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Assessing organizational effectiveness: The impact of drug court processes on offender behavior change
Title
Assessing organizational effectiveness: The impact of drug court processes on offender behavior change.
Creator
Senjo, Scott Robert, Florida Atlantic University, Leip, Leslie A.
Abstract/Description
The issue of drugs and crime maintains a high rank among the complexities which confront the American system of criminal justice. The "treatment drug court" represents an innovative response by policymakers to address drug use and its relationship to criminal activity. Treatment drug court is a court-monitored drug treatment program for people arrested for felony use or possession of illegal drugs. Many defendants select the drug court option rather than probation because most drug courts...
Show moreThe issue of drugs and crime maintains a high rank among the complexities which confront the American system of criminal justice. The "treatment drug court" represents an innovative response by policymakers to address drug use and its relationship to criminal activity. Treatment drug court is a court-monitored drug treatment program for people arrested for felony use or possession of illegal drugs. Many defendants select the drug court option rather than probation because most drug courts will dismiss the original felony charges upon successful completion of the court's drug treatment program. This dissertation is a focus on the unique "collaborative support" developed and implemented by the officers in the drug court to address the problem of drugs and crime. Using a descriptive case study and an observational design, a cohort of 100 drug court participants were observed during their participation in the intensive drug court treatment program, including appearances before the drug court itself for periodic monitoring by the court. Utilizing a comprehensive data collection scheme, statistical analyses were conducted to identify the features of the drug court program which had the greatest influence on achieving the drug court's goals. Research findings indicate that the court is an effective organization based on the collaborative support implemented on behalf of the offenders in the program. With the combination of progressive sanctions and collaborative support for offenders the court is found to make a pointed effort to address drug use. The court seeks to permanently alter the root of the problem, the need for drugs, rather than passively dealing with symptoms of the problem. While other criminal courts are laden with drug addicted defendants who revolve in and out of the criminal justice system, the drug court engages in a constructive form of problem solving, seeking to resolve, rather than merely process cases.
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Date Issued
1998
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12569
Subject Headings
Drug courts, Drug abuse--Treatment, Drug abuse and crime
Format
Document (PDF)
Bureaucratic Discretion in Policy Implementation : The Case of Adjudicating Juveniles as Adults in Florida
Title
Bureaucratic Discretion in Policy Implementation : The Case of Adjudicating Juveniles as Adults in Florida.
Creator
Schrouder, Sandra M., Leip, Leslie A., Florida Atlantic University
Abstract/Description
The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the use of bureaucratic discretion by juvenile prosecutors and identify various factors influencing discretion in the implementation of juvenile transfer provision laws in Florida. The study contributes to the sparse literature on bureaucratic discretion by providing a framework of the factors influencing discretion. Both quantitative and qualitative methods are used in the case study of Florida. The dissertation embraces the idea of...
Show moreThe purpose of this dissertation is to explore the use of bureaucratic discretion by juvenile prosecutors and identify various factors influencing discretion in the implementation of juvenile transfer provision laws in Florida. The study contributes to the sparse literature on bureaucratic discretion by providing a framework of the factors influencing discretion. Both quantitative and qualitative methods are used in the case study of Florida. The dissertation embraces the idea of methodological pluralism by combining the findings of extensive interviews conducted with chief juvenile prosecutors along with descriptive analyses of archival data garnered from Florida's Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ). This research is important since it provides essential policy information through the various factors that emerge from the study. The findings of the study provide greater insight into understanding how bureaucrats make decisions and could prove useful in explaining various policy outcomes resulting from the use of discretion in public organizations. The findings of the research indicate that the discretion of chief juvenile prosecutors is influenced by a number of factors, including organizational factors, external influences, client attributes, and characteristics of the bureaucrat.
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Date Issued
2008
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00000612
Subject Headings
Juvenile justice, Administration of--Florida, Transfer of cause--Florida, Prosecution--Florida--Decision making, Law--Political aspects, Administrative discretion, Judicial discretion
Format
Document (PDF)
empirical study of farm workers in South Florida: Environmental injustice in the fields?
Title
An empirical study of farm workers in South Florida: Environmental injustice in the fields?.
Creator
Murphy, Martha Celeste, Florida Atlantic University, Leip, Leslie A.
