Organizational Imperatives and Sentencing Reform Implementation: The Impact of Prison Practices and Priorities on the Attainment of the Objective of Determinate Sentencing

1986 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 339-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
John R. Hepburn ◽  
Lynne Goodstein
Keyword(s):  
Legal Reform ◽  
Good Time ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Program Participation ◽  
Criminal Justice Reform ◽  
Reform Implementation ◽  
Sentencing Reform ◽  
Number Of Factors ◽  
Determinate Sentencing ◽  
The Impact

Determinate sentencing, advocated as a means of increasing sentencing equity and reducing inmate release uncertainty and coerced program participation, has been heralded as a major criminal justice reform. Yet organizational theorists caution that successful implementation of a legal reform may be impeded by a number of factors. In this article we concentrate on the implementation of determinate sentencing reform by the correctional system and propose that its objectives will be compromised by its low priority relative to more visible, immediate, and central mandates of prison administration. Focusing on the reform states of Illinois, Minnesota, and Connecticut, the article explores the prison practices and policies governing good time, supervised release, and program participation. We conclude that the objectives of determinate sentencing were affected, to varying degrees, by more central and salient correctional concerns, such as prison crowding and the need to exert social control.

Truth-In-Sentencing

Criminology ◽  
2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian J. Ostrom ◽  
Charles W. Ostrom
Keyword(s):  
Criminal History ◽  
Sentence Length ◽  
Good Time ◽  
The Public ◽  
Sentencing Reform ◽  
Parole Board ◽  
Determinate Sentencing ◽  
Rehabilitation Potential ◽  
Final Sentence ◽  
Truth In Sentencing

Truth-in-sentencing (TIS) describes a range of justice system policies that eliminate discretionary parole release and significantly reduce good-time accrual rates in an attempt to make sentencing both more certain and transparent. TIS policies are most often proposed as a means for ensuring that the amount of time an offender actually serves in prison is closely aligned with the sentence originally imposed by the court—the court, the victim, and the public know how long the offender will be imprisoned. These policies follow several decades of shifting sentencing philosophies and practices: Indeterminate sentencing and powerful parole boards characterized the early 1970s; paroling authorities fell out of favor with the introduction of determinate sentencing models in the late 1970s; and sentencing guidelines and mandatory minimum sentences became commonplace during the 1980s. The adoption of TIS became one of the major objectives for sentencing reform at both federal and state levels in the 1990s. Generally, the model of TIS holds that sentencing authority rests with the court and that sentences should be served in full. Only modest reductions in sentence length based on satisfactory behavior while incarcerated are acceptable. Philosophically, TIS draws largely on a “just deserts” philosophy, in which sentences are fixed proportionally on offense seriousness and, to a lesser extent, on prior criminal history. This philosophy contrasts with indeterminate models that split authority over the final sentence between the court and some other entity, such as a parole board. In those systems, the court sentences the offender to a specific term, within a range, or to an unspecified period, and a parole body determines the actual release date—often based upon rehabilitation potential.

The Impact of Sentencing Reform: From Indeterminate to Determinate Sentencing

1983 ◽  
Vol 74 (4) ◽  
pp. 1626 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arye Rattner ◽  
John D. Hewitt ◽  
Todd R. Clear
Keyword(s):  
Sentencing Reform ◽  
Determinate Sentencing ◽  
The Impact

scholarly journals Torture, Mistreatment, and Forced Confessions in Mexico’s Accusatorial Criminal Justice System

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 3
Author(s):  
Rita E. Kuckertz
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Justice System ◽  
National Commission ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Criminal Justice Reform ◽  
Reform Implementation ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Tests For Independence ◽  
Regression Tests

