Criminal Justice Organizations: Administration and Management

1
Criminal Justice Organizations Administration
and Management

• Chapter Seven Leadership

2
Learning Objectives

• Comprehend the complexities of leadership in
  criminal justice organizations.
• Understand the many theories of leadership.
• Know the limitations of leadership research in
  criminal justice organizations.
• Explain the importance of leadership development
  in criminal justice organizations.

3
Leadership Defined

• Leadership is a process that effectively
  accomplishes organizational goals and is related
  to effectiveness.
• Administrators can learn leadership skills.
• Leadership is a group process.
• Leadership in public bureaucracies is inherently
  political.

4
Theories of Leadership

• Leadership research is a relatively new area of
  scholarly attention.
• Most of what we know about leadership theory
  comes from the groundbreaking studies conducted
  at
• Ohio State University (1940s), and
• Michigan State University (1940s 1960s).

5
Theories of Leadership

• Leadership theories can be loosely organized into
  one of the following traditions.
• Leaders are born and not made
• Leadership is behavioral
• Leadership is contingency based

6
Theories of LeadershipBorn Leaders

• Assumes
• The ability to lead others is based on certain
  personality traits like the ability to relate to
  others, communication skills, or charisma.
• Leadership is not a learned skill you either
  have it or you dont.
• Leadership effectiveness is dependent upon
  finding a person with the personality type that
  can work well in a particular working
  environment.

7
Theories of LeadershipBorn Leaders

• This approach was largely discredited when
  researchers understood the importance of
  contingencies.
• Some leadership personalities are more or less
  effective in certain situations, but situations
  (contingencies) often change.
• Some researchers continue to advocate that
  personality characteristics are an important
  element of leadership effectiveness.

8
Theories of LeadershipBehavioral Theories

• Focus is on how leaders behave.
• Effectiveness depends on how leaders interact
  with their subordinates to accomplish tasks
  (initiating structures).
• This approach is also concerned with how workers
  achieve both organizational and personal goals
  simultaneously.
• The perception of support from management is
  critical.
• Creating a sense of belonging among employees is
  essential to effective leadership.

9
Theories of LeadershipContingency Theories

• Emphasis is on how situational factors present in
  the workplace affect leadership.
• Leadership effectiveness is determined by whether
  the leader responds appropriately to these
  situational factors (contingencies).
• There are two principal approaches.

10
Theories of LeadershipContingency Theories

• Fiedlers Contingency Model the leadership
  process is constrained by three major situational
  dimensions.
• Leader-member relations
• Task structure
• Position power
• Structured assessments of organizational
  contingencies enable leaders to identify their
  most appropriate leadership approach.

11
Theories of LeadershipContingency Theories

• The application of Fiedlers Contingency Model in
  Criminal Justice may be difficult.
• Given the nature of promotional selection it may
  not be possible to match the right leader to a
  specific task.
• The overall lack of leadership training does not
  enable leaders to identify how their personality
  orientations affect leadership outcomes.

12
Theories of LeadershipContingency Theories

• Path-Goal Theory the interaction between leader
  behavior and the situational aspects of the
  organization is important.
• This particular theory is linked to the
  expectancy theory of human motivation.
• Effective leadership is situational and does not
  depend on a single style of leadership.
• The effectiveness of a leadership style is based
  on the degree of direction and guidance the
  leader provides.

13
Theories of LeadershipContingency Theories

• Four Leadership Styles (Path-Goal Theory)
• Directive
• Supportive
• Achievement-oriented
• Participative
• Leaders may adopt various styles depending on
• The needs/desires of the employee,
• The nature of the task, and
• Environmental conditions.

14
Theories of LeadershipContingency Theories
15
Theories of LeadershipTransformational Leadership

• This theory grew from dissatisfaction with trait,
  behavioral and contingency theories.
• Focuses on how leaders transform organizations to
  produce results using
• Mission and vision statements,
• Goal setting, and
• Creative solutions to organizational problems.

16
Leadership Research in Criminal Justice

• Police leaders tend to have a preferred (single)
  leadership style.
• Primarily a high task and high relationship
  style.
• Strong communications skills.
• Research on leadership in correctional agencies
  is very limited.
• There is a substantial need for research on
  leadership throughout all parts of the criminal
  justice system.

17
Leadership EducationThe California Department of
Corrections Experience

• Invested heavily in leadership development with
  an emphasis on education rather than training.
• Developed essential elements of effective
  leadership.
• Proactive traits (communication, honesty,
  knowledge)
• Building relationships with employees
• Balancing employee and organizational needs
• Transform the culture when necessary
• Able to use appropriate (contingency based)
  leadership tools as needed

18
Criminal Justice LeadershipA Brief Word on
Organizational Culture

• Most criminal justice leaders either come up
  through the ranks or are elected.
• Leaders are a product of the organizational
  culture.
• The tendency to promote leaders from within
• Restricts change in the organizational culture,
  and
• May encourage corruption.

19
Chapter Summary

• Leadership in criminal justice must be understood
  in a political context.
• Poor leadership might be caused by a lack of
  understanding about political realities and
  complexities.
• There are numerous theories that help us
  understand how leadership works.
• There are benefits to applying various leadership
  models in criminal justice, however, not much
  testing of these models had occurred.
• Our knowledge of how leadership models affect
  criminal justice agencies is limited.

20
Thinking Point and Question

• Young people entering the policing profession
  today are part of the Generation Y and Millenial
  cohorts.
• These generational cohorts are broadly
  characterized as culturally liberal,
  electronically savvy, motivated by rewards
  (Trophy Kids), and less likely remain employed
  by the same organization throughout their
  professional life.
• Given what you have learned about leadership,
  what would be the most useful model for this
  generational cohort, and why?