Psychological Profiling In Criminal Investigation Criminology Essay

Psychological Profiling In Criminal Investigation Criminology Essay The human being is intertwined with emotions and thoughts which is manifested in the form of behaviour. He judges the situation in a contextual frame of mind. Therefore every individual will have a unique way to respond to the situation. As a human tendency every individual has an intention to know as to what does other person thinks of him and vice- versa. When we meet one person, based on the reference to situation and context we try to form an opinion of the individual. Profiling is delving interference upon the available information, witness and evidences. Profiling is done by each and every individual and in each and every situation but with different perspective. Profiling is a technique which is used in our everyday life. Profiling is an advanced investigative tool while its effectiveness is still under a lot of scientific scrutiny. An Indian would shake his head from left to right in an affirmative gesture or expression, while a Caucasian by doing so would indicate a denial gesture or expression; while an owl in the Middle East is looked upon as a bad omen, while in the west it symbolizes wisdom, and so onà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ It is accepted that the evolution of human racial and physical features generate from their inherited behaviour due to a specific environment and way of adaptation. Lets take for instance an African negroid thick lips evolved due to an adapting process to help preserve moisture, an aborigine of Australia or Papua New Guinea developed thick eye browse to protect his eyes from sun rays, a Bedouin desert folk did so with a larger or longer nose to help him breath better in desert climate, and women living in hot and humid terrains tend to have a larger buttocks to preserve body fat etcà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Profiling for the law enforcement and criminal justice systems invoves psychological assessment of the offender. The assessment contains socio-demographic information viz. age, gender, marital status, education, occupation and the social and psychological attributes of the offender. It is one of the important technique through which a forensic expert can help the investigator to find the root cause of the crime. The forensic expert through his psychological acumen examines the crime scene, police record, statements of witness, medical records and corroborates them with the subjects psychological test findings and other procedure (such as ANS and DNS based procedures) to prepare a forensic profile. The definition of profiling is : Profiling is a method of identifying the perpetrator of a crime based on an analysis of the nature of the offense and the manner in which it was committed. Various aspects of the criminals personality makeup are determined from his or her choice of actions before, during, and after the crime. This information is combined with other pertinent details and physical evidence, and then compared with the characteristics of known personality types and mental abnormalities to develop a practical working description of the offender. -FBIs Howard Teten (who has been called the grandfather of profiling) It provides specific information about the offender to the investigating agency regarding the crime and his involvement in the crime. In early days although profiling was done informally; with the invasion of different test and techniques, profiling has become more scientific and precise. Profiling goes back in history to the middle ages, and Scotland Yard took it a step further, while Sherlock Holmes character made it even more popular, then there is the CSI series of late filling the rest of the empty cup of the thirsty TV shows viewers. Freudian theory of profiling: Freuds psychoanalysis has emphasized on the humans basic instinct: sex and aggression and how does it influence an individuals mental state. Freud has also doctrine faulty upbringing of the child leads to mental illness / neurotic personality. Research studies says that the children who have unhealthy childhood are more prone to crime. Dr. Thomas Bond, a police surgeon was invited by the investigating agencies to study the case of the killer,Jack- The Ripper, who had claimed to kill five prostitutes in Whitechapel, London 1888. He applied the Freudian principles to the given case. Based on the limited information and evidence, Thomas Bond believed that the offender must be of physical strength, great coolness and daring. The offender was a middle aged, inoffensive and quiet man. He must be neatly and respectably dressed. The offender must be in habit of wearing cloak or overcoat or he could hardly have escaped notice in the streets if the blood on his hands or clothes are visible. Th is attempt of profiling made a noteworthy contribution in the field of forensic science. Thereafter, John Douglas has done 12 pages of profiling of this case but it has not resulted into identification of the criminal. The profiling done by John Douglas was based on available medical reports, crime scene photographs and police investigative reports, which probably does not give the detail evidences compared to todays investigative style. ( Mailonline, Sadie, white locks, 20/4/2011) This effort placed profiling on the center stage of investigation. Walter Langer, an American psychoanalyst did the profiling of Hitler on the request of Gen. William J.Donovan. Walter has not personally interviewed Hitler but he had interviewed the associates of Hitler and Investigating agencies. He analysis inferred that Hitlers personality was an evidence of mixed and divided psyche. He said that the Hitler was probably a neurotic psychopath bordering on schizophrenia in to two at the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) divided Hitlers profiling into five general sections:- How the Hitler viewed himself How German people viewed him Hos his associates viewed him Psychoanalysis and reconstruction His likely future behavior Langers profile indicated that mostly Hitler will commit suicide. Being Psychiatrist, Dr. James Brussel, heavily relied upon the psychoanalytical theory. Prior to this case, Dr. Brussel during his army service has cured many patients . He was given the case wherein the bomber was placing the series of explosive packages. Within 16 years he had planted bombs in main cinemas and telephone boxes. On the basis of the letter written to Con Edison (the electricity company