The multi-dimensional environment of publicly funded U.S. crime laboratories and its impact on lab priorities

Institutional theory of organizations has been increasingly applied to U.S. police organizations. There is, however, a dearth of literature applying institutional theory to publicly funded U.S. crime laboratories. Utilizing a national census and a survey of laboratory directors, we assess lab direct...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Matusiak, Matthew C. (Author)
Contributors: Campbell, Bradley A. ; King, William R.
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: [2020]
In: Journal of crime and justice
Year: 2020, Volume: 43, Issue: 3, Pages: 362-376
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
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Keywords:
Crime labs
Environmental dimensionality
Institutional Theory
Description
Summary:Institutional theory of organizations has been increasingly applied to U.S. police organizations. There is, however, a dearth of literature applying institutional theory to publicly funded U.S. crime laboratories. Utilizing a national census and a survey of laboratory directors, we assess lab directors’ awareness of their institutional environments. We find that lab directors perceive a multi-dimensional institutional environment surrounding their labs, and they attribute varying levels of importance to sovereigns within their institutional environments. Lab directors also identify a multi-dimensional, organizational priority structure. Further analysis indicates that directors’ perceptions of their environments significantly impact organizational priorities, findings that support institutional theory.
ISSN:2158-9119
DOI:10.1080/0735648X.2019.1673792