About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

12 Aust. & N.Z. J. Criminology 1 (1979)

handle is hein.journals/anzjc12 and id is 1 raw text is: AUST & NZ JOURNAL OF CRIMINOLOGY (March 1979) 12 (1-2) EDITORIAL The Criminal Justice System: The Functional Approach In the last issue of this journal Sallmann' cogently argued for the application of systems analysis to develop a total system perspective in Australian criminal justice.2 One benefit, he suggested, would be to improve coordination of agencies and introduce some level of accountability into the system.' Another advantage he predicted for this approach was that it ought to enable policy and planning development to proceed with an enhanced understanding of inter-organizational relationships and functioning. It follows that proposals for reform or refinement of the total system ought to be more successful if this approach was applied. A recently published study by a Melbourne researcher4, however, raises some interesting questions about the viability of this approach. This project is concerned with the functions of policewomen in Victoria, their relationships with welfare agencies, the community, the courts and the impact that equal opportunities legislation might have upon their role. The research findings to date have illustrated that although there is a strong parallel between the functions of policewomen and the tasks of the welfare sector generally, certain clients indicate a strong preference for intervention and assistance from policewomen when they need help to resolve social problems. The study further indicates that statutory and voluntary welfare agencies in Victoria fail to provide the 24 hour service the community needs. Other findings indicate that on an intra-organizational basis different policies prevail which make the researcher's systems approach extremely difficult to follow through. This is particularly so when a study attempts to combine analysis of various interacting components of the broad systems of social service policy and delivery and aspects of the criminal justice system. The situation is further exacerbated when the various components within a total system fail to communicate with each other. This recent study shows that this has a significant influence upon the decisions for resolution taken by components of the system as well as creating intra-organizational problems. Sallmann's article and Foreman's study provide an interesting juxtaposition. Whereas theoretically Foreman would agree with Sallmann's approach to system analysis her research experience which spans diverse organizations within the total system illustrates that it is difficult to separate functioning from dysfunctioning. Furthermore, it would seem naive to adopt the approach without an awareness that decision making in the system can be influenced not only by ad hoc intra-organizational policy preferences but by brick walls that are not readily evident until the action oriented researcher starts to probe various gates within the total system. Sallmann and Foreman would undoubtedly agree that the system of criminal justice in Australia is a euphemism. Where they might differ is with respect to I

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most