Courts as Organizations (From Empirical Theories About Courts, P 191-215, 1983, Keith O Boyum and Lynn Mather, ed. - See NCJ-90490)

• NCJ Number: 90497
• Author(s): H Jacob
• Date Published: 1983
• Length: 25 pages
• Grant Number(s): 78-NI-AX-1037
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Justice (NIJ); US Dept of Justice NIJ Pub
• Sale Source: Longman Inc
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Although courts are usually regarded as institutions, a focus on courts as organizations permits considerable insight into the manner in which courts work and the ways in which various courts differ from one another.

Abstract

Organizational studies focus on the distribution of power, the boundaries of an organization, the environment in which the organization operates, communication patterns within organizations, and decisionmaking in organizations. Some court researchers have used organizational concepts implicitly, while others have researched topics which could easily be reanalyzed using an organizational approach. Using the organizational approach provides the researcher with a checklist of phenomena for which to look. It provides hypotheses against which to measure the significance of particular characteristics and suggests connections among various parts of the court process. The organizational approach calls attention to the role of standard operating procedures in decisionmaking, the significance of exchanges between the organization and its task environment, and the obstacles to court reform. It also points out the importance of observational research techniques for understanding court activities. Using the organizational paradigm may permit the development of a typology of court work groups that is independent of the criminal-civil distinction. However, the organizational paradigm should not be the exclusive approach used in the study of courts. Two notes are included.