Abstract/Description
A Social Distance Model was developed for this dissertation to illustrate the marginalization of the migrant farm workers in South Florida. The social distance indicators used in the Social Distance Model are: (1) income level, (2) education level, (3) use of the dominant language, (4) property ownership, (5) laws and legal rights, and (6) race and ethnicity. These indicators demonstrate the marginalization of farm workers. This marginalization results in the creation of an occupational...
Show moreA Social Distance Model was developed for this dissertation to illustrate the marginalization of the migrant farm workers in South Florida. The social distance indicators used in the Social Distance Model are: (1) income level, (2) education level, (3) use of the dominant language, (4) property ownership, (5) laws and legal rights, and (6) race and ethnicity. These indicators demonstrate the marginalization of farm workers. This marginalization results in the creation of an occupational subgroup vulnerable to pesticide exposure, lack of protection under the law, and health problems. The four research questions which are used to illustrate this theoretical model are: (1) do the demographics of the sample population represent a marginalized subculture vulnerable to exposure to environmental hazards? (2) is there a relationship between working in the fields in two South Florida counties and exposure to pesticides? (3) are the current federal and Florida laws which protect farm workers from exposure to pesticides being properly implemented? and (4) is there a relationship between the health of farm workers in two South Florida counties and their exposure to pesticides? A survey about pesticide exposure, health problems and laws and legal rights was used to gather data about farm workers in two South Florida counties. A face-to-face, closed and open-ended survey was conducted with farm workers at several migrant farm worker day care centers in Palm Beach and Indian River County, Florida. The results of the dissertation reveal that: the negative outcomes of the Social Distance Model, which are poverty, alienation, lack of skills, economic exploitation, lack of use of the dominant language, lack of information on laws and legal rights, and few choices and alternatives for employment and housing, provide an explanation for the farm workers' marginalization. As a result of their marginalization, farm workers are an occupational group vulnerable to pesticide exposure. Another finding of the study is that federal and state laws which are currently in place to protect the workers from pesticide exposure do not adequately protect the workers from exposure to harmful pesticides and farm workers are uninformed of the laws which exist to protect them from possible pesticide exposure. Several of the health problems farm workers noted match the symptoms of moderate and mild pesticide poisoning. The results of the study demonstrate that the farm workers are disadvantaged because the majority of the farm workers: earn a yearly wage that puts them below the poverty line, do not speak English, have a minimal education level, and are uninformed about the current laws pertaining to pesticide exposure. The combination of these findings leads this researcher to the conclusion that the migrant farm workers interviewed for this study are a vulnerable subgroup of the American population, at serious risk of exposure to environmental hazards. The study concludes with policy recommendations for Florida state officials and the federal government to change and better enforce the current laws pertaining to farm workers. These changes will help the implementation and enforcement of the current laws designed to protect farm workers from pesticide exposure. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
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Date Issued
1997
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12513
Subject Headings
Agricultural laborers--Florida, Environmental justice, Agricultural laborers--Health and hygiene--Law and legislation
Format
Document (PDF)
exploratory study of victim participation in the justice systems of Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad/Tobago
Title
An exploratory study of victim participation in the justice systems of Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad/Tobago.
Creator
Eastep, Mary Ann., Florida Atlantic University, Leip, Leslie A.
Abstract/Description
This study examines the nature and extent of victim participation in the criminal justice systems in the three Caribbean nations of Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. Through visits to the three island nations, observations were made; interviews were conducted with justice practitioners, including police officers, prosecutors, defense attorneys and victim advocates; conversations were held with citizens and several crime victims; observations of court proceedings were conducted; and...
Show moreThis study examines the nature and extent of victim participation in the criminal justice systems in the three Caribbean nations of Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. Through visits to the three island nations, observations were made; interviews were conducted with justice practitioners, including police officers, prosecutors, defense attorneys and victim advocates; conversations were held with citizens and several crime victims; observations of court proceedings were conducted; and documents were studied. Victim participation was considered in the context of the culture and within the theoretical framework of institutionalism and organized anarchies. Institutions were seen as both constraining forces with respect to victim participation and emerging entities as regards victim participation. Justice practitioners' perceptions of participation often matched and often varied from actual systems of participation that exist. In addition, there were instances wherein practitioners who had considerable contact with victims (police officers, prosecutors) had very little knowledge about victims' rights and/or the status of victim policy. Victims of crime in Jamaica have more services available to them than do victims in the other two nations, as there is a government network of victim service agencies in place there. Participation in the actual trial process is similar in each of the nations studied.
