Logic Models as Policy Tools- Articulate how and why the use of Logic Models in program design and evaluation can mitigate the poor criminal justice policy-making examined earlier in the course.

DISCUSSION FORUMS:
Each module you are required to make at least one original post to the discussion
question in the ‘Discussion’ forum for that
week.
Initial posts must have at least two citations to class materials.
This week’s Discussion:
What are the practical challenges involved in the use of random selection and
assignment in action research? How can these be overcome?
Discussion Rubric:
Discussion assignments are designed to encourage interaction between the class
participants.
Superficial postings such as “I agree” or “Good point,” will not be counted. Direct use and
citation of course material is required in the initial postings and in
comments to classmates. Of
course, students should always be respectful of others
when giving their opinion(s). Below are a
few examples of acceptable and unacceptable posts/responses.
The best discussion posts and responses do more than merely recite
the materials. They analyze
and discuss what you have learned and pose questions for
your peers to discuss and wrestle with.
Take any stance or approach you like, so long as yousupport it with the materials and with
logical argument.
Acceptable Post: Sample ACCEPTABLE Post below:
Stohr and Collins (2013) discuss how competing values of ‘democratic accountability’
and
‘neutral competency’ change the motivations of workers, and thus need to be
balanced (40).
Which value do you think controls the most ground inside criminal justice organizations;
irrespective of culture, location, size, etc? On the surface this question is seemingly easy to
answer. Politics are never removed completely from civil service jobs because everyone working
within an organization has a political stance
and those stances shaped the individual’s values and
ideas, and subsequently the
dynamic of the organization itself.
Nonetheless, while democratic
accountability is imperative to civil service, especially in
law enforcement where the consent of
the people is an absolute, civil servants remaining politically neutral seems to only work for nonadministrative/management roles. Many
of those roles are either appointed of elected, and thus
they are already accountable to
the public vis-a-vis other democratic mechanisms. Thus, I feel
that democratic
accountability is the value that retains the most weight inside law enforcement
organizations because policy and directive operates in a top-down manner. While Lipsky (2010)
tells us that SLB’s exercise their discretion to either enforce or make their own
policy, the
internal dynamics of the organization are still shaped by politics. Stohr and
Collins even note
how organizations are highly influenced by the political will of the community (39). While neutral competency is still salient in terms of civil servants jobs not centering around politics, it
is still permeated to one degreeor another by politics and is affected by the local legal culture
and political environment they are in.