in New York) he profiled the offender as unmarried, foreign, self educated, in his 50s, living in Connecticut, paranoid. Based on this profiling, the police was able to arrest George Metesky in January 1957, a foreign born Roman Catholic. Late Brussel was asked to do profiling of the case of 13 sexual homicides between 1962 to 1964., to which he opined that all the 13 crimes are done by one offender. After several months; Albert DeSalvo was arrested who later confessed about the crime, although it was not proved. Brussel applied his Freudian analysis on the case and he portrayed the pic ture of the probable culprit. The Profile Profile Basis of profiling Bomber is a male With few exceptions, bombers have been always male Letter mentioning Con Edison The bomber had a grudge against Con Edison and was likely a former employee Bomber was a textbook paranoid. The bomber believed that Con Edison and the public at large conspired against him. Bomber was middle-aged probably around 50 Paranoia generally peaks around age 35 and the bomber had been active for 16 years. Paranoids tend to set high standards for themselves so as not open themselves to unwanted criticism. Bomber was neat, meticulous and skilled at his work ,carefully constructed bombs, neat lettering, careful planning of the bombs indicated his neatness Foreign or spent the majority of his time with foreign people Bomber wrote in stilted, formal language bereft of any contemporary slang. He utilized phrases like dastardly deeds that sounded as if out of Victorian fiction The bomber had at least a high school education but probably no college. The stilted language of the letters and skilled construction of the bombs spoke of self-education. The excellent handwriting indicated at least some formal schooling. The bomber was a Slav and probably Roman Catholic Culturally speaking, Eastern and Central Europeans most often employ bombs as weapons. Most Slavs are Catholic. The bomber lived in Connecticut The letters had been mailed from Westchester Country (a location in between Connecticut and New York) and Connecticut was home to large communities of Eastern and Central Europeans. The bomber suffered from an Oedipal Complex The phallic construction of the bombs; the strange (and breast-like) Ws in the bombers otherwise perfect handwriting and the strange slashing and penetration of the movie theatres seats. IP ( Interpersonal) Approach to Profiling: Prof. David Canter, psychologist, London, UK was invited by Scotland Yard to solve the case of Railway Rapist. According to David Canter, the offender was of late twenties, small stature, reserved, married but no children and lives in the small down of Northwest London, which matched. Based on his profiling, the police was able to nab John Duffy in 1988. He was found guilty. Although David has observed that the investigating agencies are often reluctant to change and opt for newer techniques to catch the criminals. He has extensively used IP methodology for profiling. According to him, psychology has a direct relationship with crime, as it is perceived as interpersonal transaction between the criminals action, social context and personality trait. He has postulated five approaches for profiling. Interpersonal Coherence: A criminal chooses his victim based on his special characteristics. For eg: there is some anecdotal evidence that serial killers only attack those of the same ethnicity as themselves in United states (Canter, 1989). The profiler will be able to establish the relationship between the victim and the offender and the probable conversation at the time of the crime. Significance of time and place: The offender generally picks up the victim from the place which is more familiar to him. He would possibly select the victim from his nearby location as he will feel completely in control of the environment and the victim. Criminal Characteristics: By observing and analysing the crime scene, the offender will be able to give the picture about the characteristics of the offender namely, his physical qualities,his appearance, his apparel, mental make up, mood and psychopathology, if any. Douglas Olshaker (1995) have stated that We set about to organise and classify serious crimes by their behavioural characteristics and explain them like mentioned in Diagnostic Statistical Manual (DSM) of Psychiatry. The serial offenders will tend to operate within an area where they feel comfortable (e.g., close to their own homes) and has many similarities to the independently developed field of geographical profiling (Holmes Holmes, 1996). Criminal Career: The offender although cautious of his move in the next crime, his particular style of killing will not be different. The peculiarity of committing the crime will vary from offender although not always the type of crime. Although he might do more refined crime but his methodology of crime will not have bigger change. His style of killing will help in trapping the offender. Forensic awareness: Often the serial killer is aware of clearing the evidence from the place of the offence. The rapist is much likely to clean the undergarments of the victim or force her to comb her pubic hair so that the evidence is not available. This type of steps clearly gives an indication of the offender being aware of the police/ forensic investigation. Vi-CAP (Violent Criminal Apprehension Program): Robert Ressler served in US Army and thereafter joined FBI, Behavioural Science Unit (BSU) in 1970 and retired in 1990. In his span of twenty years he has given his significant contribution in psychological profiling of violent offenders. He has drawn the psychological profiles of violent offenders who typically select victims at random, such as rapist and serial killer. He has interviewed 36 serial killers to study the background and motive of serial killer. He has set up Vi-CAP (Violent Criminal Apprehension Program) which collects the data base of the suspects of unsolved crimes. He has written books on Serial murder like I have lived in the Monster: Inside the mind of the worlds most notorious serial killer, Crime Classification Manual: A Standard System for Investigating and Classifying Violent Crime,. He has done psychological profiling of Jeffery Dahmer and Richard Chase. Robert Ressler et.al (1988) has given six steps for profiling: Profiling Inputs: The physical documents like investigation documents, crime scene details, photographs, autopsy report, post mortem report are studied as a part of the first step toward profiling. These are the basic and