NCJ Number
183958
Date Published
2000
Length
16 pages
Annotation
Despite the scholarly and popular interest in the administration of criminal justice, there are few theoretical discussions of the process, and this paper develops an explicit theoretical framework by which practices in the administration of justice can be depicted and explained.
Abstract
The criminal justice system is characterized in terms of the theory of large-scale organizations, and some of the tasks of administration are examined in terms of established concepts and criteria supplied by the organizational perspective. Organization is defined to include social units devoted primarily to the attainment of specific goals. In this context, the task of the criminal justice system is to process arrests, determine guilt or innocence, and specify an appropriate sanction. Major actors in the criminal justice organization include the defendant, prosecutor, defense counsel, judge, arresting officer, court clerk, and other persons (witnesses, parole officers, court psychiatrists and social workers, and defendant family and friends). A system for the administration of criminal justice, whether it is adversarial or inquisitorial, entails the key elements of organization--institutionalized interaction of a large number of actors whose roles are highly defined, who are required to follow specific rules, and who share a responsibility in a common task. Two models of organization analysis are outlined and used to characterize recent systematic research on the administration of criminal justice. The two models are the rational goal model and the functional systems model. Advantages and disadvantages of each model are noted, and some of the concerns raised by theories of large-scale organizations in general but which have been overlooked by the administration of criminal justice field are examined. 28 references and 8 notes