This article examines the impact of Mexico’s 2008 criminal justice reform on the practice of utilizing torture and mistreatment to extract criminal confessions. Complaint data submitted to the National Commission on Human Rights (Comisión Nacional de Derecho Humanos, CNDH) and detainee survey data compiled by the National Institute for Statistics and Geography (Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía, INEGI) were employed to assess if the use of torture and mistreatment by judicial sector operators had decreased (1) in states with advanced levels of reform implementation and (2) in judicial districts that had already implemented the reform. The author also examined the incidence of forced confessions before and after the reform’s implementation at the judicial district level. The author hypothesized that decreases in torture, mistreatment, and forced confessions would be observed in each of these cases. Basic correlation and regression tests were employed to assess the geographic hypothesis, while two chi-square tests for independence were used for judicial district data. The results of these analyses demonstrate evidence rejecting the null hypothesis in each instance, suggesting that the reform can indeed be credited for small but meaningful reductions in torture, mistreatment, and forced confessions in Mexico. The author argues that reforms must be accompanied by further action to address the pervasive use of torture and mistreatment in Mexico.

Toxic Political Leadership and the Problems of Professionals in Free State Municipalities

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
David Matheakuena Mohale
Keyword(s):  
Good Governance ◽  
Political Leadership ◽  
Primary Source ◽  
Free State ◽  
Audit Report ◽  
Theoretical Understanding ◽  
Number Of Factors ◽  
Auditor General ◽  
Appointed Officials ◽  
The Impact

The 2016–17 Audit Report by the Auditor General points to the deterioration in audit results of South African municipalities. This deterioration confirms the perennial dysfunctionality of municipalities, at least from the governance perspective. Corporate governance is a function of leadership. Municipal councils are, therefore, responsible for the overall performance of municipalities they lead. Sound regulatory framework, good plans, clear strategies, policies, and systems are inadequate if not supported by highly gifted and ethical leadership. The Auditor General’s Audit Report suggests that local government struggles the most in the area of ethics. The Principal-Agent Theory argues that appointed officials are more likely to subvert the interests of an organisation. However, this article argues that the primary source of problems in municipalities is a combination of ineptitude and unethical political leadership taking root. This conclusion is based on the empirical comparative cases of eight municipalities in the Free State Province.  The conduct of councillors makes it difficult to attract and retain professionals in municipalities, resulting in notable deficiencies in the delivery of services. Essentially, councillors are the root cause for governance failure in municipalities arising from a number of factors. Findings in this study contribute towards the understanding of the impact of leadership in the failure of municipalities to meet good governance and developmental objectives. Further, they deepen the theoretical understanding of the political-administrative interface.

scholarly journals The Impact of a Reentry and Aftercare Program on Recidivism

2020 ◽  
pp. 003464462097393
Author(s):  
Colin Cannonier ◽  
Monica Galloway Burke ◽  
Ed Mitchell
Keyword(s):  
Sample Selection ◽  
Cost Savings ◽  
Social Program ◽  
Recidivism Rates ◽  
Criminal Justice Reform ◽  
Heterogeneous Effects ◽  
Need To Evaluate ◽  
Reducing Recidivism ◽  
Aftercare Service ◽  
The Impact

In this article, we explore the impact of a reentry and aftercare service program on the likelihood of returning to prison by ex-offenders. Using administrative data within a difference-in-differences design, we find that this social program is associated with a reduction in recidivism rates. Benchmark estimates show that the program was associated with estimated reductions in the probability of recidivating of 6.0 to 8.7 percentage points. The estimate appears to be economically significant as it implies an estimated treated effect in the 15.8% to 19.2% range. We consider the heterogeneous effects of the program on reducing recidivism according to race, age group, and program type. The program helped to reduce recidivism among Whites but not Blacks; older participants were the main beneficiaries while the effectiveness of the program was observed among older participants. Back-of-the-envelope cost-savings analysis is incorporated to estimate the potential savings to the state arising from the reduction in recidivism rates likely attributable to the program. The findings are robust to sample selection bias, alternative specifications, and estimation techniques. Our results offer some implications for the role of faith-based social programs within the context of criminal justice reform to combat reentry of former inmates. They also provide a cautionary tale about the need to evaluate programs not just based on their overall effect.

