NCJ Number
132133
Journal
Law and Society Review Volume: 25 Issue: 1 Dated: (1991) Pages: 73-101
Date Published
1991
Length
29 pages
Annotation
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.
Abstract
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. 4 tables, 2 appendixes, and 85 references (Publisher's abstract)