Informal Power In Criminal Justice

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Managers and leaders possess power as a result of occupying formal decision-making positions within organizational settings. More than one form of power exists and the type of power leaders rely on when interfacing with internal and external stakeholders significantly affects how they are perceived. This is certainly true in criminal justice institutions, where employees and members of the public alike recognize criminal justice decision-makers and law enforcement agents as authoritative (Giblin, 2013). How power is carried out in criminal justice administration affects stakeholders’ perceptions of organizational justice. Formal power extends from positions in organizational hierarchies, whereas informal power stems from characteristics that …show more content…
Leaders who possess position power but rarely rely on it are often regarded as being more participative, democratic, transformational, and servant with their leadership behaviors (Judge & Piccolo, 2004). Consequently, the power mix leaders use to accomplish organizational objectives in criminal justice administrations substantially influences how stakeholders ascertain their perceptions of organizational justice, as the following sections reveal in more detail (Meisler & Vigoda-Gadot, 2014).
Organizational Justice Organizational justice is a multifaceted concept because it is comprised of several inputs. When an institution manages to instill a strong degree of organizational justice, internal and external stakeholders are more likely to regard it as trustworthy, fair, and reasonable. An organizational culture and reputation indicative of organizational justice is important because research findings indicate its establishment moderates affected stakeholders’ behaviors. Yet, it is possible for an organization to be effective at upholding certain forms of justice but not others.
Distributive
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Since individual employees usually do not possess the same level of power as individual members of management, collective bargaining is a strategy designed to consolidate employees’ interests into a representative negotiating body. Theoretically, such an arrangement bolsters workers’ negotiating power while minimizing vulnerability and exposure to management. Collective bargaining is relevant to criminal justice because multiple divisions of law enforcement are unionized. Like ordinary unions, police unions involve coordinated attempts to seek policies and practices that uphold police officers’ best interests. However, Veatch (2008) also posit that collective bargaining is used to influence policymaking in police work, such as when group leaders meet to discuss the implications of new technology like body cameras. Simply put, any major policy change that results in a noteworthy modification to police officers’ livelihood on or off the job is subject to collective bargaining agreements so that officers have a strong degree of

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