Impact of climatic conditions on the parameters of failure flow of military vehicles

2021 ◽  
pp. 095440702110202
Author(s):  
Nikolaj Dobrzinskij ◽  
Algimantas Fedaravicius ◽  
Kestutis Pilkauskas ◽  
Egidijus Slizys
Keyword(s):  
Climatic Factors ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Technical Equipment ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Military Vehicles ◽  
Equipment Reliability ◽  
Number Of Factors ◽  
The Impact

Relevance of the article is based on participation of armed forces in various operations and exercises, where reliability of machinery is one of the most important factors. Transportation of soldiers as well as completion of variety of tasks is ensured by properly functioning technical equipment. Reliability of military vehicles – armoured SISU E13TP Finnish built and HMMWV M1025 USA built were selected as the object of the article. Impact of climatic conditions on reliability of the vehicles exploited in southwestern part of the Atlantic continental forest area is researched by a case study of the vehicles exploitation under conditions of the climate of Lithuania. Reliability of military vehicles depends on a number of factors such as properties of the vehicles and external conditions of their operation. Their systems and mechanisms are influenced by a number of factors that cause different failures. Climatic conditions represent one of the factors of operating load which is directly dependent on the climate zone. Therefore, assessment of the reliability is started with the analysis of climatic factors affecting operating conditions of the vehicles. Relationship between the impact of climatic factors and failure flow of the vehicles is presented and discussed.

scholarly journals Implementation of a Female External Urinary Catheter Reduces Indwelling Urinary Catheter Use and Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infections

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. s482-s483
Author(s):  
Paul Gentile ◽  
Jesse Jacob ◽  
Shanza Ashraf
Keyword(s):  
Urinary Tract ◽  
Urinary Tract Infections ◽  
Urinary Catheter ◽  
Improve Patient Safety ◽  
Academic Medical Center ◽  
Secondary Outcome ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Urinary Catheters ◽  
Tract Infections ◽  
The Impact

Background: Using alternatives to indwelling urinary catheters plays a vital role in reducing catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs). We assessed the impact of introducing female external catheters on urinary catheter utilization and CAUTIs. Methods: In a 500-bed academic medical center, female external catheters were implemented on October 1, 2017, with use encouraged for eligible females with urinary incontinence but not meeting other standard indications for urinary catheters. Nurses were educated and trained on female external catheter application and maintenance, and infection prevention staff performed surveillance case reviews with nursing and medical staff. We determined the number of catheter days for both devices based on nursing documentation of device insertion or application, maintenance, and removal. We used the CAUTI and DUR (device utilization ratio) definitions from the CDC NHSN. Our primary outcomes were changes in DUR for both devices 21 months before and 24 months after the intervention in both intensive care units (ICUs) and non-ICU wards. We used a generalized least-squares model to account for temporal autocorrelation and compare the trends before and after the intervention. Our secondary outcome was a reduction in CAUTIs, comparing females to males. Results: In total, there were 346,213 patient days in 35 months. The mean rate of patient days per month increased from 7,436.4 to 7,601.9 after the implementation of female external catheters, with higher catheter days for both urinary catheters (18,040 vs 19,625) and female external catheters (22 vs 12,675). After the intervention, the DUR for female external catheters increased (0 vs 0.07; P < .001) and for urinary catheters the DUR decreased (0.12 vs 0.10; P < .001) (Fig. 1). A reduction in urinary catheter DUR was observed in ICUs (0.29 vs 0.27; P < .001) but not wards (0.08 vs 0.08; P = NS) (Fig. 2). Of the 39 CAUTIs, there was no significant overall change in the rate per 1,000 catheter days (1.22 vs 0.87; P = .27). In females (n = 20 CAUTI), there was a 61% reduction in the CAUTI rate per 1,000 catheter days (0.78 vs 0.31; P = .02), but no significant change in the rate in males (0.44 vs 0.56; P = .64). The CAUTI rate per 1,000 catheter days among females decreased in the ICUs (1.14 vs 0.31; P = .04) but not in wards (0.6 vs 0.33; P = .96). Conclusions: In a setting with a baseline low UC DUR, successful implementation of female external catheters further modestly reduced UC DUR and was associated with a 61% decrease in CAUTI among females in the ICU but not in wards. Further interventions to better identify appropriate patients for female external catheters may improve patient safety and prevent patient harm.Funding: NoneDisclosures: None