preliminary requirements to sketch the criminal. Decision Process Model: In this stage, the offenders intention, motive, risk factor of the victim/ offender is assessed and evaluated. The offender has done planning or it is just a spree killing. How much time the offender has taken to commit the crime as well as the offenders selection for committing a crime says a lot about the criminal. The analysis will also give the clue whether the crime was homicide or not. Profiling process: This is the heart of the profiling. The profiler steps into the shoes of the victim as well as the offender and thereby reconstructs the crime scene. It determines whether the crime was an organised or disorganised. By reconstructing, the overall impression about the crime i.e how did the offender behaved, what could have happened between the victim and offender, how the victim was selected and so on. Common characteristics like type of wound, position of the body observed at the crime scene helps in determining the type of offender Criminal Profile: Depending upon the inputs available , the profiler based on his experience and knowledge constructs the profile. Profiler will include the general appearance, probable age, gender, religion, interpersonal history, his relation with the victim, socio-economic background, educational and occupational history, his motive behind selection of the victim and his reason for the M.O used for the crime. The profiler also proposes the strategies to catch the offender and also the interrogation methods. Investigation: Based on the submission of the profile given, the investigating agency starts to look out for the criminal. In due course of investigation, if officer finds more information, he forwards to the profiler for a more relevant data. The profiling is said to be successful only when the criminal is caught and confesses about the crime. Apprehension: When the criminal is caught is the profile and profiling process are evaluated so that a more acumen profile in other crimes. John Douglas worked in FBI from 1970 to 1995. He started his career as sniper and then became hostage negotiator. He taught hostage negotiation and applied criminal psychology at FBI academy. He has extensively worked with the most notable violent criminals and sex offenders. His skill was to examine their habits and thereby predict their moves. He has been instrumental in identifying famously known The Green Killer. He gave some of the most interesting insight about the motive, mind and operation of the killer. He has done high profile cases like Case of Jon Bonet, Ramsay murder, The West Mermphis three. He has Mindhunter: Inside the FBIs Elite Serial Crime Unit and more.. Roy Hazelwood is the pioneer in profiling of sexual predators. He joined FBI in 1971. He has done lot of sex crime cases related to sexual sadist, their victims and their mode of offence. According to his theory, there is no cure for pedophilia or sexual sadist. Presently, he is consultant to FBI agents and law enforcement agencies to trap the sexually oriented murderers. He felt fantasy is a fascinating area which is extremely relevant and gives better understanding about offender.His first case Harvay Glatman the Lonely Heart Killer inspired him to work in the area of profiling. Thereafter, he was worked on Gerard John Screefar who was involved in autoerotic practices and had done 29 murders. In 1980, Roy and John Douglas wrote an article which distinguished crime in two broad categories i.e Organised and Disorganised crime. CSA (Crime Scene Approach): Earlier FBI was the agency who has used psychological profiling in investigation and has gained popularity. The renowned profiler like John Douglas and Robert Ressesler also wrote several books on profiling and their professional experience in the field of investigation. According to Holmes Holmes (1996) provided Crime Scene Approach (CSA) which was broadly based on crime scene and crime. IT focused more on the physical evidence available at the place of the offence and its relation to the crime. The two types of offenders involved in the crime are The disorganised asocial offender The organised Nonsocial offender The Disorganised offender: The disorganized offender is depicted as someone who is below average intelligence, manifesting some kind of psychiatric illness, not having the capacity to maintain interpersonal relationship apart from his immediate family members, sexually incompetent. He would act more impulsive and usually act with whatever available weapon and thereby leave it at the crime scene. He will be more authoritative with the victim. He overpowers victim is killed with brutality (FBI, blitz attack, Douglas Olshaker, 1995) The offender dehumanize the victim and sexually assaulted, mutilatied the face, genitals and breast is commonly observed. The dead body is left at the crime scene rather than disposing anywhere else. (Holmes Holmes 1996, Ressler, Burgess Douglas 1988, Ressler Shachtman, 1992) While the organized offender although well educated but is under achiever and failure in occupational life. He is socially well settled, will probably have family life but oftenly manifest antsocial or psychopathic personality. The crime scene will depict the ability to depict the ability to organize and execute the plan. The offender often has his own weapon and carries with him after committing the crime. The victim targeted is mostly female who is raped by threat/restraints. The killing performance is done as per the offenders fantasies, usually in slow, painful manner. The body of the victim is carefully disposed off. Inductive and Deductive Profiling Brent Turvey has done his grauduation in Forensic psychology and has given his contribution in the area of forensic science, criminal profiling, victimology and crime reconstruction. He is a court qualified profiler. He has given the theory of Inductive and Deductive profiling and Behavioural Evidence Analysis Inductive Profiling: It assesses and evaluates the similar characteristics of the crime committed by different criminal. It studies the common personality trait of the criminals involved in a similar kind of crime. The inductive profiling is based on the theoretical and experiemental study of the criminal behavior. It identifies the signs and symptoms of criminal behavior and puts together as a comprehensive profile. The inductive profile is the product of statistical or comparative analysis and results in education generalization, hence the use of the term of inductive.