Chapter Twelve –
Decision Making
 Be able to define decision making
 Understand the basis for decision making rules of
criminal justice practitioners
 Understand the garbage can theory of decision
making
 Be able to briefly discuss the four types of criminal
justice decision makers
 Understand the major themes to improving
criminal justice decisions
 A decision is a judgment, a choice between
alternatives (Houston, 1999).
 Decisions are often made within the context of a
theory or broad framework (paradigm).
 Three kinds of information
o An awareness of the alternatives
o An awareness of the possible consequences of
each alternative
o The subject of the decision
 Decision rules govern how the elements of the
decision are combined.
 In criminal justice many decisions are clinical and
based on the decision makers education, training,
and experience.
 All decisions should be based on goals or
preferred outcomes.
 Feedback provides the opportunity to correct
previously made decisions.
 Initially, decision making was thought to be a rational
process.
 Later, March and Simon (1958) proposed that
decisions are based on bounded rationality
o Decision makers are unable to collect all the information they
need to make a completely rational decision.
o The result is satisfycing – taking the first acceptable solution
that comes along.
 “Garbage can” analogy – decision makers keep
previously made decisions and use them as needed.
 Decisions are often influenced by the
organizational culture.
o “We’ve always done it that way.”
o “It worked in the past.”
o “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
 Organizations tend to define problems and
identify solutions to problems based on
deeply rooted values and beliefs.
 Politics is power and power influences
decision making.
o Internal politics – processes by which interested
parties within the organization express their concern
and seek implementation and acceptance of their ideas
and practices.
o External politics – consist of the influence that outside
parties exert on the organization’s definition of mission,
the appropriate types of operations the organization
exhibits, and the directions it takes.
 Sequentialists – use their experience to
determine what items of information are the most
important to the decision.
 Ah yes! – collect large amounts of information and
search for patterns in that information.
 Simplifier – reduces complex problems to their
simplest form.
 Ratifier – wait for comments by someone else and
then associate themselves with that person’s
viewpoint.
 Directive – make decisions and announce them, highly
task oriented and a low tolerance for ambiguity.
 Analytical – high tolerance for ambiguity and tend to
overanalyze situations.
 Conceptual – work well with people and rely on
discussion with others to consider the problem and
possible solutions.
 Behavioral – like to interact with others and welcome
open discussions.
 Decision making styles can also range on a continuum
from
o Autocratic – boss makes and announces the decision, to
o Laissez-faire – totally subordinate centered.
 Some decision makers are democratic or
participative and encourage input from subordinates.
 Police chiefs tend to
o Be autocratic,
o Be directive, and
o Rely on traditional beliefs and assumptions
 Accuracy – most important, but often least
attainable because information is;
o Complied from numerous sources,
o From people with a vested interest in the outcome,
and
o Often only summarizes information about groups.
 Order of presentation – affects sequentialist the
most, but overall does affect the outcome of a
decision.
 Availability of alternatives – often there are only
two possible outcomes. Additional alternatives
complicate the process.
 “a situation in which an official has latitude to make
authoritative choices not necessarily specified within the
source of authority which governs his decision making”
(Atkins and Pogrebin (1992:1).
 Often essential in criminal justice decision making.
o Complicated nature of job
o Incomplete information
 Others argue that discretion is “uncontrolled decision
making”.
 Recent attempts have been made to objectify decision
making through weighted questionnaires.
 Prediction of the future influences criminal
justice decision making.
o The decision to arrest or not arrest
o Criminal sentencing
o Probation conditions
 Recent applications of statistical techniques
have improved this, but have not removed
all unintended outcomes.
 Themes for improving decision making
o Equity – similar decisions for similar situations
o Accuracy – making correct decisions
o Consistency with theory – adhering to a
consistent paradigm or framework
o Consistency with resources – pragmatism
o Contribution to future decisions – use prior
decisions and their outcomes to influence future
decisions
 Decisions are often made under:
o Time constraints,
o During conflict, and
o With personal bias.
 Close and Meier (1995) pose four questions.
o
o
o
o
Will the decision violate Constitutional rights?
Does the decision treat individuals as mean?
Is the decision illegal?
Does the decision violate policy or a professional code
of ethics?
 A decision is based upon goals and is the process
of making a choice between alternative paths
toward the goal.
 Information can exhibit the alternatives available.
 The consequences of a decision can be estimated.
 Decision rules are clinical in nature.
 Decisions are influenced by the decision maker’s
education, training, and experience.
 Decision makers keep a repertoire of solutions in a
“garbage can” and pull the solutions out as when they
encounter a problem.
 There are four types of criminal justice decision
makers.
o Sequentalist – make decisions based on experience
o Ah yes – search for patterns in large amount of
information
o Simplifier – reduces complex problems to simplest form
o Ratifier – waits for comments and feedback from others
 The important themes in criminal justice decision
making are:
o Equity – similar dispositions across similar cases
o Accuracy – separating the guilty from the innocent
o Consistency – applying the same decision rules over
time
 Improved decision making should contribute to future
decisions.
 Your department has just received $2,000,000
from an asset forfeiture fund. This money may be
spent in any way the department chooses.
 You call a meeting of the command staff to decide
how this money should be spent. During the
meeting your four supervisors make the following
statements.
 Classify these decision makers as either
sequentialist, ah yes!, simplifier, or ratifier.
 “The last time we got one of these checks we used it
to upgrade our radios. That was ten years ago. I
think it is time we do that again.”
 “Let’s ask the city manager, city council, mayor and
maybe even have a town hall meeting before we
decide.”
 “Let’s just put it in the bank and wait for a rainy day.”
 “Let’s look over our strategic plans for the past ten
years and identify a need that we have not yet
addressed.”