Synthesis of Research Affecting Police Administration

• NCJ Number: 77898
• Author(s): R I Macfarlane; A S Morris
• Date Published: 1981
• Length: 410 pages
• Grant Number(s): 80-NI-AX-0002
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Justice (NIJ); US Dept of Justice NIJ Pub
• Corporate Author: Public Admin Service
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This report is a critical analysis of published research on police management, administration, and organization, with a supplemental analysis of research published in other managerial and social science disciplines.

Abstract

The synthesis includes an analysis of the content and methodologies of research in policing and the transfer of research findings from other disciplines to police organization and management. The goals of the study were the development of a research agenda for future research on police administration and the identification of the status of police management, administration, and organization. A total of 485 empirical research studies were reviewed as the data base for this synthesis. A conceptual framework consisting of 40 variables examining managerial, administrative, and organizational issues was used as an analytical tool in synthesizing these studies. The variables are arranged and incorporated into six separate cluster areas under study: environment and organizational autonomy, complexity of goal and task structure, internal structural differentiation, organizational coordination and control, informal organizational structures, and organizational achievement. The synthesis shows that much existing research in policing has followed definite patterns and has tended to focus on the role, personality, and activities performed by the individual police officer, as well as on the administrative process of hiring, training, and supervising the individual officer. Less research has been done on the police management and organizational structure, the roles of individual actors in the police organization, the internal decisionmaking process of the organization, and the organizational relationships between the police and other government agencies. The report also demonstrates that much research in policing has been exploratory in design and often includes only qualitative or descriptive analyses. Footnotes, numberous tables and illustrations, and over 500 references are furnished.