( Criminal profiling: An introduction to Behaviural Evidence Analysis, Brent Turvey,2006, pg 26). The characteristics of the criminal is reasoned, correlated and thereby statistical inferred. The profile focus on the psychological trait, the modus operandi, victimology and other crime scene characteristics which an evenly seen in the crime. The inductive profiling does not need specialized forensic knowledge, education or training in the study of criminal behavior. Thus profiling is based upon the information delved from past history, media and sometimes from the criminals. It does need the formal knowledge of psychology, sociology, criminology and psychiatry. Inductive profiling is effective only and only when there is some similarities between the crime. Deductive Profiling: The knowledge and application of psychology, sociology, criminology and psychiatry plays a vital role in deductive profiling. The profiler has to construct the mental picture based on the crime scene and the available physical evidence, as physical evidence also sometimes the gives the clue for non-physical evidence. (love, hate, jealousy..) The deductive profiling is process oriented wherein the investigator will review the crime scene, analytical thinking and logistics to come to behavior analysis evidence. (BEA) More emphasis is given on the study and analysis of post mortem report, forensic report and victomology. This profiling is time consuming because it has to look at the various factors in one particular crime and thereby give profile of a criminal and the mentality/ psycho pathology of the unknown killer. It analysis the behavior manifested at the time of the crime, the physical and behavioural evidence pattern related to the crime. Compared to inductive, deductive profiling is time consuming as it evaluates the unknown criminal from different angles, although the combination of inductive and deductive profiling will give an accurate profile of the criminal. The deductive criminal profile includes the following : .( Criminal profiling: An introduction to Behaviural Evidence Analysis, Brent Turvey,2006, pg 41). Behavioural Evidence Analysis (BEA) Equivocal Forensic Analysis: It includes detail understanding of crime scene, post-mortem report, interview with accused/witness/ victim/suspects and other related in the crime, and the background of the victim Victomology: It studies as to why a particular victim is chosen for the crime, how was he related to the crime and when did the crime happened. A lot of it depend upon the selection of victim by the offender. Crimes Scene characteristics : The scene of offence implies about the relation between the offender and the victim. It gives the clue whether any interaction took place, what were the circumstances under which the crime has occurred Offender Characteristics: What was the personality of the offender. It determines the offenddrss physical characteristics and marital status at the time of committing a crime. It helps in deciding the personality traits like physical built-up. Geographical Profiling: This technique is given by Criminologist; Kim Rossno, which evaluates the location of connected serial crimes to determine the most probable area of offenders residence. It is most effective when a series of crime is committed. It determines the most likely location of a criminals residence based upon the geographic location of crime sites by mapping crime and analyzing patterns at crime scene. Geographical profiling is generally useful in the serial crimes (Murder, rape, arson, bombing), predatory crime (child abduction, sexual homicide) and Multiple location crimes (credit card usage, property crimes) Geographical profiling is based on RAT (Routine Activity Theory) which studies what makes criminal motivated to do a crime at a particular place. It addresses the geographical importance at the time of committing a crime. RAT is based upon three components: 1) Motivated offender 2) Suitable victim and 3) the absence of capable guardian. Canter (2003) used Dragnet a computerized system which gives the probability of the location of crime where the criminal is likely to commit the crime. Canter and Larkin (1993) gave circle theory of enviornmetal range which states that the criminals are likely to live in the vicinity of the victim as the victim is easily and quickly approachable. A circle is drawn that encompasses all the linked crime which will establish the criminals location. Rossomo (2000) suggested that the criminals are often in the neighborhood of the victim. According to a study (2005) Snook et al, in 63% of the cases the killer lived within the radius of 6 miles from the plac e of offence. It further found that the young offenders tend to travel less while the people with higher I.Qs travelled farther. Limitation: Profiling although an impressive investigative tool has not resulted any criminal in an actual arrest (V. Gerberth, personal communication, Feb 6, 1995) It does not solve the crime but it provides better understanding of the case. Profiling requires understanding of human behavior, background of extensive criminal investigative experience together with proper academic and forensic training. It is important to know that not all the crimes are suitable for profiling. Crimes which needs psychological, social, cultural and psychopathological assessment are appropriate for profiling viz. serial killer, serial rapist, serial arsons, child molestation (Hazelwood Burgess, 1995) Cases involving destruction of property, assault/ murder during the robbery are generally not suitable for profiling. Drug induced crime does not reveal the true personality of the criminal, hence the profiling is not suitable. Conclusion: Though profiling is considered as an ineffective tool for drawing conclusions, it has been used in every field. It is an effort to evaluate and understand the human behavior on different occasions and in given situations. When we review the literature on profiling, the ineffective tool of profiling has been used time and again all over the world in different situations and efforts are made to draw conclusions. Over a period of time, it has evolved as an art when blend with scientific principles can prove to be an effective tool for investigating and understanding human behavior on different occasions. Here the author has made an attempt to review the literature with reference to crime investigation. Acknowledgments: We are grateful for the support and guidance of Dr.J.M.Vyas, Director General, Gujarat Forensic Sciences University, Gandhinagar .