The central role of knowledge management in business operations

2015 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 1117-1139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dimitrios Chatzoudes ◽  
Prodromos Chatzoglou ◽  
Eftichia Vraimaki
Keyword(s):  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Management Process ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Organisational Climate ◽  
Innovative Culture ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – Knowledge Management (KM) is a contemporary research field of high interest for both academics and practitioners. For more than 15 years, successful companies have used KM as their most valuable source of competitive advantage. The purpose of this paper is attempt to extend the existing empirical approaches (research models), by focusing on the process of KM and its diffusion throughout the organisation. Design/methodology/approach – The present study proposes a newly developed conceptual framework that adopts a four-step approach, highlighting four areas of interest that have never been simultaneously examined before: knowledge antecedents, KM process, KM outcomes (satisfaction from the KM process) and individual (employee) outcomes. The proposed conceptual framework is tested, using a structured questionnaire, in a sample of 211 bank employees. The reliability and the validity of the questionnaire were thoroughly examined, while research hypotheses were tested using the “Structural Equation Modelling” technique. Findings – The results revealed that companies with enhanced innovative culture and an organisational climate that facilitates cooperation between employees tend to promote and ultimately maximise knowledge diffusion. Moreover, a contribution of the present study is the empirical confirmation of the relationship between the proposed factor “satisfaction from the knowledge management process” and both organisational commitment and job satisfaction. Research limitations/implications – A limitation stemming from the adopted methodology is the use of self-report scales to measure the factors (constructs) of the proposed model. Moreover, the present paper lacks a longitudinal approach, since it provides a static picture (snapshot) of the application of KM within enterprises. Practical implications – The paper highlights-specific areas (factors) that companies should enhance in order to harvest the potential benefits of KM. According to the empirical findings, organisations should focus on their human capital when managing their knowledge processes. After all, employee satisfaction from the KM process is found to be crucial for enhancing their job satisfaction and job performance. Originality/value – The paper proposes an enhanced conceptual framework that incorporates critical issues concerning the successful implementation of KM, thus, providing valuable tools for decision makers and academics. Its originality lies in the nature of its approach. More specifically, the present study examines the impact of KM on individual-level (employee), something that rarely appears in the relevant literature. Additionally, it incorporates “satisfaction from the knowledge management process” as a significant outcome of the KM process, thus, enriching the literature of the field. Finally, it investigates the impact of three contextual factors (innovative culture, organisational climate, inter-functional coordination) on KM process (externalisation, internalisation, socialisation, combination), adopting an approach that acknowledges KM as a function (factor) that transmits contextual influence onto individual effectiveness. The results of the study may be generalised in other sectors with similar characteristics (knowledge-intensive and learning organisations, service sector companies, etc) and in other developed countries whose financial institutions face similar challenges as the ones in Greece.

Factors influencing success among collaborative sage-grouse management groups in the western United States

2010 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 250-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
LORIEN R. BELTON ◽  
DOUGLAS JACKSON-SMITH
Keyword(s):  
Early Stage ◽  
Collaborative Group ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Sage Grouse ◽  
Implementation Success ◽  
Management Plans ◽  
Collaborative Conservation ◽  
Process Factors ◽  
Group Success ◽  
The Impact

SUMMARYConsiderable efforts have been put into collaborative conservation efforts across the globe. In the western USA, concern about declines of two sage-grouse species (Centrocercus urophasianus and C. minimus) has led to the creation of over 60 collaborative wildlife management partnership groups to develop and implement local sage-grouse management plans. These sage-grouse local working groups (LWGs) share a common goal, information, and policy environment, but were implemented in diverse ways. As a result, they provide a rare opportunity to study systematically the impact of contextual, organizational, institutional and process factors on local collaborative group success. Data from document reviews and an extensive survey of over 700 group participants from 53 sage-grouse LWGs were used to assess the success of this collaborative conservation effort and identify those group attributes that were related to successful implementation and funding of projects. Specifically, external, internal and emergent group characteristics were considered as likely predictors of LWG implementation success. The LWGs varied broadly in their achievements. The presence of a neutral facilitator, participants' feelings of ownership, groups whose local plans had more authority and early-stage group successes were significantly related to implementation success at the group level.

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