Senior Seminar Discussion Assignment

Senior Seminar Discussion Assignment

200 words each

4.1 Discussion

Introduction

Politics play a critical role in criminal justice organizations and these politics contain power within organizations. For example, sheriffs are typically elected officials and are affiliated with a political party. Funding for a sheriff’s office is approved through the political subdivision that is being protected – in Ohio funding is approved from the county commissioners. Therefore, political agendas may interfere with operation of the sheriff’s department. This discussion focuses on the behavior of politics in the criminal justice arena.

Initial Post Instructions

Examine the role of politics in criminal justice organizations. Are politics critical to these organizations, and, if so, how should it be controlled? Is it true, as Norton Long said years ago, that “politics is the lifeblood of administration” (1949, p. 257) in public agencies like criminal justice organizations? Comment on the relevance of power to criminal justice administration and the survival of criminal justice organizations. Incorporate academic concepts from the chapter and an outside academic resource.

Reference

Long, N. (1949). Power and administration. Public Administration Review, 9, 257–264.

4.2 Discussion

Introduction

How does a criminal justice administrator speak truth to power? What if he or she knows, for example, that a particular activity or program does nothing to actually improve the organization or address crime in any way? Take, for example, the influence of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program on police activities and its acceptance among police administrators as an effective strategy to keep young people off drugs. Yet, there is no evidence that the DARE program does anything in relation to long-term drug usage among young people. (The textbook further examines the particulars of the DARE program in Chapter 15.) The program may have other benefits that were unintended and positive, such as pulling communities together to address other issues of significance, for example, vacant buildings and gang activity.

Initial Post Instructions

For the initial post, answer the following questions:

How do criminal justice leaders speak to others, especially influential community members, about programs that are not effective, even if they are publicly popular or a political campaign promise?

Does a criminal justice administrator have an ethical and legal obligation to speak out against a program or initiative that research demonstrates as ineffective? Why or why not?

How does politics influence the adoption or deletion of an activity or program in a criminal justice organization?

Is politics always a “dirty” word, or should we separate the negative connotations of politics from the political process as a way to accomplish goals in criminal justice organizations? Is this distinction noteworthy and valuable to criminal justice administrators?

Can you envision the political process ever not being a part of criminal justice administration?

Incorporate academic concepts from the chapter and an outside academic resource.