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Essay on Fight Aganist Transnational Organized Crimes

1. Introduction Human Rights passed the important stages of development since 2nd World War and became an influential factor in international relations. At the same time, transnational crime has showed a significant increase. In this sense, the international community has reacted by establishing strong legal mechanisms and intensifying the preparation process of international agreements for the creation of a more favorable climate. Extradition is regarded as an effective tool in the fight against transnational organized crimes. Inevitable, there are divergences on the inclusion of human rights through the extradition process in terms of international treaties and domestic laws of the countries. More importantly extradition process†¦show more content†¦With the inherent difficulties of bilateral mechanisms and implications of obligations, there has been an increasing resort to regional and possible universal regulation systems in the context of extradition. Notwithstanding important points, there are significant controversial arguments, divergences between regional and bilateral treaties which cover basically human rights aspect of extradition procedure. However, main regulations of current treaties play an important role to define the categories of extraditable offences, obligations of states and human rights aspect of extradition at international and regional level. As one of the first regional instruments for extradition, European Convention on Extradition signed in 1957 serves for harmonization of extradition relations and development of mutual assistance amongst European states. Under this regional mechanism, states have to be more sensitive for human rights factor while extraditing suspects more than ever. Article 11 of the European Convention on Extradition which excludes extradition unless the requesting Party gives reasonable assurance that death penalty will not be executed. Furthermore, the fact that this convention is unable to limit the political applicat ion of political crimes which opens opportunities to abuse by subjects. The European Union Members achieved to tackle this problem by signing the European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism which entered into force in 1977. Outside

What Is the Importance of Public Administration in Ghana Free Essays

string(187) " for settlements with populations above 15 000 and which are cosmopolitan in character, with urbanisation and management problems, though not of the scale associated with the metropolis\." gStructure of the new local government system The new local government system is made up of a regional coordinating council (RCC) and a four-tier metropolitan and three-tier municipal/DAs structure. Composition of structure The RCC consists of the regional minister as chairman and his deputies, the presiding member of each DA and the district chief executive of each district in the region, two chiefs from the regional house of chiefs and the decentralized ministries without voting rights. A DA consists of the district chief executive,   two thirds of the members directly elected by universal adult suffrage, the members of parliament (MPs) representing constituencies within the district, and not less than 30% of the members appointed by the president in consultation with chiefs and interest groups in the district. We will write a custom essay sample on What Is the Importance of Public Administration in Ghana or any similar topic only for you Order Now The district chief executive is nominated by the president, approved by two-thirds of the members of the DA present and voting, and appointed by the president. The assembly has a presiding member who is elected from among its members by two-thirds of all the members of the assembly. The sub-district structures include: †¢ The sub-metropolitan DCs which consist of not less than 25 and not more than 30 members, made up of all elected members of the assembly in that   sub-metropolitan district and such other persons resident in the sub-metropolitan district appointed by the president. †¢ The urban council consists of not less than 25 and not more than 30 members made up of not more than eight persons elected from among the members of the relevant DA, not more than 12 representatives from the unit committees in the area of authority of the urban council and not more than 10 persons ordinarily resident in the urban area. The zonal council consists of not less than 15 and not more than 20 members made up of not more than five persons elected from among the members of the relevant municipal assembly, not more than 10 representatives from the unit committees and not more than five persons ordinarily resident in the zone. †¢ The town/area councils consis t of not less than 15 and not more than 20 members made up of not more than five persons elected from among the members of the relevant assembly, not more than 10 representatives from the unit committees and not more than five persons ordinarily resident in the town or area. The unit committee consists of not more than 15 persons made up of 10 elected persons ordinarily resident in the unit and not more than five other persons resident in the unit and nominated by the district chief executive, acting   on behalf of the president. Elections to all local government bodies are on a non-partisan basis; the elections are state-sponsored and conducted by the electoral commission. Regional coordinating councils (RCCs) RCCs are established for each of the 10 regions of Ghana. An RCC is an administrative and coordinating rather than a political and policy-making body. Its functions are to: monitor, coordinate and evaluate the performance of the DAs in the region; †¢ monitor the use of all monies allocated to the DAs by any agency of the central government; †¢ review and coordinate public services generally in the region †¢ perform such other functions as may be assigned to it by or under any enactment. Metropolitan/municipal/district assemblies DAs in Ghana are either metropolitan (population over 250 000), municipal (one town assemblies with populations over 95 000) or district (population 75 000 and over. ) There are three metropolitan assemblies, four municipal assemblies and 103 DAs. A metropolitan/municipal/DA is: †¢ created as the pivot of administrative and developmental decision-making in the district and is the basic unit of government administration †¢ assigned with deliberative, legislative as well as executive functions †¢ established as a monolithic structure to which is assigned the responsibility of the totality of government to bring about integration of political, administrative and development support needed to achieve a more equitable allocation of power, wealth and geographically dispersed development in Ghana constituted as the planning authority for the district. Functions of the assemblies These are deliberative, legislative and executive. Section 10(3) of Act 462 lists them as follows: a) be responsible for the overall development of the district and shall ensure the preparation and submission through the regional coordinating council for approval of the development plan to the commission and budget to minister of finance for th e district b) formulate and execute plans, programmes and strategies for the effective mobilization of the resources necessary for the overall development of the district ) promote and support productive activity and social development in the district and remove any obstacles to initiative and development d) initiate programmes for the development of basic infrastructure and provide municipal works and services in the district e) be responsible for