Individual and Organizational Factors in Prosecutorial Decision-Making

在过去的十年里，学者们把他们的注意力 to examining检查the dynamics动态of decisionmaking决策in the criminal罪犯 司法系统。 这项工作的大部分集中在法院， 关于量刑和假释的重要决定 平等 重要的是检察官在 面对是否签发逮捕令、提出指控或认罪 讨价还价 虽然有关于检察官行为的研究， 迄今为止的研究通常集中在个人 决策或法院的组织背景。 试图将两者合并的尝试并不十分成功， 部分原因是缺乏适当的组织和 认知模型 劳马博士寻求将个人和组织 通过调查检察官对模式的使用， 认知模式，在他们处理刑事案件。 是 假设这些模式主要来自 检察官工作的组织背景。 基本 设计要求两步数据收集：第一阶段包括 深入访谈、系统观察和档案数据 从大约1500个案件档案中提取。 第二阶段数据 收集是基于一个计算机辅助的采访， 检控人员会就案件简介作出回应， 真实的案例。 电脑会记录下 检察官选择作出决定的顺序， 选择变量，并且这样做的时间，允许 序贯决策分析。 这项研究有望促进我们对 组织因素对个体水平的影响 刑事司法系统的决策。 暗角 分析，特别是对模式使用的测试， 比以前的研究更正式的程序。 此外，使用小插曲的研究顺序 决策和信息搜索是一种新的方法， 对其他设置有用。

Over the past decade, scholars have turned their attention to examining the dynamics of decisionmaking in the criminal justice system. Much of this work has focused on the courts and important decisions surrounding sentencing and parole. Of equal importance are the decisions made by prosecuting attorneys in confronting whether to issue warrants, file charges, or plea bargain a case. While studies exist on prosecutors' behavior, research to date has typically concentrated either on individual decisonmaking or on the organizational context of the court. Attempts to merge the two have not been very successful due in part to a lack of consideration of appropriate organizational and cognitive models. Dr. Rauma seeks to integrate individual and organizational perspectives by investigating prosecutors' use of schemas, or cognitive models, in their processing of criminal cases. It is hypothesized that these schemas are derived primarily from the organizational context in which prosecutors work. The basic design calls for a two-step data collection: Phase one consists of in-depth interviews, systematic observation, and archival data drawn from approximately 1500 case files. The Phase two data collection is based on a computer-assisted interview of prosecutors who will respond to case vignettes on a sample of real cases. The computer will record the variables that prosecutors select to make decisions, the order in which the variables are selected, and the time to do so, permitting analysis of sequential decisionmaking. This research promises to advance our understanding of the influence of organizational factors on individual level decisionmaking in the criminal justice system. The vignette analysis in particular tests for schema use with more complex situations and more formal procedures than in previous studies. Also, the use of vignettes for the study of sequential decisionmaking and information search is a new approach that may be useful for other settings.