REPLY Justice System Workshop Ideas (SD6654)

[SDMAIL GRUTTERS Carolus]

Posted by  GRUTTERS Carolus <c.grutters at jur.ru.nl>

John Eggers asks for ideas concerning workshops for correctional 
practitioners on systems thinking.

He says:
> Participants are
> correctional practitioners at the Senior,  not Executive level, from jails,
> prisons, and community corrections.

> Our past deliveries on this topic have
> included the Beer Game, Causal Loop  Diagramming, Village and River Mapping, etc.,
> and for the most part, the  students just don't get it.

This is an interesting question.
In short, it is about legal dynamics.
If I understand it correctly, it contains 2 separate requests.
1) ideas about system dynamics (or systems thinking or strategic thinking) 
   and a correctional system;
2) ideas about how to get students interested.

On the first item a number of examples could be provided.

Probably one of the most renown ones, is described as an archetype by Wolstenholme.
Apart from that, law or a legal system as such, offers a number of interesting 
dynamic problems which have all kinds of feedback loops.

Most of these loops will be present in any other (non-typical legal) dynamic 
system. However, a few loops are (only) to be found in the legal domain, such 
as those involving:
* independence of the judiciary (trias politica or checks and balances); 
  implying that feedback deliberately is ignored
* the concept of (the right to) appeal (to a higher court); implying that how 
   perfect the initial outcome might be, it may be set aside inferring that 
   there is a difference between 'right' procedures and 'right' outcomes.
* the bad weather metaphor; although most people try to select the shortest 
   queue in order to minimize their waiting time, there are certain situations 
   in which it is preferred to pick the longest queue (or procedure), like 
   the homeless person who seeks shelter from the bad weather outside and 
   has to leave the shop since it is closing time.

The second item is a completely different question or problem.

A characterization like 'the students just don't get it' makes me - with 
all due respect - a bit nervous.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I understand this remark as 'blaming the students': 
THEY don't get it.

How come?

As a teacher I try to stick to the philosophy that it is my task to wonder 
about a subject that triggers the attention of students.

If they are not interested, I'm the first to blame.

I believe that any subject can be brought in an interesting way to any type 
of audience.

It is primarily the ability or skillfulness of the teacher, instructor or
facilitator to 'get their attention'.

Again, I might be wrong, but if 'THEY don't get IT' I wonder WHAT it is you 
want them to get?

Or stated otherwise: what is the problem you want to address and whom does 
it concern.

Regards,

Carolus Grütters
Posted by  GRUTTERS Carolus <c.grutters at jur.ru.nl>
posting date  Tue, 25 Sep 2007 12:03:23 +0200