the development, improvement and management of human settlements and the environment in the district f) in cooperation with appropriate national and local security agencies, be responsible for the maintenance of security and public safety in the district ) ensure ready access to the courts and public tribunals in the district for the promotion of justice h) initiate, sponsor or carry out such studies as may be necessary for the discharge of any of the functions conferred by this Law or any other enactment perform such other functions as may be provided under any other enactment. Sub-district political/administrative structures These being subordinate bodies of the DAs, they perform functions assigned to them by the instruments setting up by the assemblies or delegated to them by the assemblies. They are constituted by the sub-metropolitan DCs, urban/town/ zonal/area councils, and unit committees. Sub-metropolitan DCs These structures are immediately below the metropolitan assemblies. There are 13 of these structures established by law. These are shown below: This arrangement has been dictated by the complex and peculiar socio-economic, urbanisation and management problems which confront these three metropolis. Urban councils Urban councils are peculiar to settlements of â€Å"ordinary† DAs. They are created for settlements with populations above 15 000 and which are cosmopolitan in character, with urbanisation and management problems, though not of the scale associated with the metropolis. You read "What Is the Importance of Public Administration in Ghana" in category "Papers" Thirty-four of these councils are established by law. Zonal councils The zonal councils are in the â€Å"one-town† municipal assemblies of Cape Coast, New Juaben, Tamale and Tema, for which the establishment of town/area councils will raise problems of parallel administrative structures. There are 108 of such zonal councils for the four municipal assemblies. They are based on the electoral commission’s criteria of: commonality of interest, population of 3000 and identifiable streets, land marks, etc. as boundaries. Sub-Metropolitan District Council under Respective Metropolitan Assemblies Assembly Accra Metropolitan Assembly Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly Shama Ahanta East Metropolitan Assembly Ablekuma Asokwa Sekondi Ashiedu Keteke Bantama Takoradi Okaikwei Manhyia Shama Ayawaso Kpeshie Osu Klottey Subin Town/area councils These are found in the metropolitan assemblies and DAs. In the DAs, town councils are established for settlements with populations between 5000 and 1500. Area councils exist for a number of settlements/villages which are grouped together but whose individual settlements have populations of less than 5000. They cover areas with predominantly rural populations and in some cases can be identified with spheres of influence of a particular traditional authority. They are essentially rallying points of local enthusiasm in support of a new local government system. A unit is normally a settlement or a group of settlements with a population of between 500–1000 in the rural areas, and a higher population (1500) for the urban areas. Unit committees being in close touch with the people play the important roles of education, organization of communal labour, revenue-raising and ensuring environmental cleanliness, registration of births and deaths, implementation and monitoring of self-help projects, among others. Committees of District Assemblies In the performance of its functions, the DA works through the executive committee and its subsidiary committees of development planning, social services, works, finance and administration, and justice and security. Executive committees The functions of the assembly are performed by the executive committee, which is presided over by the district chief executive and consists of not more than onethird of the total number of members of the assembly excluding the presiding member. Heads of departments of the assembly attend the meetings of the relevant sub-committees and advise them on the execution of their functions, but may not vote. A sub-committee can also coopt persons to attend its meetings but also without a vote. The functions performed by the executive committee are to: coordinate plans and programmes of the sub-committees and submit these as comprehensive plans of action to the DA †¢ implement resolutions of the district in collaboration with the office of the DA †¢ oversee the administration of the district in collaboration with the office of the district chief executive †¢ recommend where it considers necessary – in the case of departments outside 364 the supervision of the assembly wh ich are in the district – to the appropriate government ministry/department/agency the appointment and replacement on stated grounds of officers within the area of authority of the assembly adopt measures to develop and execute approved plans of the units, areas and towns and sub-metropolitan districts within the area of authority of the assembly †¢ recommend to the DA the coordination, integration and harmonisation of district development plans and policies. Sub-committees of the executive committee The sub-committees of the executive committee and the functions they perform are shown below: Development planning sub-committee †¢ takes a comprehensive look at the district †¢ identifies the economic resources/potentials of the district †¢ develops an information base on the resources identifies opportunities and constraints for the exploitation of these resources †¢ prepares exploitation and phasing plans and strategies †¢ consults with other sub-committees and the private sector for the implications that the proposed district plan may have on other sub-committees’ plans †¢ submits the plan to the executive committee for harmonisation with other sub-committee plans. Social services sub-committee †¢ takes a comprehensive and long-term look at areas of social development in the district, in particular education, health, social welfare, sports, culture, etc. develops the information base on these areas of social development †¢ prepares a social development plan (long-, medium- and short-term) for the district Sub-Committees of the Executive Committees of the Assembly District Assembly, Executive Committee Development Planning Sub- Committee, Social Services Sub- Committee, Works Sub-committee, Finance Administration, Justice/ Security †¢ identifies the strengths and weaknesses in the social services areas †¢ examines the implications of the social development plan on other sub-sectors of the district economy submits the plans to the executive committee for harmonisation. Works sub-committee The functional areas of the works sub-committee includes roads, electricity, sanitation, water, etc. Within the general framework of Act 462 and the specific functions in the legislative instruments that establish the various assemblies, this sub-committee: †¢ takes a comprehensive look at the infrastructure needs and problems of the district †¢ develops an information base on each of these p rogramme/functional areas †¢ maps out, initiates and phases out programmes for their development and/or provision examines the implications of such actions for the other sub-committee proposals †¢ submits the programmes to the executive committee for harmonisation and action. Finance and administration sub-committee This sub-committee †¢ examines the general financial position of the assembly †¢ examines the revenue mobilisation and expenditure trends of the assembly †¢ maps out strategies to improve revenue mobilisation in the present and sets targets for the future †¢ submits financial plans to the executive committee for harmonisation with other sub-committee