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Date Issued
2003
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12034
Subject Headings
Criminal justice, Administration of--Barbados, Criminal justice, Administration of--Jamaica, Criminal justice, Administration of--Trinidad and Tobago, Victims of crimes--Caribbean Area
Format
Document (PDF)
Does evaluation make a difference? The effect of evaluation on remedial education in Florida's community colleges
Title
Does evaluation make a difference? The effect of evaluation on remedial education in Florida's community colleges.
Creator
Lyes-MacLachlan, Shari., Florida Atlantic University, Leip, Leslie A., Nyhan, Ronald C., Holden, Eileen
Abstract/Description
Throughout the nation, many community college students arrive at the doors of public higher education without college-level skills. As the need for remediation over the years has grown, the controversy over who should be responsible for it---and whether it should be provided at all---has also grown. In Florida, more than 60 percent of all incoming college students must enroll in one or more remediation courses in the areas of reading, writing, or mathematics. Florida law requires students to...
Show moreThroughout the nation, many community college students arrive at the doors of public higher education without college-level skills. As the need for remediation over the years has grown, the controversy over who should be responsible for it---and whether it should be provided at all---has also grown. In Florida, more than 60 percent of all incoming college students must enroll in one or more remediation courses in the areas of reading, writing, or mathematics. Florida law requires students to take non-credit "College-Preparatory" classes if they score below mandated cut-off scores on state-approved placement tests. The central theory of this study is that ongoing, comprehensive and systematic evaluation that is effectively communicated and utilized in Florida's colleges can make a significant contribution to the College Preparatory program. While this study examines budgetary factors and student achievement rates, it focuses particularly on evaluation, the extent to which evaluation is being performed in the College Preparatory program, and how that evaluation throughout the state has changed over a five-year period. The study identifies four general areas of evaluation: (1) student-level evaluation, (2) program-level evaluation, (3) evaluation via communication in the organization and (4) utilization of evaluation in the organization. It analyzes the relationship between each area and the perceptions that faculty, administrators and staff have of remedial program success, and it distinguishes among faculty, administrator and staff perceptions of evaluation and preparatory program success. In the end, it is the synthesis of the four general areas of evaluation, along with input from its various stakeholders, which result in effects on remedial education.
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Date Issued
2004
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FADT12105
Subject Headings
Curriculum evaluation, Community colleges--Evaluation, Education--Research--Methodology, Remedial teaching--Evaluation
Format
Document (PDF)
The Classical Dilemma and Probation Officer Training in Florida: An Ethnographic Content Analysis of Rules, Routines, Roles, Rituals, and Relationships
Title
The Classical Dilemma and Probation Officer Training in Florida: An Ethnographic Content Analysis of Rules, Routines, Roles, Rituals, and Relationships.
Creator
Irizarry, Jose Luis, Leip, Leslie A., Florida Atlantic University, School of Public Administration, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
Abstract/Description
American bureaucracies are often assigned inconsistent goals, expectations, roles, and functions (Goodsell, 2004; Lipsky, 2010), exemplified in probation by Klockars’ (1972) classical dilemma of corrections that describes a punitive-rehabilitative dichotomy. A failure to prepare bureaucrats in corrections to address the classical dilemma this results in probation officers (POs) making decisions between and among competing options that consequently generally emphasize only one of the primary...
Show moreAmerican bureaucracies are often assigned inconsistent goals, expectations, roles, and functions (Goodsell, 2004; Lipsky, 2010), exemplified in probation by Klockars’ (1972) classical dilemma of corrections that describes a punitive-rehabilitative dichotomy. A failure to prepare bureaucrats in corrections to address the classical dilemma this results in probation officers (POs) making decisions between and among competing options that consequently generally emphasize only one of the primary goals of probation (Ellsworth, 1990). This dissertation offers insight into and prompts rethinking of how corrections agencies prepare POs to address the classical dilemma. Few studies focus on how organizations educate POs to address the classical dilemma. This dissertation applies ethnographic content analysis to examine the messages communicated to correctional probation officers in the 95 lessons of the curriculum used by Florida Department of Corrections (FDC) to train new officers. To analyze the data and the meaning conveyed by the FDC I applied Saldana’s (2016) 5Rs framework of rules, routines, roles, rituals, and relationships.
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Date Issued
2020
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00013577
Subject Headings
Probation officers--Training of, Content analysis
Format
Document (PDF)