Hanging in the Balance: Assessing Goal Prioritization Among Street-Level Bureaucrats

Research on the ordering and updating of goals in bureaucratic settings focuses on individuals in managerial roles despite recognition that street-level bureaucrats shape organizations in meaningful ways. In coupling survey data with interviews of school-based law-enforcement officers, we explore the factors that are associated with the ways in which street-level bureaucrats prioritize rule enforcement and whether more focus on this goal comes at the cost of other goals. Our results indicate that professional training and experience are not associated with the prioritization of rule enforcement. Instead, characteristics of an officer’s environment, including the composition of clientele and degree of task complexity, appear to shape street-level bureaucrats’ focus on rule enforcement in substantive ways.