plans identifies strategies to ensure judicious utilisation of available resources. Justice and security sub-committee This sub-committee is set up to resolve intra-district and inter-district conflicts and to consider issues that pertain to the enforcement of by-laws of the assembly. To achieve these purposes, the sub-committee: †¢ examines these and other related conflict areas †¢ recommends to the executive committee ways and means to resolve disputes †¢ ensures ready access to the courts and tribunals for the promotion of justice in the district, e. . making sure that premises are available for use by community tribunals and that police logistics are adequate. A DA can form any other sub-committee, depending on the peculiarities of its environment or its area. The committee’s discussed above are, however, mandatory. They can be dissolved and reconstituted but cannot be replaced, for example by a task force. Sub-committees of metropolitan assemblies These and their subject areas are shown in Appendix 2. Boards of metropolitan assemblies For the efficient performance of its functions, a metropolitan assembly has three metropolitan boards: †¢ Metropolitan Planning Board †¢ Board of Metropolitan Works †¢ Board of Administration. The Sub-districts – New Decision-Making points for Poverty Reduction using the Sub-district Development Fund Saboba Introduction At the design stage of DSDA II, an Economic Development Component (Sub-district Development Fund) was suggested as a means to support economic development at the district and sub district levels. An amount of 14. 87 million DKK (US $ 2. 25 million) was earmarked over four years, to support activities of this component. This was designed to reduce poverty through the provision of social infrastructure and improved incomes, while strengthening the institutional and human capacity of the districts and economic stakeholders to manage these resources in an efficient and accountable manner. During the implementation stage a great number of lessons and experiences with regards to the Sub-district Development Fund (SDDF) herein after referred to as the Fund were accumulated and documented. The processes undertaken to reach these are highlighted in this chapter. The Best Practices and Lessons at the Design Stage dentifying and Establishing the Guiding Principles and Objectives Lesson One:Prior to the implementation of the Fund, an exercise was undertaken to establish guiding principles and objectives. The Fund, over the four-year period, operated around a number of principles which comply with the overall framework of Ghana’s decentralisation and poverty reduction programmes and these were: * Broad stakeholder participation in decision making; * Demand-driven;   Need and commitment; *   Viability and ownership; * Equity in resource allocation and targeting; * Decentralised development; and * Local capacity building and sustainability. The objectives which guided the support activities and the developed systems were: * To support social and economic development investments that will serve as catalyst for further economic opportunities in ruru mmunities. * To s trengthen the existing local government structures and institutions to provide services for decentralised development (financial, training, business development, project management, etc).   To enhance local decision making in project selection and implementation involving relevant stakeholders; * To deepen the sense of community ownership and responsibility for projects, especially post delivery operation and maintenance; and * To promote effective monitoring and evaluation of project implementation, utilisation and management for sustainability. Developing Effective Core Strategies and Approaches Lesson Two: For the SDDF, several strategies were developed through broad stakeholder consultation and validation. These consultations culminated in the formulation of specific strategies for implementation. A model strategy for poverty reduction, focusing on economic and social development was developed to guide implementation. In principle, three-tier strategy model proposed the targeting of economic funds towards projects with the highest potential to serve as catalysts for economic growth. Option 1: Regional economic promotion facility located at the regional level to cater for activities that seek to integrate economic development. Option 2: A district economic development policy and promotion facility, to support D As to establish district-based strategies and policy for economic development; and, Option 3: Community economic development facility categorised into: (a)  Ã‚  Ã‚   Economic Associations targeting those engaged in common economic vocations requiring common facilities and services to enhance their production activities; and (b)  Ã‚  Ã‚   Entire communities: where they require a common asset to broaden economic opportunities for all its residents. Each option was allocated a certain percentage of the total funds on the basis of major principles. Stakeholder Consultation and Decisions Lesson Three: Following the formulation of an entry strategy, stakeholders reached agreement on the feasibility of the strategy and made inputs towards owning it. Participating stakeholders included personnel of the Regional Coordinating Council and other regional institutions, personnel of the District Assembly and other district institutions, community level opinion eaders, representatives of women groups and credit/business advisory bodies. These consultations were organised first at the regional level and later at the district level. Involving stakeholders in project conception and inception was found to be critical for purposes of ownership and sustainability. The Best Practices and Lessons at the Implementation Stage At the implementation phase a number of lessons were learnt and some best practices emerged as follows: A Well Defined Impleme ntation Plan and Process Lesson One: The project cycle of the SDDF, was perceived as something beyond a mere list of activities. The processes were defined and shared to ensure their feasibility in relation to anticipated outputs. The instruments to facilitate effective implementation were pre-designed, discussed and modified appropriately. (i) Orientation of beneficiaries on SDDF as an Entry-Strategy: Following stakeholder validation of the economic development model and strategy, detailed orientation sessions in the two regions were organised. How to cite What Is the Importance of Public Administration in Ghana, Papers

McDonald Service Analysis-Free-Samples for Students-Myassignment

