf issues’ (Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services, April 2008). Information Sharing; Nationally and Globally It is evident that considering the complex nature and international spread of crimes and criminal organizations, effective flow of information among various local and international criminal justice organizations is necessary to identify and prevent crimes. Use of latest technology The hi-tech nature of modern day crimes makes it necessary for criminal justice organizations to equip themselves with latest technology. This will help boost the effectiveness of these organizations. As a consequence, it will improve staff morale. Conclusion In total, it becomes evident that the major challenges for leaders in criminal justice organizations are lack of coordination, and lack of financial and technological support. As a result of these issues, these organizations are finding it difficult to ensure staff safety, staff morale, and effective deterrence of crime. So, it becomes evident that by ensuring cooperation and collaboration in regional and international sphere, and by incorporating technology according to the changing nature and complexity of crimes, it is possible to meet the challenges. References Crime in America.Net. (2010) “Budget cuts hurting justice system: Crime news”. retrieved from http://crimeinamerica.net/2010/02/17/budget-cuts-hurting-justice-system-crime-news/ Gallagher, A & Holmes, P. (2008). Developing an effective criminal justice response to human trafficking. International Criminal Justice Review, 18, (3), 318-343. O’Leary, V & Newman, D. J. (1970). “Conflict resolution in criminal justice”. Journal of research in Crime and Delinquency. 7, (2), July, 99-119. 1999 Report on cyberstalking: A new challenge for law enforcement and industry. A report from the Attorney General to the Vice President. Retrieved from http://www.justice.gov/criminal/cybercrime/cyberstalking.htm Setting a course for the future of the criminal justice system in Virginia. Environmental Scan. Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services. (April, 2008). Retrieved from http://www.dcjs.virginia.gov/research/documents/08environmentalscan.pdf Thabit, W. Social disorganization theories of crime. Retrieved from http://www.drtomoconnor.com/1060/1060lect05a.htm Read More