Date of Award
5-1997
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Political Science
First Advisor
Dr. Daniel Palazzolo
Second Advisor
Dr. Patricia Patterson
Third Advisor
Dr. John T. Whelan
Abstract
This is a study of how the Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) attempted to implement a major crime initiative, the Comprehensive Community Corrections Act (CCCA). The aim is to explain the implementation process in DCJS with reference to organizational models developed by Richard Elmore (1978). A careful analysis of the day-to-day operation and decision-making processes of DCJS, with particular emphasis on the implementation of the CCCA, shows that DCJS normally corresponds with the expectations of the "organizational development" and "bureaucratic process" models described in Elmore's typology of organizations. Still, agencies often must adapt to political and policy changes that might lead them to alter normal operating procedures. In this case, we see that although [sic] DCJS generally continued to act as it normally would, though time constraints, political considerations, and interagency tensions altered the norms of agency operations and decision-making.
Recommended Citation
Jenkins, Tracey L., "Implementing public policy : the Virginia Comprehensive Community Corrections Act for local-responsible offenders" (1997). Master's Theses. 615.
https://scholarship.richmond.edu/masters-theses/615