Last modified: 2012-09-12
Abstract
1. Justification/Motivation
This paper addresses forensic science service (FSS) management in Brazil. Forensic Science birth was in Law Enforcement agencies (LEA) with the scope of helping Police to solve crimes, apparently without traces, by using scientific knowledge and technological devices. Although Police and Forensic Science Organizations require different kinds of management. Police is an hierarchical organization and has to suspect from persons to solve crimes; while FSS must be structured and managed as professional organizations, and it has to extract the truth from evidences.
The study motivation is the growing importance of forensic science in the Criminal Legal System, mainly because of Human Rights promotion, the advances of scientific knowledge and technological devices, which gives the forensic evidence a major weight on trials when compared with other ones.
Then, it´s essential to specify its management requirements as a service, with its own concepts, objectives, and a differentiated service value, dealing with different competences.
2. Research Problem
Thus, this research problem is to refine FSS attributes based on the value (KIRLIN, 1996; MOORE, 19995; ZARIFIAN, 2001) it must deliver. The research questions, which generated specific objectives, are to find out the role played by FSS in the Public Safety and Criminal Justice network, and if the FSS institutional design impacts its value deliver.
Finally, we propose some directions in designing the service based on the value it must deliver.
3. Methodology
To achieve the objectives, a qualitative five years longitudinal and exploratory case study was carried out in FSS in Minas Gerais/BRA State in order to map out the service process, to identify its main service characteristics and its main stakeholders. Subsidiary data was collected from FSS in the Union and in five other States.
Brazil is a federal constitutional republic comprising 26 states and a federal district. The Public Safety is States responsibility, except for some violations under Union jurisdiction. That´s the reason Minas Gerais was taken as one case.
The reason of the choice was the research question, and the phenomena contemporariness. Following a research protocol, multiple data methods (documental, interview, observation, organization archives, and technological devices) were used to collect data from FSS studied, and from the other actors involved in the interorganizational network. The different vision of each actor shaped the value of FSS. Results were analyzed and criticized based on theory.
4. Discussion
FSS takes part in a Public Safety and Criminal Justice interorganizational network, with autonomous and interdependent actors, which the final goal is to deliver a value of Justice. FSS provides it with an input: the forensic evidence, one of the ten means of evidence in Brazil. The service is mandatory in every crime where vestiges were left; not even the suspect confession can replace it. It has been gaining relevance in the judicial verdicts, among other reasons because technological advance and Human Rights promotion.
It presents peculiar characteristics, mainly in front office operations, which follows a layout by fixed position and has to deal with the unexpected. FSS association with science highlights its intangibility. FSS has a diversity of stakeholders with complex demands, even conflicting in some situations. FSS output is addressed to police investigators, prosecutors, defense lawyers and judges. Although, a lay person may see the victim as an end user, he/she is user and/or participant (when helping with samples) of FSS, but he/she is an end user of the whole network.
FSS utility is to link the suspect to a crime scene (or innocent someone wrongly accused), that is, to give material support to a narrative about how the facts had passed in reality, so that, the defendants behavior might be trialed and at the end sentenced. One important obstacle observed is coordination difficulties among other network members.
In justice perspective the service should offer all means to allow anyone access it, independent of any kind of pre-existing condition. But the service has not been universalized yet, mainly for those belonging to lower social classes.
FSS is deeply linked to Human Rights, once it might avoid suspects being tortured to confess crimes and contribute to a fair trial, that is, prosecution and defense must have access to FSS in equal terms. In both situations, mainly in those units subordinated to Police it is hard to deliver this value dimension, because its professionals don´t have the necessary independence to act impartially.
The service resources are the professionals from a variety of knowledge fields and the technological devices. They need to have technical competences, however, it isn´t enough: to deliver value it is necessary to develop communicational competences to a full knowledge of network members` demands. One obstacle is the instrumental communication among actors in this network, and at FSS it´s mediated by the police investigators.
A variety of technological devices helps forensic scientists to provide the service and they impact the value delivery deeply. One of the difficulties is that, because of high costs involved, only at the headquarters most of these devices are available.
The final conclusion is that FSS value is associated with its intangibility, which links it with science and technology, and it contributes to fairness and impartiality Justice ideal. FSS institutional design influences value delivery, because if it´s dependent on Police budget, and reward and punishment system, it´s harder to deliver fairness. Therefore, it is necessary to redesign FSS independent from any other public agency, with its own public budget, in order to realize its full potential value.
4. Expected Results
The study encourages reflections about the difficulties of applying service operations management concepts to a public organization that is changing, and it´s characterized by the diversity of stakeholders and by its fluid and poorly defined, although important value.
References:
ANDREASEN, A. R.; KOTLER, P. Strategic marketing for nonprofit organizations. 7th. ed. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, 2007. 504 p.
ASTON, P. Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic and cultural rights, including the right to development: Report by the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions. United Nations. General Assembly. Eight session, Human Rights Council, Agenda item 3 – Mission to Brazil, May, 2008. Disponível em: <http://www.extrajudicialexecutions.org/application/media/%28Brazil%20Prelim%29%20A_HRC_8_3_Add_4.pdf >. Acesso em: 15/09/2008.
ASTON, P. Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic and cultural rights, including the right to development: Report by the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions. United Nations. General Assembly. Eleventh session, Human Rights Council, Agenda item 3- Addendum Mission to Brazil, MAR, 2009. Disponível em: <http://www.extrajudicialexecutions.org/application/media/(Brazil)%20G0912622.pdf>. Acesso em: 21/07/2009.
BEHN, R. The big questions of public management. Public Administration Review, v. 55 n.4, p.313-24, 1995.
