Transforming the Police

Mastrofski, Stephen D.; Uchida, Craig D.

doi:10.1177/0022427893030003005

Cited by 39 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Crank and Rehm (1994), for example, noted how court decisions shaped a drug intervention program and Tolbert and Zucker (1983) argued that state laws mandating civil service structures were followed by their rapid adoption. The second source of isomorphism, mimetic processes, results from one organization imitating the practices of another organization perceived to be successful (DiMaggio & Powell, 1983;Katz, 2001;Mastrofski & Uchida, 1993;Roy & Seguin, 2000). Using the civil service example, the success and legitimization that accompanied early adopters, who adopted under coercive pressures, may have fueled later adoption via mimetic processes (Tolbert & Zucker, 1983).…”

Section: Institutional Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Institutional theory gained traction in policing research during the 1990s and has since been used in a number of studies (Crank & Langworthy, 1992Crank & Rehm, 1994;Engel, Calnon, & Bernard, 2002;Giblin, 2006;Katz, 2001;Mastrofski & Uchida, 1993;Renauer, 2007;Willis et al, 2007;Wilson, 2005Wilson, , 2006Zhao, He, & Lovrich, 2003;Zhao, Lovrich, & Robinson, 2001). Several examples illustrate the utility of institutional theory.…”

Section: Institutional Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Threatened Globally, Acting Locally: Modeling Law Enforcement Homeland Security Practices

Burruss¹,

Giblin²,

Schafer³

2009

Justice Quarterly

102

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The present study examined the effects of institutional pressures on homeland security preparedness among law enforcement agencies in Illinois. The data come from the Illinois Homeland Security Survey (IHSS). Specifically, the study employed three theories to explain homeland security preparedness: contingency theory, resource dependence theory, and institutional theory. We hypothesized that institutional pressures will lead to isomorphism as agencies attempt to conform to institutional expectations about appropriate activities in a homeland security era. To evaluate these theories and their impact on homeland security practices, the authors used confirmatory factor analysis. The IHSS data lend strong support to the application of organizational theory as a lens through which homeland security preparedness can be understood. Institutional pressures, such as professional and government publications, training, professional associations, and the actions of peer agencies, significantly influenced municipal and county agencies in Illinois. Funding, while often thought important to encourage preparedness, was not a significant predictor. The results of this analysis advance our understanding of homeland security preparedness via institutional theory by suggesting that the larger environment is salient.

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Section: Institutional Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Institutional Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Threatened Globally, Acting Locally: Modeling Law Enforcement Homeland Security Practices

Burruss¹,

Giblin²,

Schafer³

2009

Justice Quarterly

102

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Mimetic isomorphism occurs when an organization models itself after other organizations that are perceived as legitimate for the purpose of enhancing its legitimacy (DiMaggio and Powell, 1991;Donaldson, 1995;Suchman and Eyre, 1992). Mastrofski and Uchida (1993), for example, argued that recent innovations in policing, such as the creation of special units and the adoption of community policing strategies, have done little to increase technical outputs. Instead, they argue that many police organizations are adopting these new reforms for the purpose of enhancing their legitimacy so that they may ensure the flow of organizational resources.…”

Section: Acquiring and Managing Legitimacymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Establishment of a Police Gang Unit: An Examination of Organizational and Environmental Factors*

2001

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Although researchers have begun to document the programs and activities performed by police gang units, little research has examined why police gang units are created and why they have responded to local gang problems in the way they have over the past 10 years. Using a multimethodological research design, the present study examines the factors that shaped a Midwestern police department's response to its community's gang problem. The results from the present study lend support for the institutional perspective. The data suggest that the gang unit was created as a consequence of pressures placed on the police department from various powerful elements within the community and that, once created, the unit's response was largely driven by its need to achieve and maintain organizational legitimacy.

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“…This approach was advanced as a direct response to perceived failures in associating police professionalism with too much legalism (Mastrofski and Greene, 1993;Mastrofski and Uchida, 1993).…”

Section: Using the Rules: Laws For Police Deviancementioning

confidence: 99%

Rules in policing

Ericson

2007

Theoretical Criminology

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This article examines five perspectives on how rules relate to police power and discretion. Each perspective is appreciated for its heuristic value, depending upon the types of rules in question and the pragmatic circumstances faced in police decisions. At the same time, it is argued that policing is undergoing rapid transformation involving a new division of labor with regulatory agencies and private police, an attendant reconfiguration of the principles, standards and procedures of criminal law and the rise of surveillance-based control without the law. This 'counter-law' environment of policing networks, legal exceptions and surveillance technologies is increasingly relied upon to ensure that the police are watched as well as watchers and the bearers of their own control.

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Transforming the Police

Cited by 39 publications

References 5 publications

Threatened Globally, Acting Locally: Modeling Law Enforcement Homeland Security Practices

Threatened Globally, Acting Locally: Modeling Law Enforcement Homeland Security Practices

The Establishment of a Police Gang Unit: An Examination of Organizational and Environmental Factors*

Rules in policing

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