Criminal Justice Analysis - Data Interpretation-System, Module 6, Parts 1, 2, and 3

• NCJ Number: 81179
• Author(s): Anonymous
• Date Published: Unknown
• Length: 0 pages
• Grant Number(s): 78-MU-AX-0030
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Justice
• Publication Format: Film
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS. 3 videotapes, total running time 2 hours and 40 minutes, color, 1 inch. Part of the Criminal Justice Analysis Course held at Washburn University of Topeka.

Annotation

In this videotape of a working classroom session, the instructor introduces systems analysis and explains the types of concepts and related measures used in analyzing the criminal justice system.

Abstract

The system concept is specifically applied to the workings of the criminal justice apparatus, and the use and interpretation of flow charts are introduced as a way of analyzing system components. The basic systems model of input, process, and output conceptualizes the criminal as both input and output of the criminal justice system. Flow charts are useful because they help develop concepts and clarify problems. Various types of flow charts are described (e.g., process, operation, and organizational pattern charts). Convergence/divergence flow charts are especially useful for criminal justice analysts in the form of dispositional trees that show offenders diverging or converging on their way toward one of several outcomes. To determine how well a system operates, data should be related to the conceptual framework of the operational models. System performance measures derive from the interrelated variables of workload, resources, productivity, efficiency, effectiveness, capability, and capacity. Applying these concepts to a specific criminal justice context, a flow chart and its corresponding data values enable the assessment of operations for any component in the system. Walk-through exercises are followed to illustrate the various types of flow charts as well as the formulas by which statistical data will yield measures of performance. For analyzing court backlog, the basic measure of both workload and output is the number of cases. This analysis is carried through to the optimization technique, whereby strategies reveal themselves for manipulation of system elements to result in improved performance, i.e., reduced backlog. For the instructor's guide to this course, see NCJ 81170. For other videotaped sessions see NCJ 81171-8, 81180-2, and 81186.