BOWEN, J.; FORD, R. C. Managing service organizations: does having a “thing” make a difference? Journal of Management, v. 28, n.3, p. 447-469, 2002.
BRASIL. Decreto 1904, de 13 de maio de 1996. Programa nacional de direitos humanos – PNDH I. Disponível em: < http://www.justica.sp.gov.br/pedh/pdf/pndh1.pdf>. Acesso em: 28/11/2008.
BRASIL. Decreto nº 4.229, de 13 de maio de 2002.Programa nacional de direitos humanos II – PNDH II. Brasília: Secretaria de Estado dos Direitos Humanos, 2002. Disponível em: <http://www.mj.gov.br/sedh/pndh/pndhII/Texto%20Integral%20PNDH%20II.pdf>. Acesso em: 28/12/2008.
BRASIL. Decreto nº 7.037, de 21 de dezembro de 2009a. Aprova o programa nacional de direitos humanos - PNDH-3 e dá outras providências. Brasília: Secretaria Especial de Direitos Humanos da Presidência da República. Diário Oficial da União de 17.12.2009. Disponível em: < http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/_Ato2007-2010/2009/Decreto/D7037.htm>. Acesso em: 18/12/2009.
BRASIL. Lei nº 9.455, de 7 de abril de 1997. Define os crimes de tortura e dá outras providências. Disponível em: < http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil/LEIS/L9455.htm>. Acesso em: 21/09/2009. BRYMAN, A. Research methods and organization studies. London: Routledge, 1989.
BUDOWLE, B. et al. A perspective on errors, bias, and interpretation in the forensic sciences and direction for continuing advancement. Journal of Forensic Sciences, v. 54, n.4, p. 798-809, 2009.
CAUCHICK MIGUEL, P.A. Adoção do estudo de caso na engenharia de produção. In: ______. Metodologia de pesquisa em engenharia de produção e gestão de operações. Rio de Janeiro: Elsevier, 2010. p. 129-143.
CAULLIRAUX, H. M. et al. Eixo: “Modelo de gestão organizacional”. 2004a. Produto 05: Relatório de Análise Preliminar dos Trabalhos. Disponível em: <http://www.dhnet.org.br/redebrasil/executivo/nacional/anexos/gestao_org_caulliraux.pdf>. Acesso em: 11 out. 2008.
CAULLIRAUX, H. M.; YAMASHITA, E. C. Gestão pública. In: CAULLIRAUX, H. M.; YUKI, M. (Org.). Gestão pública e reforma administrativa. Rio de Janeiro: Lucerna, 2004. p.29-56.
CAULLIRAUX, H. M.; YUKI, M. (Org.). Gestão pública e reforma administrativa. Rio de Janeiro: Lucerna, 2004.
EISENHARDT, K. M. Building theories from case study research. Academy of Management Review, v. 14, n.4, p. 532-550, 1989.
FISHER, B. A. J. Techniques of crime scene investigation. 7th. ed. Flórida: CRC, 2004.
GIANNELLI, P. Confirmation bias. Criminal Justice, v. 22, n. 3, p. 60-1, 2007.
GIANNELLI, P. Wrongful convictions and forensic science: the need to regulate crime labs. Case Western Reserve University – School of Law, Jan. 2008. Disponível em: < http://www.oranous.com/florida/JimmyAtes/SSRN-id1083735.pdf>. Acesso em: 19/09/2009.
JOHNSTON, R.; CLARK, G. Service operations management: improving service delivery. 2nd ed. London: Prentice Hall, 2005.
KIRLIN, J. J. (1996), “What government must do well: creating value for society”. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory”, Vol. 6, N. 1, pp. 161-185.
KOPPL, R. How to Improve Forensic Science. European Journal of Law and
Economics, v.20, n.3, p. 255-286, 2005. Disponível em:
<http://www.reason.org/ps364_forensics.pdf >. Acesso em: 16/09/2009.
MINTZBERG, H. Criando organizações eficazes: estruturas em cinco configurações. 2. ed. Tradução de Ailton Bomfim Brandão. São Paulo: Atlas, 2009, 334p.
MOORE, M. H. Creating public value: strategic management in government. Cambridge/MA: Havard University Press, 1995.
PIOVESAN, F.; SALLA, F. Tortura no Brasil: pesadelo sem fim? Ciência Hoje, v.30, n.176, p. 30-33, out., 2001.
POWELL, W.; DIMAGGIO, P. (eds.) The new institutionalism in organizational analysis. Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1991.
THE JUSTICE PROJECT. Improving the practice and use of forensic science. Washington, DC: The Justice Project Inc. and The Justice Project Education Fund, 2008. Disponível em: < http://www.thejusticeproject.org/wp-content/uploads/forensics-fin.pdf>. Acesso em: 20/09/2009.
THE UNITED STATES. National Research Council. Committee on identifying the needs of the forensic sciences community. Strengthening forensic science in the United States: a path forward. Washington, D.C.: The National Academies, 2009. Disponível em: < http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12589#toc>. Acesso em: 01/09/2009.
WEISS, R. S. Learning from strangers: the art and method of qualitative interview studies. New York: Free Press, 1994. 246p.
WILD, R. Operations management. 6th ed. London: Thomson Learning, 2002. 870 p.
YIN, R. K. Estudo de caso: planejamento e métodos. Tradução de Daniel Grassi. 3. ed. Porto Alegre: Bookman, 2005. 212p.
ZARIFIAN, P. Valor, organização e competência na produção de serviço: esboço de um modelo de produção de serviço. In Salerno, M.S. (Ed.), Relação de Serviço: produção e avaliação, SENAC, São Paulo, 2001, pp 95-149.