Organizational Theories
Amanda Stasiewicz
CJS210
12/21/2014
There are three major organizational theories associated with policing. These three theories are the contingency theory, institutional theory, and the resource dependency theory.
The contingency theory was designed for understanding and belief that the police organizations were created and structured to achieve certain goals such as crime control and prevention. The contingency theory leads us to believe that organizations must adapt and make adjustments based on our surrounding environment. We must stay up to date with new technology and adjust to survive.
The institutional theory leads us to think that police organizations are social institutions. It leads us to think that there isn’t any real structure involved within these organizations. This theory suggests that the organizations develops ideas off of the surrounding environment.
Last is the resource dependency theory. The resource dependency theory suggests that these organizations must obtain and use different resources in order to survive. They must use the resources available in order to continue adapting and adjusting to society. If for some reason the resources become unavailable then the organization does not survive.
In my opinion the theory that best serves police organizations would be the resource dependency theory. We have so many different resources available and if they do become unavailable most of them can be found in other