Power, Authority, and Conflict

1622 Words4 Pages

1) Power is a difficult concept to identify; it has been defined in several ways by many scholars. Hinings et al. (1967) state that power is analogous to bureaucracy, while Bierstedt (1950) and Blau (1964) state that it is purely coercion (Stojkovic et al, 2008). Moreover, Hall and Tolbert (2005) identify that there are five types of power, reward, coercive, legitimate, referent, and expert (Stojkovic et al, 2008). According to studies these five types of power are important and needed in a criminal justice agency for greater effectiveness and efficiency. The five different types of power cannot be implemented in every unit; instead different policies need to put in place within different units for effective administration power. According to Tifft (1978) different units of a police force permit different types of power to be developed (Stojkovic et al, 2008). Coercive and legitimate power can be observed in a patrol sergeant because the unit’s specific duties, whereas a tactical unit shows extreme levels of referent, expert, and legitimate power due to the unique structural design and activities (Stojkovic et al, 2008). For example, in a police agency detective units would benefit greatly if sergeants had previous experience in the unit, due to the fact that expert power and knowledge is essential to the sergeant’s role (Stojkovic et al, 2008). Since knowledge of methods of common crimes gives the sergeant necessary information that is valued and respected by subordinate detectives, it is essential for police administrator to implement people in the unit who have had experience as detectives (Stojkovic et al, 2008). Thus, the social bases of power differ between organizations and structural characteristics affect the s... ... middle of paper ... ...anization. The last episode of conflict is conflict aftermath. At this stage if the issues listed in the latent conflict episode are dealt with in a satisfactory manner, the conflict will be resolved (Stojkovic et al, 2008). This is the type of resolution that managers and supervisors should seek in order to keep organizational conflict to a minimum. However, if the conflicts listed above are not addressed and only suppressed, then the conflict will resurface and the organization will enter the stage of conflict aftermath (Stojkovic et al, 2008). The problem with this episode is that it could become serious and weaken the relationship between two parties and will never be repaired fully. For example, in prisons, if the conditions listed in the latent conflict are never resolved the conflict will worsen until another disturbance occurs (Stojkovic et al, 2008)

More about Power, Authority, and Conflict

Open Document