Question: Discuss about the McDonald Service Anaysis. Answer: McDonald service analysis McDonald is a known brand in different parts of the world. The company operates in the QSR (Quick Service Restaurant) industry and it has number of outlets in Australia. McDonald has to ensure that its customers get the same experience across any of the stores. The organization ensures this thing through product and service standardization. Over the time, the management of McDonald has realized that it is easy to do product standardization. However, it is difficult to do service standardization. The management has to focus on various front stages and back stages operation for service standardization (Harris, 2009). The overall customer experience would depend on the way McDonald can manage its internal and external operations. It is imperative for McDonald to have standardized back stage and front stage operations across its stores. For example, the company cannot afford to have different front stage process in Sydney stores and Melbourne stores. It would result in a bad customer exp erience. The flowchart of the back-stage operations of McDonald can be shown as: Flowchart: Back Stage operations of McDonald The front operations of McDonald are more people dependent. Therefore, it is important that the company must invest on the training of people. The flowchart of the front-end operations of McDonald restaurant can be shown as: Flowchart: Front Stage operations of McDonald Significance of Service Encounter The above diagram shows the front stage operations of McDonald are complex in nature. There is a dependency on number of people encounter. Therefore, it would be correct to say that the service encounter is the key for McDonald to ensure service standardization. The definition of a service encounter is broad and includes a customer's interaction with customer-contact employees, machines, automated systems, physical facilities, and any other service provider visible element (Helgesen, 2008). It would be correct to say that the absolute customer satisfaction would come only when McDonald is able to improve the service encounter between its employees and its customers. In turn, the service encounter can be improved only when the touch points are improved. The above diagram shows that there are multiple touch points of service encounter for McDonald. The organization must take measures to improve the service encounter with consumers. The key steps of methods that McDonald can take to imp rove the service encounter can be listed as: Invest on training and development of people: Helgesen (2008) argued that the quality or customer experience in service industry depends a lot on the type of people that organizations can get. The organizations can ensure the service quality through adequate training and development programs. It is recommended that that McDonald should have a allotted budget for its training and development programs across Australia. Kwortnik (2009) suggested that generally organizations should have 1% to 2% of revenue as their training budget. The training and development plan should be developed and implement for employees and staff at different levels. With respect to McDonald, the training should be developed for senior management, mid level management and wait staff. Process standardization: Lusch (2008) argued that organizations could improve service encounter through process standardization. McDonald has taken various steps to improve process standardization. For example, organizations uses a full fledge ERP system so that its processes are standardized. Various processes of the organization like vendor management, procurement, and inventory management are interlinked through ERP system. Benchmarking: It is important to mention that benchmarking is also an important tool that could be used to improve the service encounter. Kwortnik (2009) suggests that the approach of benchmarking is particularly useful when the organizations want to adopt the best in industry fundamentals. With this approach, McDonald can learn from the service delivery mechanism of other players in the industry. Taking feedback into consideration: Lusch (2008) highlighted that customer feedback is one of the most effective method to improve service encounter. As a part of feedback process, McDonald should try to understand the pain point of customers. The strategy to tackle the service encounter should depend on the pain point of customers. The entire idea of improvement in service encounter is that the management of McDonald should understand that its employees are the first line of customers. The wait staff may appear as a low level employee. However, he or she is the one who eventually deals with employees. Therefore, it is imperative that McDonald should have a common code of conduct that should be used to manage its different stores. Managerial Implications I personally believe that organizations in service sector must focus to improve the service quality. There could be serious managerial implications if the service quality is not up to mark. It is important that the management of McDonald must keep continuous watch over its service offerings. The first thing for McDonald would be to plan a budget for its service improvement plans. It is recommended that the management should develop a group or formulate a committee that would initially assess the current quality of service offerings from McDonald. The management can use the Service Gap model. The gap model (also known as the "5 gaps model") of service quality is an important customer-satisfaction framework (Lancastre, 2008). It is important that the management should have a close watch over all the five gaps. The supply chain analysis of McDonald suggests that the company has a vast eco-system. The suppliers of McDonald are spread across Australia and in fact across the globe. Therefo re, any compromise in any of the service gap can affect the operations of McDonald badly (Voima, 2013). If any of these gaps do not support the organizations strategy and purpose, it needs to be addressed. The knowledge of the service encounter has some important implications for managers. It is important that the managers of McDonald should realize the importance of service encounters and the impact of service encounters on customer loyalty and customer satisfaction. It is recommended that the management of McDonald should take a top-down approach to inculcate the knowledge to mid level management. The senior leadership can arrange various learning sessions where the seniors can pass on the importance and criticality of service encounters to executives. It is important that the focus on service quality should be established as a culture within the organization. Employees at different levels should equally practice the culture. Another option for McDonald is to take the services of external consultants to provide training to employees. In this era of Internet, McDonald can also utilize the power of social media. The management can have online training modules. In fact, there should be training plans that can be made mandatory for employees (Bechkoff, 2009). The bottom line is that all the executives of McDonald should have a 360-degree view of the service encounters and service relationship marketing. The long term planning of service relationship marketing would help McDonald to improve its relationship with customers and in long term it would help McDonald to improve customer retention (Preston, 2013). The customers should be treated as advocate of McDonald so that customer can also market the offerings of the company. References Baron, S., Harris, K., Hilton, T. (2009).Services marketing: text and cases. Palgrave Macmillan. Broady-Preston, J. (2013). Changing Marketing Concepts: Contemporary Theories and Paradigms in Services Marketing.Marketing Library and Information Services II: A Global Outlook,159, 23. Gronroos, C., Voima, P. (2013). Critical service logic: making sense of value creation and co-creation.Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science,41(2), 133-150. Helgesen, O. (2008). Marketing for higher education: A relationship marketing approach.Journal of Marketing for Higher Education,18(1), 50-78. Kwortnik, R. J., Thompson, G. M. (2009). Unifying service marketing and operations with service experience management.Journal of Service Research,11(4), 389-406. Lages, L. F., Lancastre, A., Lages, C. (2008). The B2B-RELPERF scale and scorecard: Bringing relationship marketing theory into business-to-business practice.Industrial Marketing Management,37(6), 686-697. Palmatier, R. W., Jarvis, C. B., Bechkoff, J. R., Kardes, F. R. (2009). The role of customer gratitude in relationship marketing.Journal of marketing,73(5), 1-18. Vargo, S. L., Lusch, R. F. (2008). From goods to service (s): Divergences and convergences of logics.Industrial Marketing Management,37(3), 254-259.