Can models of organizational change help to understand ‘success’ and ‘failure’ in community sentences? Applying Kotter’s model of organizational change to an Integrated Offender Management case study

King, S., Hopkins, M. and Cornish, N. (2018) Can models of organizational change help to understand ‘success’ and ‘failure’ in community sentences? Applying Kotter’s model of organizational change to an Integrated Offender Management case study. Criminology and Criminal Justice, 18(3), pp. 273-290. (doi: 10.1177/1748895817721274)

Abstract

A number of nationally driven initiatives have led to significant changes in the framework of community sentences, with various agencies being required to work in ‘joined-up’ multi-agency arrangements. Most notable, perhaps, has been the increased working relationship between police and probation, most recently within Integrated Offender Management (IOM). Although these have produced some positive outcomes in relation to crime reduction, success is sporadic and often quite modest. Research has identified a number of barriers to successful implementation, and this article builds on this by drawing upon fresh empirical evidence to argue that the success of such schemes relies on the management of organizational change that will inevitably and necessarily occur. Applying Kotter’s model of organizational change to data generated from an evaluation of two IOM schemes in England, the article offers an explanatory account of the implementation of the schemes and the possible effect this had on efforts to reduce crime.

• Item Type: Articles
• Keywords: Criminal justice agencies, Offender Management, organizational change, police, probation.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: cornish, neil
• Authors: King, S., Hopkins, M., and Cornish, N.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences
• Journal Name: Criminology and Criminal Justice
• Publisher: SAGE
• ISSN: 1748-8958
• ISSN (Online): 1748-8966
• Published Online: 18 July 2017
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2017 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Criminology and Criminal Justice 18(3): 273-290
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy