NCJ Number
75575
Journal
Court Management Journal Volume: 3 Dated: (January 1981) Pages: 4-7
Date Published
1981
Length
4 pages
Annotation
Several roles of court planners are discussed including those of conceptualizer, researcher, change agent, fireman, grantsman, and program manager, and the question of role balance is considered.
Abstract
Court planners should be prepared to answer questions concerned with the nature and purposes of courts by examining scholarly literature in anthropology and sociology. Court planners should also be aware of the results of scholarly research efforts, and should conduct modest research and evaluation efforts on all projects of their own. To fulfill the change agent role, the court planner must be able to view the judicial organization from inside with an outsider's perspective. He must possess an insider's understanding of organizational subtleties and an outsider's ability to evaluate the organization's relation with society objectively. Planners should be prepared for assignments from judicial administrators to meet immediate organizational pressures by developing short-term solutions to long-term problems. Court planners should be knowledgeable about the avenues to grant funds available from a variety of Federal resources in addition to LEAA, and should produce cost benefit analyses for use in educating State legislators. Finally, court planners are often given responsibility for the management of new court system projects. The emphasis which individual planners should place on these roles vary according to the planners' work situations; however, planners should develop a unifying theme to the way in which they structure their various roles. A chart is included.