Contrast of Occupational and Organizational Deviance

¶ … police corruption. Furthermore, it will address the areas of organizational and occupational deviance.

Occupational and Organizational Deviance

The definition for occupational or workplace deviance given by Bennett and Robinson is: voluntary employee behavior that goes against key company norms, and hence, threatens its well-being as well as that of fellow employees. The workplace represents a forum in which several different behaviors can be seen, with each of them having different consequences to organizational members and the overall organization. Such behaviors normally fall within organizational norms' constructs (Matthew, et.al, 2014). Company norms are defined as a collection of expected principles, behaviors, languages, and postulations, which enable its operations to progress at the proper pace. Any action is considered an occupational deviance if important organizational rules are violated by it. Some examples of occupational deviance include: absenteeism, alcohol/drug abuse, abusing sick leaves, sabotage, filing false accident claims, rule-breaking, stealing, not working to one's capacity, working slowly, taking unnecessarily long breaks, hiding required resources, and harassing fellow employees. On the other hand, organizational deviance refers to the company itself being the source of deviance; in other words, organizational deviance represents all-out corruption.

Police Corruption Cases

A police corruption incident transpired in San Francisco, California, initiated by surveillance footage that seemed to depict police officials as thieves. In its very first verdicts, a couple of veteran officers were found guilty, by a federal-level court jury, of stealing cash worth several thousand dollars and property from individuals suspected to be drug dealers, for enriching themselves and defrauding California (Egelko, 2014). After deliberation for 3.5 days, the jury unanimously convicted Edmond Robles, an officer, for 5 charges of felony and Ian Furminger, a sergeant, for four. They were acquitted of 4 charges, which included conspiracy for depriving citizens of honest services, while a charge of theft made against the latter reached an impasse, among jurors (Egelko, 2014). The investigation that followed resulted in the above two personnel and 4 others being indicted. Out of these four, Reynaldo Vargas, identified in the footage, confessed to committing 4 acts on the 21st of October, 2014; he served as the key witness from the prosecution side against Furminger and Robles. Charges against the remaining suspects, all of whom were employees at the Southern Station, are pending. This is a case of workplace deviance.

A federal complaint, which was filed against Tulsa, Oklahoma, by a 63-year-old former prisoner, freed as a consequence of a formal investigation into corruption by the city's police was settled for a sum of 425,000 dollars. The plaintiff, Larry Wayne Barnes Senior, who was found guilty of a couple of drug-related offenses in April of 2008, served a year and four months of his 66-month-long sentence, prior to being released (Tulsa, Oklahoma, Settles Police Corruption Case for $425K, n.d). According to Tulsa World, the settlement was confirmed by the attorneys of both parties. Barnes maintained that the city was aware of the transgressions of Jeff Henderson, a former police officer, as well as other Tulsa police officers, involved in the plaintiff's arrest; still, they didn't take proper steps to control their behavior. Henderson, found guilty of committing perjury and violating the civil rights of suspects, completed a prison term of 42 months in October. He is one among the 4 officers found guilty after the corruption investigation at Tulsa city's Police Department, which resulted in Barnes' release, as well as that of almost 50 other prisoners (Tulsa, Oklahoma, Settles Police Corruption Case for $425K, n.d). Michelle Allen, a spokesperson for the city, stated that Dewey Bartlett, Mayor of Tulsa, was in attendance at the settlement meeting, which took place in the state capital, Oklahoma City. In December, 2013, Larry Barnes' daughter, Larita Barnes, aged 37, was granted a 300,000-dollar settlement by the city of Tulsa. She was accused and accorded a 10-year jail sentence in April of 2008 on a couple of drug charges. She served her sentence between October 2008 and 2nd July, 2009; it was cut short by a court order, as one of the results of the investigation into corruption claims against the city police department. Also, in early Jan. 2014, the city of Tulsa reached a settlement of 35,000 dollars with 59-year-old Bobby Wayne Haley Senior, who served 4 out of 22 years in prison after being convicted in a cocaine case by a federal court. In August 2013, Tulsa settled a lawsuit filed by Demario T. Harris, aged 33, sentenced by federal court in April of 2005 for possessing cocaine intended for distribution, and for a firearm felony case, for 50,000 dollars. This is a case of organizational deviance.