P5 Understanding Discipline in the Uniformed Public Service Billy Smith
Understanding Discipline in the Uniformed Public Service
Authority is known as 'the power or right to give orders, make decisions, and enforce
obedience'. This is relevant to the public services as it gives a form of hierarchy.
Six bases of power
Reward – this is the ability to get people to do what you wish by offering them
a reward in return. For example, in the public service when someone is
arrested, the police may get them to help catch someone else by rewarding
them with a shorter sentence, this is positive for the police. A negative to this
is that if someone does a task that is set because they were told to do it (blind
obedience) and does not get anything but someone else does the same task
because they are getting rewarded for it.
Coercive – This is the opposite to reward power; it is done by giving out
punishments when someone does not do what you want them to do. A
positive example of this could be in the army as they need strict discipline, if
someone does something wrong they would get punished and learn from it. A
negative example could be if someone did something they didn’t want to do,
but they did it anyway, which is an example of blind obedience, because if they
didn’t they would get punished.
Informational – This is when you have power because of information you have,
you may have authority over people because you know something they do not,
the amount of power may depend on how important your information is. A
positive example of this could be if someone high up in the police had
important information on a case, and with this power they could solve it. A
negative example of this could be if someone had information on a terrorist
attack but refused to say anything if they did not get something they wanted.
Also, someone with information power could be Steven Hawkins, because he
knows so much if he said to something a lot of people would do it, this would
be an example of blind obedience.
Expert - This is where expertise or knowledge is the main source of power. It is
when you end up with a greater knowledge for the area of expertise, such as a
doctor or mechanic. A positive example of this could be that whoever is
running the country would have expert power, as for them to make big
Understanding Discipline in the Uniformed Public Service
Authority is known as 'the power or right to give orders, make decisions, and enforce
obedience'. This is relevant to the public services as it gives a form of hierarchy.
Six bases of power
Reward – this is the ability to get people to do what you wish by offering them
a reward in return. For example, in the public service when someone is
arrested, the police may get them to help catch someone else by rewarding
them with a shorter sentence, this is positive for the police. A negative to this
is that if someone does a task that is set because they were told to do it (blind
obedience) and does not get anything but someone else does the same task
because they are getting rewarded for it.
Coercive – This is the opposite to reward power; it is done by giving out
punishments when someone does not do what you want them to do. A
positive example of this could be in the army as they need strict discipline, if
someone does something wrong they would get punished and learn from it. A
negative example could be if someone did something they didn’t want to do,
but they did it anyway, which is an example of blind obedience, because if they
didn’t they would get punished.
Informational – This is when you have power because of information you have,
you may have authority over people because you know something they do not,
the amount of power may depend on how important your information is. A
positive example of this could be if someone high up in the police had
important information on a case, and with this power they could solve it. A
negative example of this could be if someone had information on a terrorist
attack but refused to say anything if they did not get something they wanted.
Also, someone with information power could be Steven Hawkins, because he
knows so much if he said to something a lot of people would do it, this would
be an example of blind obedience.
Expert - This is where expertise or knowledge is the main source of power. It is
when you end up with a greater knowledge for the area of expertise, such as a
doctor or mechanic. A positive example of this could be that whoever is
running the country would have expert power, as for them to make big
