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Street-level Discretion and Organizational Effectiveness in Probation Services

Volume 80 Number 1
Date: 
June 2016
Abstract: 

The authors provide an overview of street-level discretion among probation officers (and in probation departments more generally) and discuss how discretion supports the attainment of goals at the organizational level. They also examine the limitations of the street-level bureaucrat approach and conclude with recommendations for how future practices and scholarship may overcome these limitations.