Management Styles in the Criminal Justice System - Assignment Example

Introduction There are three management systems in use in the Justice System and at any given time, one component of a particular system may be more evident than another system, dependent on the circumstances, It is important to note each system and what its components are in order to see how they work together in the best infrastructure possible. When one component is lacking, then this can also cause a problem along the administrative chain. 1. There are three types of management styles in the criminal justice system: Scientific Management, Human Relations Management and Systems Management.

The Scientific Management, first instituted by Frederick W. Taylor, was the first to develop and institute this efficiency process which concerned how to get the best out of workers in a manufacturing business and boost production. A formal level of administrative infrastructure is installed which relates to authority, chain of command, the span of control and division of labor (Peak 2010). The implementation of such a system, particularly when applied to the Justice administrative system through POSDCORB (planning, organizing, staffing, directing, coordinating, reporting and budgeting), rarely addressed the human component of the workers (Peak 2010; Dempsey & Forst 2013).

This led to a sense of depersonalization of the job for most workers, a rather robotic method of working which was not fulfilling. For many, getting a salary was important but it was not the whole picture as to why they were in the law enforcement profession. In Human Relations Management, the worker faces a more social environment at work that relates to being part of a group. In some aspects, it could be considered the family away from home in that everyone looks out for the other person and that it is more team-orientated within a job aspect (Peak 2010).

In this respect, those management employees who were centered more on their employees and morale, rather than only quotas and production, achieved more with the department as a whole. Workers felt they could also make suggestions for better efficiency in operations as they were on the front row of things in the field. Yet, with the lack of emphasis on production, employees tended to want more while achieving less overall. In Systems Management, which began implementation in the 1960s, components of both previous systems were incorporated into the Systems Management infrastructure, thus addressing the human component, along with achieving goals and production levels, that were necessary for measuring success (or failure) in any department.

Systems Management is based on the works of four people: Douglas McGregor (theory of human motivation), Abraham Maslow (hierarchy of needs), and Robert Blake and Jane Mouton (managerial grid). The grid centered on tasking and on people within systems management. The overall concept of systems management, according to these four people, was that managers also understand the needs of other groups and people as they affected his own group and to also understand and cope with conflict and adjustments from changes (Peak 2010). 2. The most useful style of management is the Systems Management because it incorporates the best of the previous two systems.

The ability to create the organized infrastructure that will produce results within an administrated work map, as well as